Page 1 of Cowboy Crush
1
HANNAH
“Don’t forget the beer,” Summer says as she tosses a bag of chips into the cart I’m pushing through the grocery store.
“Does she seriously think we’re going to forget the most important part of this trip?” Chloe asks as Summer takes off again.
I shake my head as I grab a bag of Pizza Rolls. “It’ll be amazing if any of us survive this summer. I mean, look at this cart.” I motion to it. “It’s loaded down with chips, Pizza Rolls, and ramen.”
“And beer, don’t forget the beer,” Chloe jokes.
I laugh and roll my eyes as I push the cart forward again.
This is officially our last summer vacation together before we’re thrust into the real world. The three of us met and became the best of friends during our freshman year. We’ve been inseparable since. Now that we’ve graduated, we’re all taking the summer off before real life kicks in. We’ve rented a cabin up in the mountains. It has a hot tub on the wraparound porch, and there’s even a pond on the property to swim in, fish, whatever we want. We have big plans of staying drunk and in bikinis all summer long.
We grab the rest of the items we’ll need for the cabin and head up to the front of the store to check out. Chloe and I start tossing items onto the belt as Summer makes her way up to us, dropping an armful of more chips, candy, and cookies. Chloe and I look at her, amazed she doesn’t weigh three hundred pounds.
Summer shrugs as she looks at us. “What?”
Chloe and I look at one another, laughing and shaking our heads.
We manage to pay for all our groceries, and we load everything up into the trunk of the car before we all climb inside and take our seats. “Okay, who’s got the directions handy?” I ask, putting the key into the ignition of my old, beat-up Toyota and turning her over. I bought this car my senior year of high school, and she’s been a good little vehicle, getting me through college. I’m almost sad about having to park her in my parents’ garage at the end of the summer when I head to New York to start my new job at Lane Hampton, an up-and-coming fashion designer. For my entire life, I’ve worked toward my goal of being in the fashion industry, and I’m only a few short months away from finally reaching it. As sad as I am about parking my old car and no longer having my two best friends by my side, I’m equally as happy about my life finally taking off.
The girls give me step-by-step instructions on how to get to the cabin. After three wrong turns, a quick argument, and me nearly running off the road, we’re pulling into the drive. We’re all in awe of the cabin. I’ll admit, I was picturing something just short of a hunting cabin in my head, but this place is beautiful.
It’s a single story with a wraparound porch, lots of windows, and perfectly planted shrubs and flowers. There’s a pond off to the back corner of the house, and comfy-looking patio furniture in all the right places. The girls squeal with excitement as they climb out of the car and take off running toward the cabin. I follow them, approaching just as Summer manages to get the glass front door open. I walk into the cabin and take it all in.
The front door opens to what seems like the center of the house. To my left is the living room that has big leather couches, a fireplace, and big screen TV. To my right is the kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances, beautiful tile work backsplash, and a square island with barstools. And in the center is home to the entrances of all the other rooms: three bedrooms, a bathroom, and the sliding glass door that leads to the back section of the property where I can already see a section of the pool and its crystal-clear blue water.
The three of us are all standing in a line in the foyer, taking it all in. “First come, first serve on rooms!” Chloe says, dashing toward one of the doors. Summer quickly follows her. I laugh and shake my head, heading to one of the two doors left. I open the door and am happy to see the bedroom before me.
There’s a big queen-sized bed right in front of a huge window. There is a window seat on the far wall that I can already picture myself sitting at this summer, writing all about my experience here in my diary while looking out over the backyard and pond. There’s a dresser that has a small TV on it, and another door that I can only assume leads to a closet. Smiling to myself, I rush forward and jump onto the bed, landing on my back. My eyes flutter closed as I smile to myself, excited for what’s to come.
“No fair! You got the best room,” Summer says, jumping onto my bed and scaring the living hell out of me.
“Lucky bitch,” Chloe says, jumping into the mix.
After being jostled and jerked around by the bouncy bed, we’re all left giggling.
“This is going to be the best summer ever,” I tell them with a smile.
“Ummm, I’m the best Summer ever. This will be a close second,” Summer says, rolling her eyes, but she’s unable to hold off the smile.
I shake my head. “Come on. Let’s get the car unpacked,” I tell them, pushing my way up.
The three of us head back out to the car where we load our arms down with bags of groceries and our luggage. After the food is put away, we skip out on unpacking and instead throw on our bikinis and tap into the case of beer we bought. We go running out of the house through the sliding glass door. Each of us have our arms loaded down with something. Chloe has the chairs, I have the cooler full of beer, and Summer has the Bluetooth speaker and towels.
We get the chairs set up around the pool, throw our towels down, and start the music. Then we grab a beer from the cooler and pop the top.
“To the second best summer of our lives,” Chloe says, holding her beer up.
Summer giggles. “I’ll cheer to that.” She holds her beer up.
“To a summer we’ll never forget,” I add on. We all clank our cans off one another and take a long drink. The foamy beer spills into my mouth and runs down my throat where it almost chokes me, but I manage to keep it down without looking like an amateur.
“Time to swim!” Chloe says, setting her beer down and taking off into a sprint. She jumps into the air and dives into the pool. The water is so clear that we can see her shoot across the bottom of the pool. She pops up on the other side, pushing her jet-black hair out of her face.
Summer turns her blue eyes on me, and the corners of her mouth begin to lift as she gives me a wide smile. “Last one in is a rotten egg,” she says, jumping in feet first as she holds her beer up in the air so it doesn’t go under the water.
