Page 12 of Knot Her Cowboys (Big Sky Omegas #2)

I woke from the best sleep. Cash’s scent was thick in my nose, my body was relaxed and pliable, and my purr was a steady buzz in my chest. I rooted closer, pressing my face to him and curling my fingers against his shirt.

What the hell was the universe thinking, giving Cash this scent? I wanted to rub myself all over him. Maybe under him too. I snuggled closer, wriggling until I was wedged between the bed and his body.

“Feeling better, little wiggle worm?” Cash laughed, gently petting my hair.

I spared a second to nod before continuing my mission. My instincts really wanted me to be squished, and having his arm around me wasn’t cutting it. I tugged impatiently on his shirt.

“Riley, what is happening right now?”

“If I knew, I would tell you.” I was muffled against the blankets, but hopefully he heard. All I wanted was to stretch out, have Cash pressing me down, so I could be totally cocooned and have his scent.

He followed over with my next tug, balancing himself, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I pulled down, locking my arms behind him until we were chest to chest.

“Squish,” I demanded.

Cash dropped his weight and I wheezed, all of my air departing. “You’re gonna suffocate.”

I shook my head, but Cash didn’t believe me, lifting enough so I could still inhale. I purred harder, clutching the collar of his shirt and running my nose up his throat.

“Riley.” Cash groaned, his body tense and shaking above me. His cock pressed firmly against me, sending a shudder rolling down my spine. “You’re kind of pushing my thoughts in a direction I probably shouldn’t let them go.”

I clawed my way through the fog in my brain. I didn’t want Cash to be un comfortable when I was the most comfortable I have been in ages. That wasn’t fair to him. With considerable effort, I detached my hands from him, laying my arms flat on the bed. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to get so clingy.”

Cash looked down at me with tousled golden curls and blown pupils. “You can cling all you want. I just don’t want you to get weirded out by how my body is reacting to it.”

That was a good point. It probably should’ve been a lot weirder than it was to have Cash cuddling me while he had a hard-on, but the ridiculous little instincts running rampant around in my head were practically screaming we did that!

As if turning on my best friend was something to be proud of.

As if being turned on by my best friend wasn’t an avenue we had never explored before and could irreparably change the dynamic between us forever.

“Still want to take me out tonight? I’ll buy you a drink to make up for making everything weird as hell.”

Cash laughed, dropping his face to the blanket next to my head. “If you’re feeling up to it, I’d love to take you out. Just give me a hot minute to calm down.”

He rolled off of me, his eyes closed while he took deep breaths.

The temptation to tease him sat on my tongue, but it didn’t seem fair when I was riled up too. I tried not to think too hard about why that might be.

A knock on the door caught both of our attention. I sat up halfway to see Dakota in the doorway.

“I heard signs of life.” He held up my weekend bag and purse. “Levi’s cousin got your stuff back, and he’s prepared to mark the vehicle as stolen if the rental doesn’t get returned.”

I slid off the bed, trotting over to collect my things. “Thank you.”

I plunged straight into his arms without a second thought, getting a hefty dose of his sweetgrass and sandalwood, sending shivers dancing over my skin.

Why did everyone in this house smell so fucking good?

My bags dropped to the floor and Dakota’s arms wrapped around me.

At least this time I had some modicum of self-control and didn’t try to climb him like a tree the way I had with Cash.

“You’re more than welcome. It’s almost ten if you guys were still planning on heading out. Levi is already managing the campfire tonight, and I’ll have to head there soon.”

“Should we stay to help?” I asked.

“You deserve a night out,” Dakota insisted. “Enjoy yourself with Cash and we can handle things here.”

“Okay.” I peeled myself out of his arms, collecting my bag from the floor so I could pick out something remotely suitable for tonight. “I wish I had some boots to wear out. Everyone’s gonna know I’m from the city.”

“We could pick you up a pair,” Cash offered. “We know the people who run the shop in town.”

“Aren’t they closed by now?”

“They’d open for us.”

“Wouldn’t they be annoyed, opening up late for me?”

“Nah, it’s Rob and Courtney from high school. I’ll just tell them you’re visiting.”

“Did they finally get hitched?”

“Yep. Year after graduation. She’s got a whole pack, but only her and Rob work the shop.”

“Okay, cool, if you’re sure they won’t mind.”

Cash pulled out his phone, tapping away. “I got back about ten exclamation points, so I’m going to assume that means she’s down for it. Put on your little city shoes and let’s head out.”

Dakota departed for the campfire and Cash slipped away to his bedroom to change while I pulled on a fresh set of undergarments, jean shorts, and a black tank top.

Not exactly club wear, but the best I could do at the moment.

Cash stepped into the hall, wearing jeans that hugged his ass and a T-shirt that clung to every muscle, with a matching black cowboy hat on his head, his blond curls sticking out beneath it.

Goddamn.

He looked good enough to eat.

Not that I had any business sampling that particular meal.

“Come on, honey bun.” Cash beamed at me, ushering me down the hall. “Time to dance your problems into the dirt.”

The little boutique boot shop wasn’t far, maybe fifteen minutes to the nearest town, though town was certainly a generous title for it. I wasn’t sure it even qualified as a village. A handful of them were scattered around this area, and we all went to the same high school in the middle of nowhere.

