Page 35 of Ace of Spades (Hidden Creek Ranch #1)

WESTON

The summer evening settles in slowly, lanterns swaying in the warm breeze as the air carries the smell of mesquite smoke from the grill at the far end of the open-air deck, where Mike and his wife flip the steaks.

Rafe and Beau play cornhole with some of the ranch hands at the foot of the steps, Chelsea and Dakota mingling with some of the groups of guests from town, a cold beer in both of their hands.

I’m in the middle of catching up with some old friends from high school when someone calls my name, turning to find Kinley and Kelly striding up to me.

“Wes!”

The twins—as everyone calls them, although they have no relation to each other outside of their friendship and similar blonde hair—both grew up with me in Cedar Creek.

Kinley is a total sweetheart, and I know her pretty well from when she dated my buddy back in middle school.

Her friend, however, was a classic buckle bunny, with one hell of a clingy personality—something that I had learned after making the mistake of fucking her in the back of my truck after a high school football game.

I’d spent the next month dodging her around town after she started all but naming our unborn children.

“Hey,” I greet them, offering them each a quick one-armed hug with my free arm. “Thank you guys for coming.”

“Happy Birthday!” Kinley tells me, squeezing me tight. “Twenty-freaking-eight. You’re getting old, bubba. It feels like just yesterday we were throwing cow shit at each other around the trailer park.”

“I distinctly remember you starting those fights,” I laugh, ruffling her hair.

“And I distinctly remember you cheating by smothering it in my hair, you asshole,” she scolds, gently punching me in the arm.

“How’ve you been?”

“Oh, you know—same ole’, same ole’. What about you, mister Big Shot? You’re practically a celebrity now. You think you’ll take the buckle again this year? I need to get an idea of how much money to put down on you winning the WRS finals in December before placing my bets.”

“You wound me,” I tell her, dramatically placing my palm on my chest .

“Anyways,” Kelly cuts in. “What if we came to see you at one of your rodeos? Maybe I could be your good luck charm?” she winks. I had to give it to her, the girl had never been afraid of shooting her shot.

“We’ll see,” I tell her.

Not happening.

I think Kelly says something after that, but I don’t hear a single word as my attention shifts past the two blondes to the raven-haired beauty making her way up the steps to the deck, my little sister at her side.

Hailey’s long hair is down and wavy, the knee-high cowboy boots highlighting the definition in her long legs, and a baby blue sundress that billows slightly in the warm evening breeze, nearly causing my jaw to drop to this damn deck.

That girl doesn’t even know it, but she has the power to drop me to my damn knees, and I don’t have a single complaint about it.

Except for the fact that she could potentially leave the ranch at any moment, leaving me high and dry without even batting an eye.

Hailey Sorrels was a runner, after all. As it turns out, the one girl that makes me feel alive more than I thought possible, is the one girl I can never guarantee will stick around.

I watch the pair stop to chat with Debbie, making their way around to each group.

I can’t explain it, but Hailey looks… like she’s in her element.

Like she’s home . She doesn’t even realize how well she fits in at the ranch, and how much everyone here has grown to love her.

But for some reason, the girl is too stubborn to see it.

“Weston!” Kota exclaims as she finally spots me, walking over to hug me. “Happy freaking birthday. ”

I wrap my arms tight around her, kissing her on the forehead.

“Thanks, baby sis.”

She greets Kinley next before turning to Kelly, a look of disgust immediately crossing her face as I choke down a laugh.

“Kelly,” Kota greets.

“Dakota,” the blonde that isn’t my sister replies, her tone laced with venom.

I look over my sister’s head, Hailey’s amber eyes softening as they meet mine.

“Happy birthday, Wes,” she tells me. Damn, I love it when she calls me by my nickname. It feels personal coming from the girl who acts like she’s scared to get close to anybody.

“Beer?” I ask her, reaching for the cooler beside me to hand her one.

“Actually—” I have to fight to keep from rolling my eyes as Kelly cuts in once more, clearly not reading the room. “I brought you a little birthday present! Your favorite Tequila, I can pour us some shots if you want?”

“I’m good, thanks,” I tell her.

“Why not? We had quite the wild night last time, don’t you remember?” she winks again, the beer bottle slipping out of Hailey’s grip as it crashes to the deck at our feet.

“What the fuck!” Kelly squeals. “Might wanna slow down on the drinking if you’re already dropping shit this early, you got beer all over me.”

