Page 3 of A Cowboy's Twinkling Lights Lasso
The door chimes open, and a family of five spills into the hallway, children bouncing excitedly. When it clears, I step into the elevator.
Dani leans on the inside of the elevator frame. “Tonight!” she shouts at the cowboy, who now leans against a post, watching her.
“See you there, angel.”
She licks a candy cane in a very inappropriate manner, ignoring the whirring noise of the elevator doors trying to close against her body.
I grab a handful of her shirt and pull her inside before the doors slide shut. “Where did you even get a candy cane?”
“In my back pocket. You want one?” She brandishes a second candy cane.
“Yes.” I pluck it out of her hand and quickly unwrap it. If anything, I’m a sucker for mint candy canes.
“I’m only one of many women who will be ogling these calendar cowboys.” She bites off the tip of her candy cane. “Ogling, touching, rubbing. But unlike those women secretly getting their jollies, I’m doing it straight up. There won’t be any mistaking my intentions.” She grins. “Plus, think about this scenario.”
“Do I have to?”
“If I hook up with valentine cowboy, and when the first of February rolls around, and I flip my calendar and see my hot lay right there, I can rub one out to those glossy muscles I spent an evening touching, sucking, and licking.”
“Don’t be crude.”
“Don’t be a prude.” She pinches my hip. “Women masturbate, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Jill off. Double click. Squeak your pink.”
“I didn’t say they don’t. I just think we’re in a public lodge, and you have to respect others who may not be as vocal as you.”
“Prude.”
“I’m not a prude.”
“When’s the last time you had a date with Jill?” My sister has no scruples. She never has. She’s as wild and free and expressive as a teenager sneaking out of the house for a bonfire outside of town.
“I’m not answering that.” On the other hand, I realized at a young age that everyone judges you based on the words that come out of your mouth or the people you hang around. And I learned a long time ago to keep my most precious thoughts locked away from the town gossip and to stay away from the local boys—aka cowboys.
“Last night. Me, Netflix, and Jill.” She winks at me.
“We’re done with this conversation.”
“Not until you tell me the last time you masturbated.”
“No.”
The elevator dings, passing floors.
“Tell me.”
“No.”
Another chime for a passing floor.
“Fess up, Flora.”
“No.”
“I don’t mind extending this conversation all weekend. I haven’t seen you in years. You don’t have a boyfriend, and as far as I know, no friends with benefits or fuck buddy, so I’d like to make sure you’re taking care of all your womanly needs.”
“Good lord, Dani, I masturbated this morning in the shower when I got here!” I don’t mean to yell, but that’s what my prying sister does. She pushes me to my limit, and I explode and look like a lunatic. “And let me tell you, the pressure at this lodge really hits the spot, and I don’t even need to put on a bright shade of lipstick that would look great on a cowboy’s candy cane!”
The door chimes, but not to open. It’s already wide open, and a cowboy dominates the corridor.