Courtney was pressed up against the glass door when we arrived, a mega-watt smile on her face as she waved. She bolted into the street to greet us. “Oh my god, Rileeeey. I haven’t seen you in fucking forever.”

Her squeal of excitement probably woke every dog and coyote in a ten-mile radius.

I laughed. “Good to see you too, Court.”

“Come in, come in!” She dragged me through the door, and Rob gave me a wave where he stood by the register. “What are you looking for?”

“Just something cute and comfy. I put my boots to bed when I moved to New York so I’m a little bit lacking.”

She pushed me over to a section of pastel boots. “Thoughts? Or do you want to go traditional?”

“Something brighter?”

Courtney squeaked and spun me around. My eyes instantly locked on a pair of hot pink boots.

They weren’t traditional in the slightest, but they looked sturdy even with their hint of sparkle.

After getting my size, she pulled a pair down and I slipped them onto my feet.

I’d wanted pink boots ever since I was little, but could never afford them.

“Those are so fucking cute.”

“I’ll take them. Find me something more practical too.”

Courtney pulled me around to another section lined with far more beige options, and I picked out a sturdy pair of brown boots I wouldn’t mind getting dusty and scuffed up while I was scampering around the ranch until I figured out what the fuck to do with my life.

“So what’s the deal?” she whispered. “Are you and Cash together now? What about Cooper?”

“We’re not together. I’m just in town for a bit. I was supposed to be moving to Germany, but some things fell through so I’m figuring out next steps.”

“Damn, girl. When you commit to getting out of a small town, you really commit. I’m so glad you’re back, though, even if it’s just for a while.”

“Good to see you home, Riley,” Rob said as Courtney pulled me over and he rang me up.

“Good to be home,” I replied with a smile.

Courtney added some thick socks to the counter. “These are fancy hiking socks, double layered so the fabric will rub on itself instead of your skin while you’re breaking in the boots.”

“I had no idea we’d come so far in sock technology,” I said with a laugh. “I’ll take a few less blisters.”

Before I could pass Rob my card to pay, Cash whipped his out. “Boots on me.”

“Cash, you don’t have to do that. I can buy my own boots.”

He shook his head, eyeballing Rob until he took the payment. I traded my sneakers for the socks and pink boots and bagged up the rest, giving both Courtney and Rob a hug before Cash and I departed.

The one bar in town had a line out the door, but the night air wasn’t too chilly. We took our spot among everyone else ready to dance the night away and I snuggled up against Cash, stealing his warmth.

“Do they play stuff I’ll actually know?”

“It’s a pretty good mix of ages. You’ll probably know most things, but they’ll play new stuff for the youngins.”

“I guess we’ll find out how many dance steps are tucked away in my brain.”

A lot of weekends in my youth were spent at places like this with teenagers packed onto the dance floor to kill a few hours with line dances and laughter, neon bands on the wrists of those twenty-one and older, and ours sadly bare so the bartenders knew not to serve us.

Half those nights had involved Cooper and me sneaking away to paw all over each other in his truck bed.

Cash rubbed the goosebumps from my arms, keeping me close until we finally got up to the door. Music was like a wall as we stepped inside, blasting from speakers all over, the lights low, people moving in synchronized steps across the dance floor.

“Dance or drinks first?” Cash asked, dipping low to speak in my ear, getting my shivers going again.

The song switched over to one that was hugely popular in high school, a revived classic that had come out well before I was born, unlocking my core memories with the opening notes. “Dance.”

I dragged Cash along with me and fell immediately into step, joy lighting me up from the inside out.

Bruce and Bryan wouldn’t be caught dead line dancing.

It would’ve been a fifty-fifty split on if it was their hatred of spectacle or their hatred of not knowing what to do one hundred percent of the time that would’ve prevented them.

By the time the song finished, I was vibrating with energy and grinning ear to ear.

The next up was a song better suited to having a partner, and Cash drew me into a two-step.

He moved far more smoothly than I expected for how gangly he’d been as a teenager, enough so that I had to concentrate on not tripping every time I got distracted by his blue eyes focused on me.

The next song was livelier and we matched the pace, Cash spinning me out and in, twirling me around the dance floor as we navigated other couples.

“Flip.” That was my half second of warning before he whipped me over his head and caught me with steady hands as my boots hit the floor again. My heart pounded like a drum, adrenaline and desire rushing over me as he twirled me right back into the dance steps.

Damn. Cash had some moves.

We parted ways on the next song, back into a more traditional line dance, the same as the next two.

I didn’t know all the steps, but Cash put his hands on my waist, guiding me this way and that so I didn’t crash into anyone.

All I could think about was how much I wanted him to pull me back against him, maybe disappear us into a secluded hallway.

I didn’t know if it was the dancing or who I was with, but apparently my penchant for rolling around with my dance partner hadn’t faded over the years.

Cash was a friend .

But as he pulled me back into another couples dance, I couldn’t help the nervous flutter in my stomach, or the ache between my thighs when I looked at him. My breath caught in my throat at the fire in his eyes. I wasn’t so sure I didn’t reflect that right back at him.

Friends didn’t look at each other like that.