Page 2 of Ropers Can't Tie Knots
“Yes, they are.” He quips before blowing me a kiss and returning to the counter.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you shot down so smoothly before. Are you losing your touch?”
Reaching for my mocha, I can only keep laughing. “I don’t think so. He said he was taken anyway, so that doesn’t count. I’d hate to be a home-wrecker.” Riley watches as I sip from my mug, and I turn away from his gaze.
One-night stands aren’t my thing anymore. Riley probably knows that even though I’ve not voiced it out loud yet. He’s always been able to read me well, and part of the reason we just clicked.
Riley clears his throat. “So, when will you plan to be here permanently?”
“I still need to find a place to stay. The unit I had hoped to rent while I house hunted had a sewer backup and is no longer rentable.”
“Well, that’s shitty.” We both chuckle at his joke. “Aunt Agnes said she’d love to have you if she still had a spare room.” Riley offers.
“Tell her I appreciate that, and I’ll still be by for visits.” Even if she still had a room, I’m not sure I’d like to live with an eighty-year-old. While I don’t plan on stringing together wild nights with strangers, if I met someone, how could I bring them back to my place with her on the other side of the wall? Just…no.
“I’ll figure it out. Now, tell me about you and Jackson’s hydroponic thing. Catch me up.”
Riley speaks with such joy. His eyes glow and the smile on his face is one I envy as he tells me about their dogs, thegrowing hydroponics business and Riley’s romance planning. He’s currently arranging several student promposals and I have to say, I didn’t know that was a thing.
“Let me get this straight. He wants to ask a girl out using a cow?”
Riley snort-laughs and slaps my arm. “You’re in the country now, Gabe. We do things a lot differently here.”
I think that’s an understatement. His phone pings, and he reads it with a smile before rapidly typing a response. “Are you free tomorrow? There’s a big party to kick off the rodeo season.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Lots of wrangler butts, Gabe.”
Idolike a cowboy. Not something I thought I’d ever say, but after last year and my first rodeo, I admit I see the appeal. I never got close enough to touch, though, last time. But I observed one closely.
“Yeah. I’ll be there.”
Riley’s answering smile is one that confirms I did the right thing moving here. “I’ve really missed us hanging out, Gabe. I’m so happy you’re here. Can I invite you for dinner every week, or is that too much?”
Laughing, I sip my mocha and eye the rest of the cheesecake on his plate.
“Are you going to finish that?”
He pushes the plate towards me with a smirk.
“Your sweet tooth hasn’t changed.”
No, it hasn’t. Lots of things have, but not my love for homemade desserts.
“Are you having fun?”
Jamieson, the bull rider friend of Riley’s, shouts across the table, and I raise my glass with a nod. “I am, thank you.”
He nods his head and smiles like there’s nothing better than being in a crowded hall filled with cowboys, belt buckles, and tight asses. To be fair, I can agree with that to a point.
If you have any kind of western kink, this is the place to be. It’s a denim-clad ass buffet and in case you’re not an ass man, there are loads of shiny belt buckles. And more than a few cowboy hats. Although Riley mentioned earlier that the guys at the bar still wearing hats are just using them to get laid.
Whatever works, I say.
Turning my back to survey the dance floor, my gaze falls on the man who caught my attention last year. It wasn’t his belt buckle that drew me in, although I can appreciate a man proud of his achievements. The dark and handsome cowboy with a smouldering gaze and a chip on his shoulder was all I needed to be intrigued.
Hunter Burke.
Jackson’s former rodeo partner, and a man with one hell of a cactus exterior. I had hoped last year he’d be up for a little fun, but he had one hell of an attitude, and I thought it best if I left him alone. Dealing with someone’s thorns wasn’t on my list.
This time, though, I think I want to chance it and see if he draws blood.
