Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
mikey
All right, so we’ve got the team ropers: Colter, Reid, and Hayden.
Colter and Reid are roping partners, and Hayden is the youngest of the group.
He’s also pretty quiet, so don’t let it surprise you.
Jake is a tie-down roper and bulldogger—which is just another name for a steer wrestler.
” I ran through the guys’ names once more as we drove down the gravel road toward Colter and Ellison’s house.
“Ellison is Colter’s wife. Honestly, you’ll probably get along with her. You’re both firecrackers.”
Juniper tapped her fingers against the back of her other hand and hollowed out her cheeks. On instinct, I reached over and took her hand in mine. She gave me a puzzled look, but I didn’t pull back.
“What are you doing?” Her eyes narrowed. “We aren’t in public, you don’t need to hold my hand.”
“You’re nervous.” I pointed out the obvious.
“Yes, and? I stand by the fact that we aren’t in public. We don’t need to pretend right now. Rule number two, remember?” She pulled her hand out of my grasp.
Juniper fell silent for a few moments, but then spoke up, her voice barely a whisper. “What if they don’t like me?”
I turned my head toward her and blinked a couple times, trying to process her question. “Don’t like you?”
“Yeah. What if they don’t think I’m good enough for you?”
I couldn’t help but scoff. “Not good enough for me? June, they’re probably going to say the opposite. That you’re too good for me.”
Her expression fell blank, and the urge to reach out and find the reason pulled at my chest, but I didn’t pry. We were still getting to know each other, still strangers. I didn’t expect her to pour her heart out to me, but when she was ready, I’d be there to listen.
“I think I’m just nervous. It’s been a minute since I’ve had to impress anyone,” she admitted softly.
“I’ve got your back, Peach.” I gave her leg a reassuring squeeze then turned my attention back to the winding road and the endlessly sprawling Montana landscape.
When we arrived at Colter and Ellison’s house, I killed the ignition and raced around the pickup to open Juniper’s door for her.
She threw me a suspicious glance, and I winked in response.
Just because there weren’t people around to judge our fake relationship didn’t mean I couldn’t show her basic decency.
Was this a bit out of character for me? Yes.
But something about Juniper made me want to turn over a new leaf. At least for the duration of our arrangement.
“Ready?” I asked her.
“No, but I don’t have a choice.” She swallowed and took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”
I nodded and took her hand in mine, if not for show, then for the small ounce of reassurance it gave me heading into this gathering.
“We’re here!” I announced as we walked through the front door.
If I had a camera on me, I would have immediately captured the looks on everyone’s faces.
Shock. Pure shock.
Too many seconds of awkward silence passed before Ellison finally got up, seemingly the only one to have a bit of sense not to make Juniper more uncomfortable than I was sure she felt.
“Come on in.” She waved us along before walking up to Juniper. “Dinner’s not quite ready yet, but it should be soon. I’m Ellison.”
“Juniper.”
The rest of the guys followed Ellison’s lead and stood from their spots at the dining table.
“I’m Colter. Better known as Ellison’s husband.” Colter shook her hand, and I thought his joke lightened the mood a bit, because Juniper let out a small laugh. I gave him a look of gratitude before following behind Juniper as she went down the line of cowboys.
“It’s nice to meet you, Juniper. I’m Reid.” His eyes—reflecting with what looked like uncertainty—flicked to me and back to her, but I didn’t think she noticed.
Jake introduced himself, giving her a handshake and a nod, and Hayden smiled at her while offering his name.
Once formalities were all exchanged, we sat at the table, Juniper on the end across from Hayden, Jake, and Reid. Colter was at the head while Ellison sat on my right.
It’d been a long time since we’d had one of these formal dinners.
But Colter and Ellison had insisted, saying they wanted Juniper to feel comfortable instead of throwing her into the arena.
Truthfully, I thought they didn’t want any distractions so I could be interrogated. I just hoped they went easy on her.
“So, how did you two meet?” Jake wasted no time getting to the point, the sole purpose of this meal. I stared at him with wide eyes and pursed lips, as though to send him a message of, Really? He responded with a nonchalant shrug like I should have expected this.
“I’m a bartender at Rudy’s,” Juniper answered. “We met there.”
