By the time we get to the dance, my brothers are well on their way to tipsy. Wilder’s made it his mission to be as rowdy as ever and constantly have a drink in his hand. Waylon and Landen are close behind and dancing like their asses are on fire. Although I don’t have to drive and can walk home, I don’t overdo it with drinking. My eyes are laser focused on Magnolia and witnessing guy after guy hit on her.
I watched from across the room as Landen got Kyle away from her. I’m not sure what was said, but at least it worked. He’s our second cousin, so we only see him during family reunions, but he’s made his way to the bottom of my favorite cousins list.
“Wouldn’t it just be easier to ask her out?” Noah’s voice next to me makes me jump. I didn’t even notice her coming my way.
“I dunno what you’re talkin’ about,” I deadpan.
“Oh, really? You haven’t been pining over my best friend for seven years? Or hell, maybe it’s been longer.”
Shrugging, I break my gaze from staring at Magnolia and take a sip of my warm beer.
“You aren’t concerned that if we date and break up, it’d make things weird between y’all?” I ask because even though we’re sneaking around, it’s been a genuine concern about going public.
“Maybe. It could. But it could also be a forever kind of thing. You’d have to risk more than your heart to find out…”
“And I suppose you’re the expert now, huh?” I tease.
She waves out her hand. “Well, I mean…exhibit A, your honor. We’re at my wedding.”
“Is this where I make fun of you for not being able to find a man your own age?” I flinch in anticipation of her smacking me.
“Ha! I’m not breakin’ a nail to hit you. But I could get Landen to do it for me.”
I snort and then decide it’s a good time to throw him under the bus so she stops focusing on me. “A little birdie told me he’s into Ellie. You hear anything ’bout that?”
Her jaw drops as her eyes widen in surprise. “Not uh! Are you just sayin’ that so I stop buggin’ you about Magnolia?”
I make a face that neither confirms nor denies. “It’s just what I heard.”
“He’s too immature for her. Plus, last I knew, she couldn’t stand his annoyin’ ass. Told me that herself.”
“Isn’t there a lovey-dovey phrase that goes with that? Something about there being a thin line between love and hate. Maybe her hate comes from liking him.”
She bellows out a laugh. “Okay, Mr. Romantic.”
Smiling, I look at Noah in her wedding dress. “You look really pretty, by the way. Not used to seein’ you without dirt on your face and clothes. You clean up nice.”
She tilts her head as if she’s contemplating scolding me or thanking me. “Well, I guess that’s better than Wilder’s, ‘Hey, sis, you look bangin’’ comment.” She deepens her voice to talk like him, and I bark out a laugh.
Of course that dumbass would say something inappropriate.
“Imagine the day Wilder walks down the aisle,” I muse. “He’d probably be loaded before the ceremony started.”
“I seriously can’t. He’s gonna be a bachelor until the day he dies.”
We laugh at his expense even though he’s nowhere to be found.
“May I steal my wife for a final dance?” Fisher approaches with his hand out and Noah takes it.
“You absolutely can, my husband.”
I make a show of rolling my eyes at their flirting. “God. How long are we gonna hear that now?”
“Probably the next forty or fifty years?” Noah lifts her head and presses her lips to Fisher’s.
“And that’s my cue to go.”
“Go ask Magnolia for a dance, chickenshit!” Noah arches her brow as if she’s daring me to deny I want to.
Before I can come up with a witty response, Fisher drags her away.
Well, at least now I won’t have to be anxious about asking Magnolia.
I find her near the bar with Landen, Waylon, and one of our other cousins, Harrison. She’s gripping a drink that’s half empty, but she’s been sipping it for the past hour. They’re laughing at something, but I invade their group circle without a second thought.
“Dance with me,” I tell Magnolia, standing in front of her and holding out my hand like I watched Fisher do.
She gives me a hesitant expression, purses her lips, and circles her gaze around us as if to ask, “are you sure?”
I nod once.
“Um…okay.” She grins, placing her hand in mine.
“Wait.” Harrison’s voice interrupts. “She told me she broke a toe and couldn’t put too much pressure on it.”
Magnolia’s eyes widen at getting caught lying. I hold back a laugh at Harrison’s butthurt tone.
“That’s why I plan to hold her up the whole time,” I tell him.
“You can’t be serious,” she mouths.
I wink, then step closer until I can pick her up just enough for her shoes to lift off the ground. She wraps her arms around my neck as I settle my hands below her ass.
“Let’s go, Sunny.”
She pouts as I make my way to the opposite side of the dance floor and hopefully out of view from Harrison.
Then I slowly lower her feet to the floor.
“That was obnoxious,” she hisses.
I chuckle, pulling her to my chest and wrapping her back in my arms. Lowering my mouth to her ear, I say, “Noah caught me staring at you and basically told me to stop being a coward. Then said I should ask you to dance. She’s gonna freak out when we tell her we were already together.”
