14. Country Boy’s Dream Girl
Country Boy’s Dream Girl
OLLIE
SEPTEMBER
“You do know that you’re moving into a single bedroom and not the entire bunkhouse, correct?
” I grumbled as I grabbed one of Walker’s moving boxes out of her truck and placed it on the grassy lawn of the bunkhouse.
My wrist started thumping from beneath the brace I’d resorted to wearing.
A week out and it still hurt. Probably because I insisted on doing too much instead of taking it easy, but we all had our little problems, didn’t we?
Speaking of problems…
Dear God, Walker had. So. Much. Shit. Seriously though, who needed all of this?
Maybe it was because I was used to not having much as a kid, or the fact that I was constantly moving from place to place, but I’d learned long ago that you didn’t really need much to survive.
At the end of the day, this was all just a bunch of needless shit.
Hux let out a laugh under his breath, but Walker didn’t appear quite as amused. “What?” she scoffed, pushing her golden-brown braid over her shoulder. “This is nothin’ compared to what all I had in my dorm room.”
Hux’s little sister decided to take a semester off of school before starting her Masters to help set up things here on the ranch with the equine therapy program. Which was cool, I liked her. She was funny, feisty, and spoke her mind. She reminded me of a younger, well, me.
“What the hell do you need all this for?” I huffed.
Walker shrugged. “Not everyone lives out of a duffel bag Ol.” The minute the words came out, her eyes widened and she slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. That was real rude of me.”
Wow, shots fired, but honestly, it wasn’t a lie. In fact— “It’s true,” I said, waving her off before adding, “Savage, but true.”
Walker didn’t look convinced, though, as she fidgeted with her braid. I’d only known her for a little over two weeks, but I’d picked up on the nervous tick quickly enough.
“Seriously, don’t worry about it.” I offered her a smile. “You can just make it up to me by buying me drinks tonight.”
Hux crossed his arms over his chest and scoffed in my direction. “She ain’t twenty one yet..”
Oh fuck. I’d forgotten about that. I didn’t know what it was about her, but Walker didn’t seem like she was twenty. She had an old soul, or whatever the hell they called it. Wise beyond her years. And the way she talked and held herself, well, it was crazy to think she was so young.
I waggled my eyebrows at her. “Well, you have a fake ID, don't you?”
“Don’t even think about it,” Hux answered before Walker even had the chance to open her mouth and reply. He was such a straight shooter. No nonsense at all. He’d probably make a hell of a dad one day.
“Oh, come on,” Walker all but whined, going so far as to cross her arms over her chest. “You were definitely drinkin’ underage.”
“Yeah.” His voice was curt and deep and straight to the point. “That don’t mean you should, kiddo.”
Walker rolled her eyes so far back into her head I almost worried for a second that they might get stuck like that. “Ugh, stop callin’ me that. I ain’t a kid. I’ll be twenty-one in literally nineteen days.”
“You wanna drink here, fine, I don’t care. But if Mama, or better yet, Dad, finds out you went out drinkin’.” He threw his hands up in a placating gesture. “I don’t want no part of that, Walker.”
They stood there opposite one another—two immovable objects, neither one willing to bend or give.
I’d never had siblings. I mean, a couple of the places I stayed at growing up liked to call all us kids siblings, but it was just a crock of shit.
They weren’t my family, and I wasn’t theirs.
We were just a bunch of kids brought together by the same shitty circumstance.
I wondered what it would be like to have a sibling. To joke and tease and fight with.
“How about this,” I asked, cutting through the tension of the moment. “I can make a mean margarita and we can have a pool party up at the main house?”
Might as well enjoy the amenities of this place, and it’s not like the water and alcohol wouldn’t be a reprieve from the hot as satan’s ballsack weather we were having. A week into September, and this record-breaking heat looked like it had no plans on letting up.
Hux’s hardened features softened as he nodded. “That actually sounds like a good idea. Quin’ll love that.”
Walker sighed. “Fineeee,” she replied, drawing out the “e”, but from the grin on her face, it was more for theatrics than anything.
“Then it’s settled.” I wiped the sweat from my brow with my arm. “You and Hux finish taking all your shit inside, and I’ll go get the alcohol and snacks.”
Hux chuckled. “Nice try, hand. You ain’t gettin’ out of this. Consider it part of your chores for the day.”
It was my turn to roll my eyes. Letting out a loud groan, I grabbed one of the boxes with far more vitriol than necessary. “Yes, old man.”
He tipped his hat in my direction. “Thank you, Ollie Pop.”
I don’t know when exactly he started calling me that or why even.
I think it was shortly after spending the entire day with him looking at that mare he bought.
But now, he peppered it in anywhere he could.
I didn’t have many nicknames other than Ollie and Ol.
I wasn’t really around long enough to create friendships for that kind of thing.
But there was this…closeness I felt with Hux.
He reminded me of an older brother. Or, at least, what I figured an older brother would be like.
When I hung out with him, there was no…I don’t even know how to explain it.
But being around him was easy. Talking and teasing and shooting the shit felt as natural as breathing.
He was a good person, and quickly becoming a good friend.
All of them were. Quinn, Walker, Dylan, Wyatt, and Brooks.
I’d been to many places. I’d met many people. Worked a shit ton of jobs. But something about this group, something about this ranch felt, well, different.
Don’t think on it too much.
I didn’t want to envision leaving here, even if I knew deep down it would be an inevitability. Something would give or change, and I’d do what I did best.
I’d run.
But for now, I didn’t have to think about that.
