10. Skylar
10
SKYLAR
As I drove off toward my first appointment, I pulled up Rowdy on my Bluetooth.
“Hey bitch,” he said, cheerful as always.
“You got a minute to talk?”
“For you? Always.”
He whispered something, I’m assuming to Kess, then came back on the line. “What’s going on?”
“Question: have you ever been around a confusing straight man?” I asked as I wound around the Baker Dude Ranch’s well-maintained drive toward the highway.
“Of course,” he answered with a laugh. “It’s the curse of our kind.”
“Agreed. But now comes the real question: How insane does it sound that Kit might have a little crush on me?”
“Bitch.”
“Gurl.”
“What the fuck are you saying?” he asked, his incredulity loud and clear. “Did he hit on you at Stevie’s party? I saw the way he was looking at you.”
“Not this time,” I said mysteriously. “And how was he looking at me?”
“He was hungry. And what do you mean, not this time?”
Hungry? I could work with hungry.
Rowdy made a sound, like he was tapping on the phone. “Hello? What did you mean, not this time ?”
I blinked out of my walk down memory lane and tightened my hands on the wheel. “So, remember when I left pasta night to go take care of Kit’s knee?”
“Yeah . . .”
“He was in a lot of pain, and we couldn’t even take off his boots.”
“Why were you taking off his boots?”
“Because I was having him take off his jeans so I could get a better look at the knee. “
“Okay . . .”
“With the amount of pain he was in, plus his abject refusal to go to the hospital, I had him take a few shots of alcohol to get him to where I could work the boots off his feet.”
“I see you, alternative medicine queen,” Rowdy cracked. “And then what happened?”
“Somehow, we got onto the subject of what we liked . . . sexually,” I said, finally coming to the highway. I turned on my blinker. “And I wasn’t thinking anything about it, but I showed him the picture I took in that peignoir Daddy Big Bucks bought for me.”
“You showed him that picture?”
“All of my parts were covered up,” I answered, turning onto Devil’s Backbone behind a semi carrying a prefab house. Fuck .
“Sure. But you were thirst-trapping Daddy Big Bucks. Were you trying to thirst trap Kit?”
“Er. I might’ve been teasing him,” I admitted, hating that this part of the highway was a twisty two-lane and I couldn’t pass the slow-moving behemoth.
“ Might have been? That picture would turn the straightest man gay.”
“Which might explain why he kissed me.”
“HE KISSED YOU?” Rowdy shouted through the line.
“Yes, and keep your voice down,” I hissed, worried Kess would overhear him, which would mean everyone else would find out. “Besides, like I said, he’d had a few shots and was not entirely in control of his faculties.”
The line went silent.
“Rowd?” I asked, frustrated by this barndominium on wheels in front of me.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Kit Baker loose,” he finally said. “Like, ever.”
He was adorable, I thought wistfully. But I kept that to myself.
“Was it a good kiss?” he pressed.
“So good. Like, better than my LA Daddy.”
“Wait. Better than an actual movie star?”
“Yeah, like, a thousand times better.”
Rowdy let out a low whistle. “How did you react?”
“I may have let it go on for a few more seconds than I should’ve, but I eventually pulled away,” I answered, resigning myself to following this big rig for the next seven thousand miles. “Cracked a few jokes. Tried to diffuse the awkward.”
“Did that work?”
“Not really,” I answered, slowly passing Emery and Woody’s house. “But then I saw him at Stevie’s birthday party, and we kind of worked it out. Agreed there was no reason things had to be weird between us, and it was fine.”
Rowdy hummed on the line. “But then something changed, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, and it might’ve been my fault.”
“How so?”
“So, you know how I’ve got my first appointment today?”
“Of course.”
“And you remember the magnet I ordered for Betsy the other day?”
“Sure.”
“Well, I got it in this morning, and it was so perfect. I wanted to show him, tell him about my first appointment. So, I drove over.”
“Instead of just sending him a text with a picture of the magnet?”
Fuck Rowdy and his good questions.
Thank Christ, the rig turned off toward Wimberley. I stepped on the gas.
“Yeah. And before you ask, I wanted to get his approval because of how much he’s helped me start this business.”
“Okay. So, you drove over there to tell him about your appointment and show him the magnet and . . .”
“. . . And when I got there, I could tell he was happy to see me. Like we hadn’t seen each other in like a month because I’ve been busy and he’s been busy, and you know we text about the business a lot, but?—”
“He was happy to see you.”
“Yeah. But he also was super unfocused. Well, he was staring at me but not following the conversation, if you get my drift.”
“I’ve seen you,” Rowdy cracked. “I understand how a mere mortal would have a hard time focusing.”
