Page 111 of The Wildest Ride

When AJ tried to follow her, Gran intercepted him, engaging him in conversation so that it would be rude to continue on his path toward Lil, and once again Lil suspected the move was deliberate. No one was wily like her gran.

Instead of AJ, however, Piper, whom she hadn’t seen enter the kitchen, joined her at the sink, sliding an arm around her waist and squeezing.

If the house hadn’t been full of strangers, Lil would have squealed in delight. As it was, she leaned into the other woman’s embrace and let out a long, slow breath.

“Tell me everything,” Piper whispered, reaching into the sink to wash with her.

Lil laughed. “Absolutely not. There’re people everywhere. You have to wait until it’s all done.”

“Escape with me into the barn.”

This time Lil snorted, leaning close to keep their conversation between the two of them. “I’m expected back after dinner, and they’re filming everything.”

Piper blew out a frustrated breath, tinged with a whine. “Fine. Whatever. But when you get back, you’re telling me everything. And I meanEVERYTHING, because it’s written all over you.”

Lil blanched. “It’s not.”

Piper cackled her witchy cackle and the conversation in the room stopped for a moment while everyone looked at them.

Lil’s temperature climbed a million degrees, while she was certain Piper grew horns.

Only after everyone had returned to their own conversations did Lil whisper, “Of course it’s not, when there’s nothing to be written.”

Piper laughed again, but quieter this time. “Oh, it’s written all over you. And if it wasn’t before, now you’ve confirmed it...”

Lil groaned. “What am I going to tell Gran?”

Piper side-eyed her. “Why would you tell her anything?”

“She’ll know. If you knew, she’ll know.”

“Lil. You are a grown woman.”

“I know, but my mom...”

Piper stopped washing dishes to look Lil in the eye, green meeting gray. “Lil, Gran knows you’re not your mom. You’re the only one unsure about it.”

Lil opened her mouth to deny it, but Gran chose the moment to announce dinner, and everyone sat down, Lil, in her usual spot beside Gran, but instead of Piper at her side, Gran had placed AJ there, and, for better or worse, Lil knew that Gran knew.

They were wrapping up dessert a leisurely two and half hours later, stomachs full of divine food—her gran having pulled out all of the stops to impress the Closed Circuit—faces hurting from smiling too much, and bellies sore from laughing. Lil couldn’t remember a more successful gathering at the house, and the thought was tinged with a hint of sadness because it was true and because her granddad wasn’t a part of it.

“I don’t see why they have to have y’all collecting materials on national television. Seems indecent to air the bulls’ business like that.”

Lil agreed, but wouldn’t be caught on camera saying as much.

Piper answered Gran instead, pitching her voice to mimic an arena announcer. “You know why, Gran. They say it enough during every show!‘These aren’t your average arena cowboys, the Closed Circuit cowboys are the real deal.’”

Sierra laughed, the sound as musical as ever, and Piper sent her a small glare, making Lil laugh, grateful she wasn’t the only one.

“You’ve got a skill there,” Sierra bubbled. “Ever think of making money off that voice?”

Piper stilled, but Lil was the only one who noticed. Recovering quickly, faster than she used to, Piper shook her head with a forced smile. “No. I’m not one for making money with my body.”

She didn’t addthese days, like she might have in the past and Lil was proud of her. Piper used to throw her history in people’s faces, using her own wound as a weapon. That it hadn’t worked on Lil was one of the reasons they were friends. Over the years, and over the healing, though, Piper had learned to respect her past, bringing it to the surface on her terms, a message of hope and strength, rather than a weapon.

“Well, you’re missing out, honey.” Sierra winked at her. “With those cat eyes and a voice like gold, you could go far.”

Lil reflected that despite Sierra’s cattiness, it was impossible to stay mad at her, especially when she brought you in on the joke that was always playing in her laughing brown eyes, which happened to be as big as Bambi’s and twice as pretty. That there wasn’t actually any of that subtle cattiness in the statement only served to pop the lingering bubble of tension around Piper.