A half hour later and were finally done unloading boxes and bags into Walker’s room. I was hot, sweaty, and wanted a drink… Even if it was only eleven in the morning. But as Jimmy Buffet once said, It’s five o’clock somewhere.
The sun already beat down like it had a personal vendetta against us all and wouldn’t stop til we were melted popsicle sticks on the ground. That pool sounded nicer and nicer with each passing second.
“So, you gonna invite your boyfriend tonight?” Hux asked over his shoulder as Walker and I followed him toward the barn.
How he managed to move around so easily without the ability to see was one of the most impressive things I’d ever seen in my life. I honestly felt like I was as useless as an infant with my wrist right now, the fact that he managed to do everything he did was a true feat.
I bit back a defensive growl at the mention of Cash. They all teased me about him. He’d come to give me lessons every day since we made our little deal. And every day, he laid on the flirting and teasing and cocky energy that was him like he was slathering icing onto a cinnamon roll.
“He’s so not my boyfriend, old man.” Someone to flirt with? Yes. A future hookup? Maybe. But a boyfriend? Ha, Cash Mooney was as much boyfriend material as I was the type to not run when the going got tough.
Hux didn’t even get a chance to respond as the rumble of a truck followed by a series of rhythmic honks on a horn echoed through the trees, disturbing the birds and silencing the cicadas.
“Who the fuck is that?” Hux grumbled, whirling toward the sound.
“I don’t know, but they sure got a sweet set up,” Walker said, her words a bit breathy.
It was a nice set up. A pearly white RAM truck and a sleek horse trailer. The front passenger side door opened a moment later.
“Get in, loser, we’re goin’ rodeoin’.”
I rolled my eyes. Of fucking course it was Cash Mooney.
He was dressed in the most vibrant, obnoxious pink patterned western shirt I had ever seen and pink polarized sunglasses to match.
His belt buckle was so shiny, I swear it could blind someone.
His white hat and light-washed jeans only made him look more showy and ostentatious, but somehow the cocky bastard made it work.
Honestly, he looked hot as hell. But he could probably wear a potato sack and somehow manage to rock it. Not that I’d ever tell him that. He already had a big enough ego to begin with, best not inflate it more.
“Well,” I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. “Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.”
He pulled his sunglasses down and offered me a wink. “At your service, sugar.” He looked beyond me toward Walker and her brother. “Howdy, Hux… Miss Walker Rose.”
Ugh, he was insufferable. But I couldn’t help but smile. “What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, but the question had far less bite than I intended.
He nodded toward the trailer, a sure smile toying on his lips. “It’s time for a fieldtrip. What better way to learn than watchin’ the big dogs?”
“Humble, aren’t we?” I scoffed.
He shrugged. “If God wanted me humble, he wouldn’t have made me so damn good.”
Hux chuckled, bumping into me as he came to my side. “You better not let your mama hear you talkin’ like that, Mooney. That’s blasphemy.”
Cash laughed. “What Mama don’t know, won’t hurt her.”
“Suppose one of us told her?” Hux pressed.
Cash’s laugh was answer enough but he replied anyway.
“You think she’s goin’ to believe you over me?
Her perfect baby boy? Good luck with that!
” He looked at me, pegging me with his sunglasses stare.
And even though I couldn’t see his hazel eyes, they all but burned as he asked, “Well, sugar, what’dya say? ”
The idea of going to a rodeo sounded fun, but still, I had a job. “Unlike you, lazy ass, some of us have to work.”
Cash didn’t balk at my words, he smiled and looked at Hux. “Mind if I steal your hand for the weekend?”
“Use your own damn hand.” Hux chuckled. “I don’t subscribe to the idea that ‘Cash is King’.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Cash corrected quickly, a grin on his lips. “I want to steal Ollie for the weekend. Though I do agree, Cash is King.” He brayed an obnoxious laugh that further disturbed the resident birds.
A weekend with Cash Mooney. That either called for one hell of a time or absolute trouble.
Either way, the horny little bitch in me was intrigued.
I’d been playing hard to get for over a week, but I could feel my control slipping.
I was just a woman, after all. I had needs. And he was hot as a West Texas summer.
That didn’t mean I was going to make it easy for him though. “Hux, you don’t have—”
“It’s fine, Ollie pop.” He aimed a smile in my general direction. “It would be a good experience for you.”
Cash crowed in triumph and I couldn’t help but grin. “Well, hurry that sweet ass up, sugar. Don’t wanna be late.”
My heart might have skipped a beat, a herd of butterflies erupting in my stomach at the prospect of what this weekend might entail. And yet, when I spoke, I found myself saying, “I’m not going unless Walker comes with.”
“What?” Her tone was just as confused as the look on Cash’s face.
I don’t know exactly why I’d said it. Maybe a part of it was that I felt guilty to leave after planning to hang out with her later on. Maybe secretly I wanted someone there who could keep me in line. Make sure I didn’t do something particularly reckless or stupid.
Like fall for Cash Mooney.
He recovered quicker than she did. “That’s fine with me. The more the merrier. You okay with that, Hux?” he asked.
Hux shrugged. “Ask her. She’s an adult… But no drinkin’ for her, I mean it,” he added with a stern look, and for whatever reason, I got the sense that it was more for her and I than Cash.
“Yes, Huxxie,” Walker drawled before squeezing him in a hug.
He grunted, but the harsh planes of his chiseled face softened a fraction.
“You’re sure you’re okay with this?” I asked him.
He waved us off dismissively. “Be careful, and have fun… Now, get on outta here before you’re late. ”
Another crow escaped Cash.
I couldn’t help but grin. His excitement was infectious. “Give us five to get our stuff ready?”
“Hurry on up, sugar.”