Chapter One
Rick
“Have you ever thought about getting yourself a mate? You know, somebody small perhaps who can cuddle up to you on those cold winter nights and who can look after you and cook for you when you’ve worked hard during the day?”
“That isn’t the sort of question I’m usually asked when I’m just making a coffee.” Rick smiled at his best friend’s mate, Toby, as he added milk to his brew. “I’m barely awake.”
Ernest was definitely happy now he had Toby in his life, but Rick wasn’t the type to go for the sort of man Toby was describing, like Toby’s friend Niall, for example.
“I’m a little bit suspicious about your question, to be honest,” he added with a chuckle.
“For one thing, you already know I’m perfectly capable of cooking for myself.
I sense this might be another one of your attempts to get me to take your friend Niall out on a date.
The one time I met him, he didn’t seem the dating type. ”
“This isn’t about Niall,” Toby said quickly, although his cheeks were flaming. “I was simply thinking that a decent guy like yourself, should have a cute someone making coffee for you. You’re a good worker, you help anyone who asks, and I’m sure there’s a big heart under all that gruff.”
You’re such a sweetheart. “I have thought about it,” Rick contemplated.
“I think most paranormals do at one point or another. For me, seeing how you make my friend happy has made me think about it more often than normal, I guess. Except…” he shot Toby a glare over the edge of his coffee mug, “don’t go thinking you can sign me up for one of those Bucket List Buddies events, either.
That is not my cup of tea. I’m not the type to be looking for some cute little omega, or some sweet little twink to brighten my den.
That’s not where my interests lie at all. So no, thank you.”
“Ooh,” Toby said, his eyes widening as he grinned.
“So you’re more an alpha-on-alpha type? Well, surely then, it would be a really great idea to join up for one of those Bucket List Buddies events.
Those events are swarming with alphas. They probably outnumber the omegas, or the little ones you prefer to ignore, by at least two to one. ”
“I can see where it’d be a good way of meeting new people,” Rick agreed, leaning his butt against the counter, intrigued despite himself.
“However, the alphas who go to those events are looking for people like you and your friend Niall. If you’ve got money to waste on a ticket for the next event, then I suggest that you use it on Niall, not me.
That would help boost the omega numbers, and there’d be plenty of alphas there for Niall to get to know. What do you say to that?”
“I just think it must be quite lonely going home to an empty house at night,” Toby said as he mirrored Rick’s pose.
“If an alpha is what you’re looking for, then it stands to reason there’s going to be somebody like you at the Bucket List Buddies event.
Morty was saying yesterday that apparently the next event is on one of those dude ranches or whatever they’re called, where you get to play cowboy for a day. ”
Rick snorted. “Do I look like a cowboy to you?” He knew well enough that he looked more like a Sherman tank.
He was big and broad everywhere and definitely reflected his animal side.
Yes, Toby was right in that he could be a softy at times, but those times were rare.
“The only reason I would go to anything like that would be for the laughs. Watching people trip over their pristine cowboy boots, tangling themselves up in ropes, and likely running for the nearest fence if a bull shook its horns in their direction. I could see where that could be funny, but that’s not a good reason to go. ”
“Yes it is, you just said it yourself.” Toby was giggling, and Rick knew he was thinking about someone tripping over their boots.
“Why don’t you give it a go? These events are on the weekend, it’s only a one-day event, and you can share all the fun things you’ve seen with us on Monday morning.
I mean, now the fields have been resown, I know you get your weekends off. ”
“You’re quite persistent, aren’t you?” Rick gave his new friend a grin. “Are you sure this isn’t one of your misguided efforts to pair me up with Niall?”
“Niall won’t go.” Toby made a face and shook his head. “I already asked him. He said he absolutely would not be caught dead on a ranch. So there’s no way he’s going to be there. Another incentive for you. You’d be Niall free, and who knows? Maybe some hunky alpha cowboy will catch your eye.”
“I’m quite happy the way I am, you know,” he persisted.
“I might live in my den alone, but at least no one else is around to nick my blankets. However,” he added when Toby opened his mouth, likely ready to argue his point, “I suppose at least some people going would be the outdoors type, which wouldn’t be a bad thing. ”
“There you go.” Toby did a bit of a butt wiggle. “You’re coming around to my way of thinking.”
“Coming around to your way of thinking for what, precious?” Ernest strode into the kitchen. He’d clearly just got out of the shower. He went straight to Toby, leaning over and giving him a quick kiss on Toby’s hair. “Are you trying to interfere in my friend’s dating life again?”
“I just want for Rick to be as happy as you and I are,” Toby said, tilting his head slightly to one side as he grinned at his mate. “I think it would be really cool for Rick to find someone of his own to cherish and care for.”
“Yeah, you’re probably only saying that, so I don’t keep walking in on you and Ernest going at it over the kitchen table,” Rick said with a smirk.
Swallowing down the last of his coffee, he left the cup on the counter, recalling exactly how many times he’d been unfortunate enough to do that, shuddering.
“I’ve got a tractor to fix. You two have fun. I’ll catch up with you later.”
He doubted that either Toby or Ernest noticed him leaving. It seemed Ernest wanted to “thank” Toby for his happiness comment. Toby will be late for work if you keep that up, he thought with a chuckle.
Playing cowboys. Whatever next. Rick shook his head as he made his way to the implement shed.
But it could be a bit of fun. Rick had seen people going on “cowboy for a day” activities before.
With their pristine jeans—some idiots even pressed seams down the front of them.
Rick snorted. Thinking that a hat, boots, and a belt buckle would give others around them the impression they were the real deal.
It’s not like I don’t already have the hat, boots, and the damn belt buckle stashed somewhere in the back of my closet.
Rick hunted through his toolbox for a wrench.
He’d spent close to ten years on the rodeo circuit, and was as familiar with roping, bull riding, and everything else that sort of life entailed as any other cowboy actively employed on a ranch. I even won awards. Hmm…
It could be an entertaining way of spending a day. I don’t have to let the fumble fingers annoy me—I just have to see them as funny. And who knows, as Toby said, I might meet a cowboy of my own, or maybe bump into a few faces I haven’t seen since I left the circuit.
Determined not to say anything to Toby or Ernest, Rick decided he’d sign up to the event on the Bucket List Buddies website that night—when he got home. It’s just a day, and it would beat watching sports on television.