Page 8 of Lasso Lovebirds (Rainbow Ranch #4)

beau

It’d been a week since the storm had brought Sky to our doorstep, and I was certain that I’d never wanted anyone more.

Well . . .

Except for the person I couldn’t have.

Priscilla stood outside in the garden working with Sky, showing them the ropes. For all the storms we’d had over the last couple weeks, there were moments like this where sunshine was like a thousand crushed diamonds haloing the ranch in its sparkly warmth.

From my office, I could see a good bit. The stables, the garden, the compost, the fields that stretched in the distance with our crops.

My office itself was simple but functional.

Rustic and reminiscent of how Pa had it, although I’d changed a few things around.

What had stayed the same for as long as I could remember was the faded yellow landline phone that sat on the edge of the wooden desk, the stacks of notebooks and papers that covered everything else, and the pictures on the walls.

Faded photographs of the ranch, our family.

Pictures of when Boone and I were kids, or of Benny and Billie from when they were babies.

Occasionally, I’d catch a whiff of Pa’s cologne or Ma’s perfume, as if they’d melted into the wooden floors to stay. Ghosts of two people I missed every single day.

Seven years. It’d been seven years since the wreck. Seven years since the four of us lost our parents and inherited an entire ranch to run.

Seven years since I’d taken the reins and had become the one who always had the answers.

I was disassociating again. I raked my fingers through my hair and tore my gaze away from Pris and Sky, only for it to immediately wander back. Pris was standing next to them, her hand settling on Sky’s lower back in a way that had my brows raising.

Suddenly, I felt very thirsty. Parched, even.

Dammit. I needed to focus on work. I needed to get my thoughts back in order.

There was so much planning to do, and we were hosting the Y’all Pride Picnic this weekend.

Fingers crossed we didn’t have any other tornadoes blow through.

For the most part, everything was ready to go for that, but we’d be up at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning to set up a few tents, roll out blankets, and set up tables.

It would be a lot of work, but we all pulled together easily.

Right now, it was looking like we’d have about two-hundred people coming to the ranch, and all the money raised would help a charity to support trans youth in Oklahoma.

I checked my emails quickly, rubbing my temples as I read one from Doc Evans, the veterinarian out of Johnson Springs. We’d known Doc for years and had a good deal with him. He gave us a break on medical expenses for our horses, and we helped him out with some of the rougher cases he saw.

Such as Noodles, a blood bay gelding who Wylie was working magic with.

He’d come out of a bad hoarding situation outside of Stillwater, and when he’d first come to the ranch, he’d been so incredibly wary of humans that it hurt to see.

But slowly, we were gaining his trust. It would take months, if not years, to get him to where we wanted—but the progress we were already seeing was incredible.

Doc’s email was just a recap of the expenses from Noodles’ little cake eating adventure a few weeks ago. I winced when I saw the numbers, but we’d make it work. We always made it work.

A knock at the door startled me. My head whipped up, and I was surprised to see Billie standing there. Normally, she was out with the horses at this time of day.

“Abilene,” I greeted, chuckling as her nose scrunched.

“Why you gotta use my full name like that?”

“Because you’re my little sister,” I said. “I have to do that, or else the world tips out of balance.”

She grinned, but then something flickered in her brown eyes. I frowned in response.

“What’s wrong?” I asked immediately.

“Nothing,” she said. “Well . . . I just noticed that Pris and Sky seem to be getting cozy.”

My brows shot up. It took every ounce of control not to look back at the two of them again.

Given that Billie and I had known each other all of her life, it was difficult to disguise my expression. I shrugged. “And?”

She narrowed her eyes on me. “And? I thought you and Pris were gonna be a thing. You’ve had eyes on her for years.”

Dammit. Why did Billie have to be so observant? “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, reaching for a stack of papers to . . . restack. Casually. Shuffling them. “Pris is a gorgeous, smart, talented woman.”

“Yep. And you’re a kind, hardworking, handsome man. Although, maybe handsome is sort of a stretch.”

I gave her the look . “And?”

“And? I’m not blind. I’ve also seen you looking at Sky over the last week. Every night at dinner. Every morning at breakfast. Lunch, even. I really like them, by the way. They’re very sweet.”

They were sweeter than Ma’s honey peach tea. I’d yet to spend much time with them alone, but every encounter always left me yearning for more. And dammit, Billie was right. I had been looking at them at all our meals.