Jake tilted his head, raising his brows in recognition. “Ah, so that’s what you were doing when you left us the other night, huh?” He couldn’t elbow me in the ribs like he normally did when he was teasing, so he just plastered on a stupid smirk.
Before I could speak, Juniper retorted, “I saw what I wanted, and I went for it. How did you all meet?”
I held back my smile as I looked down at the table. She was just like Ellison. Fiery and not afraid to dish it out. I liked it, and not just because it was nice not to be the one who that energy was being directed toward for once.
“Colter, Jake, and I all competed in college rodeo together in Goldfinch. Hayden, too, but Colter and Jake had graduated before he started school. We also met Mikey at a bar,” Reid answered.
“Ah, I just graduated from SGU with a degree in Molecular Biology.”
Heat flared in my cheeks.
Well, that’s a new development.
I hadn’t paid enough attention in the bar, or even after the fact. Juniper didn’t act like she was in college, though. She had a mature air about her that I didn’t even think to ask her how old she was. And she was clearly smart, I didn’t need to know what she studied in college to figure that out.
The boys all exchanged subtle glances.
“Damn, I didn’t even know SGU had a degree like that.” Reid looked impressed.
“They added it my sophomore year of college, so I changed my major.” She shrugged. “Originally, I was going into chemical engineering, but I’m interested in biotechnology so the switch made sense.”
For a minute, the room fell silent, but then Colter was the one brave enough to cautiously ask, “How old are you?”
“Twenty-two.”
One of the guys coughed like they were choking down laughs, and I sighed. Did that really matter?
“What brought you here? Especially with that degree, I’m surprised you decided to come to a small town in Montana.” Ellison changed the subject, seemingly sensing the uncertainty in the room. “Not that you can’t do that kind of stuff here, but a bigger city with greater resources makes more sense.”
Juniper shuffled her feet under the table, her jaw hardening for a quick moment. “I needed a change in scenery. One of my friends offered to let me stay with her for the time being, and I took her up on her offer to get out of Goldfinch.”
“Do you plan to stay, or?” Ellison continued.
Juniper’s face paled. I didn’t think it was anyone’s business what Juniper chose to do with her life.
This agreement didn’t span more than a couple months, and while we were playing the part, there was no reason to put the idea in their heads that this was more serious than it was, especially since we’d just met.
Besides, their questions were more a reflection of me and my behavior than of Juniper.
“I think that’s enough questions,” I cut in before things could get out of hand. “We didn’t come here for an interrogation,” I added with a stern look.
A few apologies were muttered from around the table. I reached down to find Juniper’s hand, giving it a light squeeze to let her know I had her back. That I acknowledged the awkwardness of the conversation and was sorry.
A timer conveniently went off, and Ellison scrambled out of her seat to go to the kitchen.
“Need some help, Blaze?” Colter called after her. Before she could answer, he was already up from his chair, following her.
Jake cleared his throat. “I’m gonna go grab some drinks that I brought over.”
Reid got up next, holding his phone to his ear. “Honeybee, what’s up?”
I guessed no one wanted to sit in the uncomfortable silence that they’d caused.
“I’m sorry for everyone’s questions,” Hayden murmured before softly chuckling. “We’re not exactly used to Mikey bringing someone around. Doesn’t excuse it, but I hope we haven’t scared you off or made you feel bad.” He gave her a tight-lipped smile before patting the table and getting up himself.
Juniper pulled her lips to the side and mumbled, “Well, that could have gone better.”
I lowered my voice so Colter and Ellison couldn’t hear.
“Don’t worry about them, Peach. Their reactions are more a reflection of me than of you.
Like Hayden said, they’re not used to me bringing girls around, much less having a girlfriend, so I’m sure it was a shock. I’ll have a talk with them later.”
God, what had I dragged her into? She’d made the move on me first that night, but part of me thought I should have just let her go when she tried to leave.
I had to remind myself it was only until the end of Houston and then whatever she wanted me to do this summer.
A bit of discomfort would make it worth it for both of us by the end.
Anything was possible if you just hung on for eight seconds.
“What if this just isn’t worth it?” she whispered, voicing my exact fear.