Multiple sets of eyes turn our way, Rhonda rushing to grab a dustpan from the kitchen as Kota and Kinley squat down to start picking up the large pieces of glass. Hailey only glares at Kelly, fury swirling in her eyes.

Well, shit.

“What are you even doing here?” Kelly asks. “Last I checked, you didn’t exactly come around the ranch.”

“Actually, I live here now,” Hailey responds, a smug grin on her face.

This seems to catch Kelly off guard, her features twisting in annoyance. Before she can respond, I catch sight of my mom walking through the door, looking around as I wave her down.

“Well if it isn’t my favorite son,” she tells me, walking up to embrace me and Kota.

“I’m your only son, mom.”

“Technicalities,” she winks.

“Kinley!” my mom exclaims. “My gosh, I can’t believe how much you’ve grown since I last saw you. How are the parents?”

“Doing great, Mrs. Langford.”

My mom notices Hailey next, pulling her in for a hug as something tugs in my stomach at seeing the two of them.

“Hailey, dear, I’ve missed you so dang much! You have to come see me soon,” my mom tells her. “How’s everything at the ranch? Are my kids treating you okay?”

If there was one thing to note about my mom, it was that she meant every word that came out of her mouth. If she invited you over, she wanted to see you—and if she gave you the time of day, it’s because she saw something in you that she respected. She was a no-bullshit type of woman like that .

“Hailey here is settling in real well,” I tell her. “Just last week she took in a baby raccoon. Isn’t that right, Sorrels?”

Hailey rolls her eyes at me, the tension from earlier rolling off of her as she tells my mom all about Poncho. Not only had she actually taken in the damn raccoon, but she had somehow convinced me to keep him in the house. Given, she was very persuasive when her lips were wrapped around my cock.

“His name is Poncho, and he’s absolutely adorable,” Hailey tells my mom. “We found him hiding in the stables, and we thought his mom might come back to get him, but the ranch vet said he was severely underfed and not doing too well. It was pretty obvious the poor baby had been abandoned.”

Oh, yeah—that. As if the entire thing wasn’t bad enough, she had convinced me to call the ranch’s on-call vet to come take a look at it. A damn raccoon .

“He’s the cutest,” Kota adds.

“How are the dogs liking him?” my mom asks.

“They can’t seem to tell the difference between a baby raccoon and a puppy—they love him. I think Poncho sees them as big raccoons. That, or he sees himself as a tiny dog, but either way, they seem to all be getting along just great,” Hailey explains.

“Awe, like a happy little family,” Mom gushes, and I can feel the exact moment that Hailey’s walls slowly build back up, brick by brick.

An upbeat country song plays over the deck speakers, and I watch as Hailey’s face lights up.

“I love this song,” Kota beams, grabbing Hailey by the hand. “Let’s go dance! ”

She drags Hailey out to the dancefloor, and I can’t help but feel envious of my little sister as the two of them spin around in the summer air, Beau and Chelsea joining them out on the make-shift dance floor, followed by Mike and Rhonda.

I lean back against the railing, bringing my cold beer to my lips as I watch two of my favorite ladies giggling as they twirl each other around, feeling oddly possessive over someone that isn’t even technically mine as I watch eyes from all around latch onto her.

Everybody around town knows better than to look twice at Kota, knowing damn well that not only would I be coming after them, but I’d have my three best friends at my back. Sorrels, however? I guess the memo hadn’t gotten around that she was off-limits.

“Wanna dance?” Kelly asks, her manicured hand landing on my forearm.

“Nah,” I tell her, walking the few steps towards Chance where he plays cornhole instead.

“Come on,” I tell him, tilting my head towards the center of the dance floor where the two prettiest girls here danced. He understands the assignment immediately, tossing down the bean bags as we make our way over.

Hailey is mid-spin when I steal her from Dakota, a startled expression on her face as I pull her into me, taking her hand in mine. My hand wraps around her waist, the material of her dress soft under my palm.

Kota looks at me with a scold, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she turns to walk away, not getting far before Chance steals her hand and spins her into him. Her face lights back up as he twirls her around next to us.

“What are you doing?” Hailey asks in a hushed tone, looking around at the partygoers who are now all turning their attention our way.

“Can’t I steal a dance from a pretty lady on my birthday?”

“But why is everybody staring at us?”

“Because normally, you’d have better luck wrangling a tutu onto a buckin’ bull than getting this guy out on the dancefloor,” Chance laughs from beside us.

“Is that right?” Hailey looks up at me, a glint in her eye as the corner of her mouth pulls up.

“Dancing isn’t really my thing,” I admit.