Chapter 8
Wyatt
Me: Some of us are going to Nate’s bar tonight. You know it, right?
Bryn: I do…
Me: Would you like to join us? I’d love a chance to see you.
Bryn: Can’t join you. Plans already. Maybe next time.
Sitting in my 1969 rebuilt Chevy C10, letting the air conditioning keep me cool in the warm evening air, I stare at the text exchange from earlier this afternoon, trying not to let the disappointment rise too high.
Of course she’s busy. She’s got a whole life going on, and Quinn did snort and wish me luck getting her to ever come out.
The night at Kickin’ Boots might have been something of a miracle.
Drumming my fingers on the bottom of the black steering wheel, I look out over the blue hood. There’ll be another chance to ask her out in person, and I’ll seize it. Worst comes to worst, I call her and ask her out that way.
I grab my cowboy hat from the black leather bench seat beside me and slide out of the truck.
After adjusting the hat on my head, I look at my reflection in the window and give myself a nod of approval.
Brown t-shirt with my family’s ranching logo on the left pec, white hat, and while I can’t see them in the image, my trusty Wrangler’s sit low on my hips.
Liam, upon his invite earlier, told me I better not show up without the hat.
As I head towards the entrance, I open my phone camera and take a quick video walking through the parking lot with the sun starting to set behind me, winking for the little send-off I’ll add at the end.
The outside of the bar seems more suited in a place like Diamond River than it does in a coastal surfing town like Santa Rosé, with its wooden framing and beams for an awning that hangs over the front. A long walkway made of boards lines the entire front of the place.
I like it. Nate has good taste.
Entering the bar, I do a sweep of the place.
Booths made of dark, burnt barnwood along the walls, similar tables in the center, and a bar that matches along the far wall.
There’s even a dance floor, though no one is on it right now.
Not shocking, considering the speakers aren’t playing anything too loud, and the place seems more centered around dinnertime than party time.
“Hey, cowboy!” A voice shouts from across the bar where Quinn stands, waving an arm.
Seated around her is everyone I met on shift at the station, plus two other familiar faces I recognize from the night I met Bryn. Savanna and Jordan.
There are two chairs left, and I decide on the one to the right of the head of the table where Brody is sitting, pulling it out and sinking into it while giving everyone a nod.
“I see the appeal,” Liam, sitting across from me, comments. “There’s a valid reason they all came back talking about the cowboy.”
My grin widens, and I flick the tip of my hat. “It has a certain effect.”
“Is that why you wear it?” Savanna, at the far end of the table, asks, arching an eyebrow in my direction.
“Nope, our cowboy here has a three-date rule,” Quinn inserts, staring at me from beside Savanna. When everyone turns to stare at her, she shrugs. “I grilled him on shift about his intentions with Bryn.”
“She asked if I was going to bang her or date her,” I correct with a shake of my head.
“Actually, I asked if you were going to fuck her or date her, but semantics.” She flips her dark hair over her shoulder, then grins at me. I learned on shift that she wears different contacts every day, and tonight they’re a vibrant shade of violet that looks unnatural but suits her.
Across the table, Liam nudges Jordan and gives a nod of his head. It’s the smirk he’s wearing, though, that makes me wonder what he’s seeing, but before I look over my shoulder, Savanna is speaking from down the table.
“For the record, I think you should do both. That girl needs a little more fun in her life.”
“If you’re talking about me,” a female voice says over my shoulder, causing me to start. “I have plenty of fun.”
My head whips around at the familiarity in cadence. Pleasant, melodic, and warm. Gaze landing on the woman I’d texted hours ago, I do a double—possibly triple—take to make sure she’s actually standing there.
For a second that feels like an eternity, the world shifts out from under me at the thought of Bryn here with another guy. That I’m too late in taking her out.
Then my brain catches up with my eyes, and I take in the beers she’s setting down in front of Brody and Liam, and the cocktail for Jordan.
The pouch sitting against her jean-skirt-clad hip.
Paper and pens stuffed inside of it along with a billfold.
The black t-shirt that dips low enough for her cleavage to peek out flirtatiously along a seam of lace.
She takes my breath away, and I’m on my feet a second later, pulling my hat off my head.
“You’re here,” I say, and damn if it doesn’t sound as stupid out loud as it does in my head after the fact. If that wasn’t bad enough, I add on, “What are you doing here?”