“Nothing’s binding, Juniper. If you want out, just say the word and we can end things.” It would cost me money and my dignity, but I wasn’t going to force her into an arrangement she didn’t want.
She paused, as though a billion thoughts were rolling through her brain. “No. I don’t want out. I can do this.”
I couldn’t tell if she was trying to convince me or herself. Whatever her motivation for this was, it was strong enough to keep her here.
“The offer still stands. If at any point you decide you can’t do this anymore, we’ll end it. Add it to the list of rules.”
The front door creaked open and Reid and Jake appeared, carrying a couple cases of beer, cutting our conversation short. There wasn’t much left to say anyway. But I was secretly hoping Juniper wouldn’t give up on me.
Hayden came back next with a plate of rolls from the kitchen, and Colter and Ellison followed suit, each carrying a plate.
“Here, let me take that from you,” Reid offered to take one of the plates—pork roast—from Ellison’s hands.
“Anything else that I can grab?” I asked her.
“Yeah, do you want to grab the empty plates and silverware from the counter?”
I nodded, heading into the kitchen before hearing Juniper ask if she could do anything.
“No, you’re our guest. And I apologize for prying earlier. We really do want you to feel at home here. Our group can be a bit chaotic at times, especially with Mikey.” Ellison laughed. “I should have afforded you the same respect the guys all gave me when Colter first introduced me.”
“To be fair, I thought you were going to clock Mikey in the face the first time you met him,” Jake pointed out.
I started walking back just as Ellison shrugged, and a small smile tugged at my lips. “I’m sure I would have deserved it.”
“I kicked your ass in pool, so that was enough for me,” she teased.
The rest of the evening was much lighter as we all shared jokes. They didn’t drill Juniper with any more questions, and it made me think this whole fake-dating masquerade might actually work.
“Wait, so how did you and Colter meet?” Juniper asked.
A few awkward laughs filled the room.
“She quite literally ran into me in a bar, and I accidentally said something about her eyes. She didn’t want anything to do with me, but I wasn’t willing to give up on her. It took a bit of time, but I finally got her to soften up.” Colter planted a kiss on Ellison’s head.
“If it were any other cowboy, I don’t think it would have worked on me. But Colter was different. Special. I’m grateful it worked out the way it did,” Ellison added.
Juniper smiled. “That’s sweet.”
Juniper excused herself to go to the bathroom, leaving me alone with my friends.
“Is it just me or does she look familiar?” Jake asked. “I feel like I’ve seen her before.”
I’d also felt the same way, but I couldn’t place where I’d recognized her from.
Hayden and Reid exchanged a look, but neither of them said anything.
“She doesn’t look familiar to me. Maybe you just recognize her from Rudy’s. After all, she said she started working there.” Ellison shrugged, providing a reasonable explanation.
The rest of the guys, except Reid, seemed to accept her answer. I raised a brow at Reid, hoping he’d speak up, but he didn’t. Probably a good thing, because Juniper was coming back.
“Thank you for having me over. I had a fun time.”
“You’re always welcome back. Next time the guys rope, you’ll have to come with Mikey. Really see them all in action.” Ellison grinned.
Juniper nodded.
“I’ll take you home?” It was getting late, and I was slightly worried something would come up to scare Juniper away. I offered her my hand, and she took it. “I’ll see you all later. Thanks for dinner, Ellison.”
We waved and headed out the front door.
Juniper let go of my hand the second we were out of the house and the door was shut behind us.
Once we got in the pickup and started back down the road, I said, “I think that went well.”
“I think so, too. We were definitely believable. Now we just have to keep the act up for a few more weeks, right?”
“Yep.” I couldn’t pinpoint why, but my heart dropped a little. It definitely wasn’t because of the reminder that all of this was fake, though. It couldn’t have been. It was my idea, and I didn’t have time for a real relationship.
My phone buzzed in the cup holder after I’d dropped Juniper off at her house.
Lawsy
You sure you don’t remember that girl from somewhere?
Nah. Do you?
Lawsy
I have my theory, but if you don’t remember her, then I’m probably wrong
It’s not important. Anyway, I think this will be good for you. Settling down, that is
Maybe