She laughs and gazes up at me. “If she wasn’t leavin’ for her honeymoon first thing Monday, I’d tell her now, but her finding out we’re dating will require a full girls’ night of juicy details while eating cookie dough and watching Dirty Dancing.”
“That’s oddly specific.”
She lifts a shoulder and grins. “We have our guilty pleasures and Patrick Swayze in the eighties is one of ’em.”
“As long as no one tells her before you or I do, I think she’ll be happy for us,” I say honestly. “When I asked her if it’d make things weird between us in the event we broke up, she said it’d be a risk I’d have to take.”
“And to think all this time you coulda asked me out in high school.”
I scoff. “You were jailbait, Sunny. Getting on Sheriff Wagner’s bad side once was enough.”
“You’re only older by two years!”
“Doesn’t matter. Why do you think Landen waited a couple years to ask you out on a date? He wasn’t about to do time for you either.”
She rolls her eyes as we sway to a song that is surprisingly not a Taylor Swift one. I’m pretty sure they’ve played every single one of hers tonight, which has kept Mallory and Serena happy.
“By the way, I loved your speech. You had everyone in the palm of your hand by the way they were glued to you and laughing, especially when you recapped Noah fallin’ in horseshit on Fisher’s first day on the ranch. That was epic.”
“Right?” She beams. “Totally funnier than Damien’s.”
“Obviously.”
“Oh, that reminds me. I bet Landen if we danced together, he had to ask Ellie out.”
“There’s no way she’s gonna say yes.”
“Exactly. That boy could use some humbling.”
We laugh, and I inch as close as I can without making it obvious I’m dying to kiss her.
“You should stay with me tonight,” I whisper, breaking the silence. “After everyone leaves.”
“I wish I could.” She pouts, sticking out her lower lip that I want to pull between my teeth and suck on. “But the gift opening brunch is tomorrow morning, and I’m in charge of bringing all the presents over and then making sure everything’s set up properly. While they’re opening, Noah wants me to keep track of who they’re all from so they can send out thank-you notes.”
“Damn. That’s a lot.”
“I know. And, well, if I come over, I have a feelin’ there wouldn’t be much sleeping involved, and I’d be a zombie in the mornin’.”
My cock twitches at the vision of her in my bed all night long.
“At least your schedule will open up once it’s all over.” Though mine never slows down.
“Thankfully. I need to put together a holiday menu soon. Care to be my drink taste tester?”
“Are you gonna charge me twenty dollars a cup?” I muse, sliding my palm down to discreetly pat her ass.
“What can I say? I’m a smart businesswoman.”
My face splits into a huge grin at how unapologetic Magnolia always is. Never tries to impress me by being anything other than herself.
“I’d love to try anything you make. Within reason.”
She wrinkles her nose. “What’s that mean?”
“I can only handle so much caffeine in a day.”
“What if I make it worth your while?” The corner of her lips curls up suggestively.
“I’m listening.”
She pulls my shoulders down until her mouth brushes my ear. “For every drink you sample, I remove a piece of clothing. Including the black lacy lingerie set I’ll be wearing underneath.”
I inhale sharply through my nose at the image of her in that sexy piece.
“That’s a fuckin’ deal.”
When the song ends, she tells me it’s time to make Landen eat his words.
“There’s the lovebirds,” he mocks when Magnolia approaches him at one of the tables. “Takin’ off?”
“Not yet. You haven’t asked Ellie to dance. The DJs gonna be packin’ up soon, so you better hurry.”
His eyes nearly cross when he gazes up at us. “I don’t even know where she is.” He scoffs with a drunken slur in his tone.
Fuck, this is gonna be interesting.
Some of the guests have already left, but there is still a good chunk of people here. I scan my eyes over each table and the dance floor until I spot Ellie sitting next to Mallory and Serena.
“Found her,” I blurt out, then point in her direction.
“Perfect.” Magnolia smirks. “We danced in front of everyone, so now it’s your turn to buck up, cowboy.”
Landen stumbles to his feet and flattens his palms down his dress shirt. His suit coat and tie are long gone, with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. “Fine. But after this, I don’t wanna hear you shit-talkin’ about it again.”
“Yeah, we’ll see.” Magnolia snickers.
We follow him as he maze-walks through the tables and when we get close, Magnolia and I break off so we’re within listening distance but not invading. We find a table nearby and sit as if we’re just taking a little break.
“Landen!” Mallory exclaims.
“Hey, Mal.” He nods at her, then turns toward the woman he’s been avoiding. “Um…Ellie?”
With a huff, she turns and meets his eyes. “What, Landen?”
The snappiness in her voice has me flinching for him. It’s not only if her looks could kill, it’s her tone, too.