“My plans,” Bryn laughs, jutting her hip out and holding her serving tray up for me to take in. Like I couldn’t already see it. I don’t miss the way her eyes glance up at the hair on my head. Probably glued to my head thanks to the hat.
Looking behind me, I scan the entire bar, then around at all the tables.
At the same time, I run a hand through my light brown curls, trying to fluff some life into them inconspicuously.
Some part of my brain that’s working recognizes how dumbfounded I probably look, but the portion that seems to be in control right now turns back to her.
“You work here.”
“I do.”
Bryn clamps her mouth shut to keep from laughing, but it doesn’t stop giggles and howls coming from everyone else around me. From my position, I look down at all of them. Brody looks bored, but the rest of them are consumed by one level of laughing or another.
“You fuckers knew,” I accuse, waving a finger around the entire table.
“We did, but we had no idea the look on your face would be so priceless,” Liam says, his eyes cast down at his phone while Jordan leans over to see what he’s doing. “And I caught it all on video.”
Whatever I did must be really good because the two of them start laughing all over again. Ignoring them as the phone gets passed around, I turn my attention back to Bryn.
“I didn’t know I’d see you tonight,” I start.
At the same time, she says, “You made a post about me.”
We both break into grins, but her eyes fall away from mine, looking down to her feet as she presses a wrinkle out of her t-shirt. When she looks back up and her long lashes frame her hazel eyes, it threatens to take me to my knees.
“I hope you don’t mind,” I respond after a moment of silence between us, holding my hat against my chest. “Really wanted to see you again.”
“Why?”
“My boots needed a few more footprints,” I deadpan.
To my satisfaction, Bryn throws her head back and laughs with what I can only describe as pure joy. The same sound that I heard on the dance floor when I was spinning her around, and she was stepping on my toes, creating the first footprints.
“Goodbye three dates,” I hear someone at the table mumble.
“They’re gonna fuck. So hard.”
“Shut up, it’s adorable.”
Bryn’s cheeks grow rosier by the second, but she takes it in stride, her face aglow with brightness that makes me want to puff out my chest. She ignores the comments the same way I do, but she does glance over my shoulder.
“What do you want to drink?”
Back to business. Work. Reality.
“Bring me your favorite on tap.”
The answer seems to please her, and she nods, fighting back her smile before she looks at everyone else. “You guys ready to order dinner?”
“Bryn, don’t worry about dinner. I’ll put the order in when we’re ready,” Nate says from the head of the table.
“Or you can make Cowboy take it to Bryn when we’re ready,” Liam adds.
“Thanks Nate.” Bryn completely ignores Liam but looks around the rest of the table. “Anyone else need anything?”
“Your boy might need a towel. Or a mop. I think that’s drool on the floor,” Luke chimes in, grunting when Hailey hits him in the shoulder. “Ow. What? You recall all the shit these assholes gave me when I showed up still in love with you? This is like payback.”
Bryn’s hand touches my forearm, pulling my awareness back to her. Goosebumps race up my arm at the contact. The first real contact she’s initiated between us, minus me lying on her massage bed with a hard-on.
“I’ll bring you that beer in a minute.”
Giving her a nod, there isn’t anything in the world that could stop me from turning to watch her walk away.
While I hadn’t looked prior, cowboy boots adorn her feet, covering most of her calf muscles.
But the backs of her knees and a partial thigh view have me biting my bottom lip to keep from groaning out loud.
God damn, is she ever sexy.
“I told you he’s fucked,” Liam announces to someone at the table. A second later I realize it’s Luke, and possibly Quinn, as he holds out a hand, gesturing to both of them. “You owe me twenty bucks.”
Incredulous, I glance between the three of them. “You guys made bets?”
Hailey reaches over the empty chair between us and pats my forearm as I take my seat again, dropping my hat back on my head. “Ignore them. It’s what they do.”
“Twenty bucks says he’s in on all our bets within the first month,” Liam crows to Hailey.
Her head tilts towards Liam, and then she looks back to me.
A silent conversation passes between us as she gauges whether I’ll place a bet within the first month.
Me knowing about their bet fucks one of them in the long run, and she wants to know which, something Liam doesn’t seem to care about.
How he failed to see the logic means I want to have a poker night with him sooner than later.
I give her the subtlest nod of my head.
Hailey smiles at Liam. “You’re on.”
“You’re an idiot,” Brody says to Liam from beside me, taking a swig of his beer, the first thing he’s said since I got here.