Page 29 of Bad Cowboy, Tennessee

And I was going to get answers.

I pulled out my phone, compulsively texting him before walking through the diner.

Max

Where are you hiding? You at the inn? A hotel in one of the cities? Did I finally scare you away?

Draven

Adorable that you think you could. I’m around. Don’t worry.

I had a growing curiosity about him that was building up inside me more each day.

Knowing he was attracted to me had made me a little bit crazy. Hearing he wasn’t with Lily anymore…

Well, that was just another thing I needed answers about.

I spotted Lily’s usual ponytail at a booth near the corner at the diner. I gave her a nod, walking through the crowded, narrow walkway between tables.

“Best spot in the house,” I told her as I sat down, popping off my baseball cap and setting it down.

“I’m glad I finally had a minute,” she said. “Casey’s been nuts. She made a joke about Bridezillas the other day but I don’t think she knows she’s two freakouts away from being one herself.”

“That bad, huh?”

Lily was in town for an old high school friend’s wedding. They had never been particularly close, but had many mutual friends, and Lily had been surprised when she’d been asked to be one ofsevenbridesmaids.

She’d been busy with bachelorette activities all week. Finally, we were getting a minute to hang out one-on-one.

She told me about some of Casey’s Bridezilla moments—saying that the flowers might end up beingcream whiteinsteadofoff-whiteand an ongoing war with another bridesmaid about the height of her heels.

After Lily and I had ordered iced coffees and had dug into our sandwiches, she sighed, leaning back on the booth.

“The stuff with Draven isn’t making it easier.”

I swallowed a gulp of my iced coffee, glancing up at her. “You mean the fight?”

She furrowed her brow. “No, we aren’t fighting.”

“No. I meantourfight.”

“Me and you?”

I set down my glass. “No. The fight I got into with him.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Oh, no. Don’t tell me he started something with you.”

“He didn’t mention it? The first night you guys got into town, I thought he was breaking into my barn. I came at him with my hockey stick. We ended up on the ground.”

“He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

A flare of pride flooded me, and I sat up straighter, balking at the way she’d said it. “I almost hurthim,” I said.

Lily chewed on her bottom lip. “He’s pretty intense. I know.”

“Lil, I know I shouldn’t butt in on your dating life. But Draven seems like a prick.”

She looked down at the speckled table between us, waving a hand and shaking her head. “He’s not a prick.”

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