Page 41 of Chasing After You
I look at the mug in my right hand. It’s the perfect weight and size. Sturdy enough to tackle mornings with you, but not too bulky to wear out its welcome in the palm of your hand. Big enough to stop you from emptying it in one long sip of coffee, but not so big your coffee gets cold before you finish it. And, to make it that much more enjoyable, it has the words ‘Yeehaw state of mind’ on it in big swirly letters, which makes it beyond cheesy and thus my new favorite coffee mug.
So, yes.
“I like this mug. Plus, it’s the only one that’s going to satisfy my caffeine needs in one serving,” I point out just as the coffee maker beeps signaling a job complete. I didn’t brew a full pot this go-around. Just enough for me and Tori. She always claims she doesn’t like coffee. Until she sees me with mine.
It took a few times before I recognized the pattern, but now I always plan ahead.
“There are plenty of other cups here you could use for that,” Roni points out.
I could argue with her, but instead, I just hold up the small, handwritten note I found in my gift bag last night, along with the perfect coffee cup.
The mugs here suck. ~ Matti
“I still can’t believe he thought to get you that and send it over,” Roni grumbles. “You two are divorced, for fuck’s sake. Clark and I are still married, and he never does anything near as thoughtful.”
“I can see why this mug pisses you off so much then.” And I can totally believe it. It’s so Matti to do something like this. Because at the end of the day, no matter who we are to each other, he still gets me better than anyone else in the world. What Ican’tbelieve, is that I totally spaced thanking him for it when I saw him last night. But I will. First thing, next time I see him, I’ll thank him.
Meanwhile, my sister gives me another snotty look but declines to comment any further.
Which is good, because arguing with her would just be one more thing keeping us from getting out the door and over to the main barn for orientation.
As it is, between me sucking down a cup in a hurry, Tori making her last-minute dash back to the kitchen for her own, Clark nearly forgetting his allergy medication and Anna having to be persuaded to not wear open-toed sandals around livestock, we walk in just as two cowboys, complete with sweat-stained hats, dirty boots, and mud-caked spurs, step up onto a makeshift stage of straw bales and start to introduce themselves.
Thankfully, no one seems to notice us when we sneak in late, and the whole lot of us manages to blend in toward the back by the doors without interrupting our hosts.
“I suddenly feel very inadequate,” Oliver mumbles to me out of the corner of his mouth.
I take in his ensemble of pressed jeans, brand-new cowboy boots I think he may have polished this morning, and a nice, checkered button-up shirt, neatly tucked into his pants and secured with a belt adorned with the tackiest buckle I do believe I have ever seen.
“It does look like maybe you’re trying a little too hard,” I tease under my breath.
“I was going to say the same to you when I saw you sporting the braided pigtails and bandana,” he counters, grinning.
I’m about point out that at least my jeans look like they’ve made friends with dirt before, and that they’ve most certainly never met with starch or an ironing board when the doors open again, and three more people join us.
Unlike our party of eight, these three donotgo unnoticed.
But then Knox Marley rarely does.
Especially not when he has his sexy bass player in tow.
And I’m not the only one who refers to him as such. I’ve seen the hashtags.
Of course, it’s only adding fuel to the fire of impending gossip that Knox isn’t alone with Matti. He’s got a gorgeous brunette at his side that he can’t seem to keep his eyes off of.Kenley.
Almost instantly, a wave of whispers moves through the big barn, every one of them echoing the words ‘Knox Marley and Matti Benning’ and ‘The Wilds’.
Meanwhile, the two cowboys up front can’t even see what’s causing the commotion. It’s hard not to feel bad for them as they try to rein in the crowd again with talk of grooming tools and basic horse safety.
“Bold move causing a distraction right when they’re covering the parts you most need to hear,” I mutter when Matti moves in at my side, Knox and his lady right along with him like they’re part of our group. And like that will somehow help them all blend in. “I thought you wanted to avoid being kicked a second time.”
He shoots me a dirty look before turning his attention to the front and both cowboys. A second later, he turns back toward me, looking slightly panicked. “Seriously, what did they say? I totally missed it.”
“That’s what you get formaking an entrance,” I whisper, trying not to laugh. “You really think you can just wander in late, have everyone turn around to look andnotrecognize you two?”
“I’m wearing a hat,” Knox insists, forever thinking a baseball cap will sufficiently disguise him.
“I told them both this would happen,” Kenley informs me, looking distinctly uncomfortable with all the attention they’re getting.