“Hah.” I sighed. “Considering the fact that he had to take his hat off and cover himself at one point, I kinda had a clue about what was distracting him.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Kit took his hat off to cover an erection ?”
“Maybe?”
“Holy shit.”
“And then his son came out, and we were all chatting, then Sadie went back into the office and his son went to take care of something for breakfast, and . . .” God, I was babbling. “I know this sounds crazy, but it looked like he waited till we were alone so he could hug me.”
“He hugged you? Are we talking about the same Kit Baker?”
“Indeed, we are. I hugged him in front of Sadie when I first got there, but this was different.”
“Okay, I’m gonna need a minute to process that.”
Rowdy then went quiet, like he was actually processing what I’d said.
Finally, he said, “So he didn’t just wanna hug you. He wanted to hug you privately .”
“Well, as private as you can get in front of a busy dude ranch.” I tapped my thumb on the steering wheel, impatient for the light that’d come up out of nowhere. “And he may have returned the hug with one of his own, right there at the beginning, come to think of it.”
More silence on the line.
“Rowdy?”
“Again, I hafta verify—this is Kit Baker of the Baker Dude Ranch, etcetera, we’re talking about, right?”
I caught my smile in the rearview and it was goofy as hell. “The one and only.”
“So even after hugging him in front of a witness , he still wanted a private hug?”
“I guess? That’s not the craziest part, though.”
“There’s more?”
“Uh huh,” I said, turning through the yellow light. “I had to get the magnet out of the back, and I got the distinct impression he was looking at my ass.”
“You do have a nice ass,” Rowdy said loyally.
“Thanks, Rowds.” Finally on the four-lane, I started passing cars. “Like I said, though, he was all over the place. Kept losing his train of thought. And he hugged me again before I left.”
“What kind of a hug does a man like Kit give?” Rowdy asked, curiosity lacing his words. “I imagine it’s rather robotic.”
“Not at all,” I answered quickly, shaking my head. “The private one especially. A good, long hug right up against his body. And I?—”
I stopped myself before I could give too much away.
“And you what?” Rowdy asked, hanging onto every word. “And you what ?”
Fine. “And I sort of let myself melt into it.”
“Holy shit.” Rowdy couldn’t have been more stunned if I’d told him I was pregnant. “What’re you gonna do now?”
“ I don’t know .” I smacked my steering wheel, then hit the brakes to make my turn. “That’s why I’m calling you .”
“Why would you call me about any of this? What the fuck do I know?”
“You’re in love. You and Kess are practically married.”
“True.”
I narrowed my eyes as I slid past the open gate of my first patient. “Wait. Did something happen?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“Rowdy . . .”
“Skylar . . .”
“Rowdy? Are you engaged?”
The silence on the line was deafening.
“ Rowdy ?”
“Maybe?” he finally answered. “Ah, fuck. We’re definitely engaged.”
I let out a whoop. “Oh my God! I’m so, so happy for y’all!”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s old news,” he said, and I could envision him waving off a massive life-changing event in order to get the gossip. “More importantly, what are you gonna do about Kit?”
“More importantly?” I teased, slowing down over the dips in the caliche drive. “Don’t let Kess hear you say that.”
“Answer the question, Sky. What are you going to do?”
I sighed and stared out at the pretty landscape. “I have no idea.” And I honestly didn’t.
“Why not? You two had chemistry since the second y’all met.”
“Agreed. But . . . I know I’m just starting off with this business, but it’s important for me to be professional and for the people here to trust me. And if I start some sort of torrid affair with the seemingly straight rancher, and it doesn’t go well, then that could blow up in my face.”
“I see your point, but I don’t think Kit is the kind of person who would cause trouble if it didn’t work out.”
“You’re right.” I bit my lip as I rolled up to the pretty ranch house. “Besides, I could totally be overthinking it.”
“I have a feeling you’re not. But I understand wanting to hang back if you’re unsure about where he’s at.”
Rowdy was a good egg and had always known what to say.
“I’ve definitely had sex with guys who were kinda figuring things out and it was fine, but I wasn’t friends with any of those people and Kit has been great about helping me get started with this whole business plan, plus helping me with the car. And I know he put in a good word with some other ranchers in the area.” I pulled into what looked like the parking area. “I’m at my appointment,” I said, now nervous for a whole other reason.
“I’ll let you get to it, but let me say this: You’re a great guy, and he’s a great guy. Maybe, once you’re settled in, if it looks like he wants to explore his feelings, it might not hurt to get to know him better.”
I waved as the rancher’s wife stepped out onto the porch. “Okay, Rowdy. I’ll think about it.”
“Good. And good luck with your appointment. I’m sure you’ll help a lot of folks in this area.”
“Thanks. Love ya.”
We disconnected the call, and I took a deep breath. Time to focus and start the next part of my life.