“Would you wanna dance? Um, with me. On the dance floor. Together.”
Magnolia palms her forehead as Landen struggles to piece together a full sentence. I resist laughing at his expense, but goddamn, am I gonna give him shit for this when he’s sober.
“Awww…” Mallory and Serena coo in unison.
Landen gives her a lopsided grin.
“Sorry, I broke my toe and can’t put pressure on it.”
This time I don’t conceal the chuckle that bubbles out of me because she just gave him the same excuse Magnolia gave Harrison.
Landen’s jaw tenses at her words, presumably aware she’s full of shit.
“Didn’t look broken to me when you were dancin’ earlier to ‘Lover’?” Landen calls her out and Magnolia’s eyes are locked on them as if a telenovela is unfolding right in front of us.
“That’s because it just happened. Someone stepped on my foot when I was dancing, and I was just about to get some ice before it swelled up.”
Landen slowly nods, his lips in a flat line and fingers gripping the chair in front of him as if he’s about to snap it in half. “I’ll get some for you then.”
But Ellie doesn’t take the bait. She crosses her arms over her chest and deadpans, “No, it’s okay.”
“Why not? I’d hate for it to fall off and your barrel racing career tanks because you’re down to nine toes.”
“Fine,” she grits between her teeth.
“Be right back.” Landen flashes her a cheeky grin that has Ellie rolling her eyes.
We watch as Landen walks toward the bar.
“Can’t say he’s a quitter.” I laugh.
Magnolia shakes her head in disbelief. “She’s gonna give him a run for his money.”
“And I can’t wait to see him get knocked to his knees.”
She playfully smacks my chest. “Be nice. At least he’s puttin’ in the effort.”
I know that’s a jab at me for waiting so long, but I can’t even be mad to tease her back when I finally have her now.
“So after tomorrow, when can we see each other again?” I ask while we wait for Landen to return.
“I’ll be at the retreat Tuesday and free once I close up at three.”
“Good. What about Wednesday?” I ask.
“Same, except for working downtown.”
“And Thursday?”
“Same thing.”
“Friday?”
She smirks. “For the unforeseen future, I work until three and then I’m free the rest of the evening.”
“Geez. Get some friends, Sunny,” I mock.
She leans over and twists my nipple.
I’m too slow to smack her hand away. “Ow! That’s attached.”
She scowls. “Then don’t be rude!”
I laugh, capturing her hand and pressing my lips to it. “Just pencil me in for every night.”
She yanks it out of my grip. “No. According to you, I need friends. Maybe I’ll go ask Harrison to hang out. Or Kyle. I mean, you weren’t specific on only girl friends.”
“Do that and you’ll find out very quickly how fast a fight can break out.”
“Over me having friends you told me to get?” she challenges.
“I don’t want my girlfriend hangin’ out with guys who want to get into her panties. And I’d hope you’d feel the same way about me being around chicks who make suggestive comments about ridin’ my dick.”
She stares at me. “Did you just call me your girlfriend?”
“Yes.”
The silence lingers as Landen returns with a baggie of ice for Ellie and the anxiety of her not responding surfaces up my chest and neck until I can no longer take it. The hives are making me itch and even if she’s messing with me, I need to clear the air now.
“Have I not been clear that we’re together and a thousand percent exclusive?” I ask, no longer watching Landen ice Ellie’s fake broken toe.
“Hmm. I guess I don’t remember you askin’ for my hand in girlfriend-boyfriend matrimony.”
My hand lowers beneath the table and when I find her thigh, I squeeze it hard between my fingers. She releases a little yelp and flashes a smart-ass grin at getting me worked up.
Yeah, she knows exactly what she’s doing. The little shit.
Leaning closer until our shoulders touch and my mouth brushes her ear, I decide to fully give in to her little game and make her eat her words. “I still have the taste of your sweet pussy on my mouth from when you came on my tongue this afternoon. The photo of you in that little lacy number is all I see when I close my eyes. The first thought I have when I wake up at five in the morning is wondering when I’ll get to talk to or see you again. And the first time I took a woman out on a real date or let drive my truck has only ever been you. But if you need me to drop to my knees and propose girlfriend-boyfriend to you, then just say the words, sweetheart. I’ll do it right now.”
Her throat moves and her body stiffens when I lean back in my chair. Ellie has apparently dismissed Landen after he brought her ice. And considering it’s melting on top of the table confirms she gave him a bullshit excuse to avoid dancing with him.
Magnolia turns toward me, neither of us seemingly worried about who could be watching us right now, and I arch a brow as she noticeably struggles to speak.
“Something you wanna say, Sunny?”
Her eyes narrow into a glare and my lips curl up in victory.
Finally, she swallows hard and straightens her shoulders. “No. I think I’m good.”
With a wide grin, I nod once. “Glad we’re on the same page, then.”