I thought no one would notice.

Apparently, I was wrong.

Pris had noticed too. But I’d noticed the way she looked at them, too. . .

It made me wonder what would happen if the three of us . . .

Stop.

I cleared my throat. “Billie, since when do you get involved in other people’s business like this? You know better.”

“Well, you’re my brother.”

“Oldest brother,” I quipped.

She snorted. “Sure. And Boone is so happy with Wylie. I think we’d all like to see you happy, too.”

“I am happy,” I protested.

“Oh yeah? Is that why you’ve stacked those papers ten times and won’t look me in the eye?”

I looked up at her and glared. “I’m happy. And besides, falling in love with someone isn’t the only way to be happy. We can all be happy alone. Single. I get plenty of joy from everything I do.”

“Okay.” She held up her hands in mock defense. “I’m just saying, Pris deserves love too. So does Sky. Could be the perfect situation.”

It could be, but it wouldn’t be.

“Sky will be gone before we know it,” I said. “And we’ve known Pris for years. If something was gonna happen there, it probably would have happened by now, don’t you think?”

Billie shrugged. “Knowing how you drag your feet when it comes to personal matters, not really.”

“ Abilene Anne ,” I growled.

She batted her eyelashes. “See you at dinner, Boss .”

My ears were burning as she left me alone to stew. What was it about my siblings? Always interfering and gettin’ in business they shouldn’t be in.

Although I wasn’t any different, was I? I’d spotted how Boone and Wylie looked at each other right from the start, which was why I’d talked to Wylie. Warned him that if he did anything to hurt Boone, there’d be trouble.

Of course, those two had quickly fallen head over boot, and Wylie was a great guy. Things worked out.

We always watched out for each other. It was impossible not to. I knew Billie would only mention something if she was worried about me.

The thing was, I thought I was hiding my secret desires a little better than that.

But, if Billie was mentioning it to me, that meant I wasn't hiding my desires well at all . It also meant that other people were probably picking up on it, as well.

The last thing that I wanted was to make Pris or Sky feel uncomfortable.

Especially with the position I was in, being the one who ran the ranch.

And also being a man. I recognized the privilege I had and with the power dynamics too, I just didn’t want to ever do anything to cause harm to the people I cared about.

But I'd be a damn liar if I didn't admit that I've been thinking about the two of them.

It’d been a long time since I let my desires run free.

Sky was the spark, but now the two of them were a wildfire spreading across my heart. My cock stirred as a thought of being with them both, of getting on my knees to worship their bodies.

I knew Pris would be the one to take control.

While we’d never talked in depth about sex or BDSM, we’d touched on the topic here and there over the years and she’d told me she enjoyed Domming.

There were nights I'd lay awake wondering what it would be like to be with her. I’d never had a partner who wanted to take the reins, but I was a switch, and there was a first time for everything. I trusted Priscilla explicitly, too.

If ever given the chance to be with her, I’d kneel for her in a heartbeat.

But what about Sky?

Based on my interactions with them, if I had to guess, I'd say that they were more submissive behind closed doors.

More than anything, I wished I could explore those parts of ourselves with each other. Exploring kink and BDSM was something I rarely got to do, and I always yearned for those opportunities. They were hard to come by, given where I lived.

Maybe just for tonight, I'd let myself imagine those scenarios all the way through. Please myself, get it out of my system, and move on—going back to the man who didn't daydream about being with two people who would never look at him that way.

I had too much going on, didn't I? Too much going on to be a good partner to anyone.

Pris and Sky deserved a good partner that could give them the whole world.

Someone better than me.

I pushed back from my desk and stood up, rolling my shoulders back and trying to release some of the stress I felt. And of course, I looked back out the window—but this time, Sky and Pris weren’t there.

Where’d they go?

Knock, knock. I spun around and my breath whooshed out.

Sky stood there, a ray of sunshine. Bright smile, bright eyes, even brighter hair.

“Hi,” I breathed out.

“Howdy, Beau.” They leaned against the door frame. “I wanted to see if I could use the internet in here? I need to get some work done on my laptop if that's okay. I helped out Pris with the garden, and she told me I could go do whatever I needed to do . . .”

“Oh,” I said. “Of course. You don’t need my permission.”