Page 35 of Revelry (Cowgirls Do It Better #2)

“Now hold on, let’s not just take a pair and leave ,” Leo began. “We need to make sure we get the right pair.” He held out a beer to me and I stared at him, not taking it. He raised a brow and a smirk slid onto his face as he wiggled the bottle at me.

“For fuck’s sake,” I muttered, taking the beer and lifting it to my lips for a big swig.

“For example, I can see Jack eyeing up those dark brown ones.” Leo pulled out the chaps in question. “But actually, they would look better on me.”

“Lies!” Jack shouted.

I snorted, intrigued. “How would they look better on you?”

Leo lifted them to his face. “The deep brown makes my eyes pop.”

Max barked out a laugh.

“He’s not wrong,” Jack murmured, getting up and joining Leo. “Which ones would make my eyes pop?”

Leo spun back to the closet, sifting through the different pairs of chaps and holding each one up to Jack. “Hmm, maybe these? No. What about these? No, not those either.”

“What about me?” Max asked, suddenly taking this very seriously.

“Fuck off and wait your turn,” Jack scolded but there was no heat in it.

“Ooh, maybe these reddish brown ones for Jack, it will pick up the highlights in his hair. And what about these for Max, black to match his hair?”

I’d been watching on the sidelines torn between frustrated at them touching my stuff and amused at the affectionate way they ribbed each other. However now they were talking about my favorite pair.

“Oh hell no, those are mine.” I stepped forward.

Leo held them just out of reach. “Why?”

“Because they make my butt look rounder. So gimme,” I snapped, feeling the tips of my ears burn at their snide smirks before they started laughing.

“I’m not kidding. They make my butt pop and I need to feel at my best if I’m going to do this.” I tossed them on the bed. “Right, now make sure they fit you because otherwise all this is pointless.” I watched them struggle to figure out how to do it.

“Come on, guys. It’s not hard. Aren’t you a cowboy for real?” I pointed to Leo. “Don’t you actually own chaps yourself?”

“Someone usually puts them on for me,” he complained, holding them out.

I batted his hand away. “It’s a literal belt, there isn’t much to figure out.”

“Fine, I just wanted to feel included, okay?” Leo flipped me the bird and I grunted into my beer before he managed to get them on. Max was ready first and then I figured I’d better grab my own and put them on so we could see what it looked like for all of us.

We stood facing each other, in our chaps. “Hmm, yours are a bit longer than ours,” Jack said, pointing at Max.

“Because I’m shorter, that’s why, dickhead.”

“How tall are you?”

“6’2.”

Leo snorted. “Take a few inches off.”

Max punched him on the arm. “Fine, I’m six foot.”

“Aw, you’re so short,” Jack teased, slinging an arm around my and Leo’s shoulders. I laughed at the look on Max’s face.

“Six foot isn’t short. But all this ribbing is why guys lie about their height in the first place,” Max retorted.

“Like you did, you mean?” Leo shot back.

“Hey, come on now, Max is younger than us. Maybe he’ll have another growth spurt,” Jack chortled.

“You know what, fuck you.” Max started unbuckling his belt. “And you Tate, I thought you were better than this.”

“You thought wrong,” I joked.

“Like Taylor Swift says, you need to calm down, Max. We’re just kidding,” Leo said. Max folded his arms over his chest, imposing despite being a couple of inches shorter than us, and looked at Leo expectantly. “And you’re hella tall,” Leo sighed, rolling his eyes.

Satisfied, Max flashed a grin. “I know, I’m just playing. If anything you guys are too tall, I’m just right.”

“We look good,” Jack whistled, looking around at each of us.

“And we’ll be shirtless, right? I’m not doing it if we’re not,” Leo said.

“Yes, Fabio, we’ll be shirtless,” I elbowed him. I’d done research and seen it would be shirtless. “Shirtless and cold.”

“Perfect. Right, tomorrow night then, be at my cabin by eight for rehearsals,” Jack said.

“You know, there’s a football game on tonight, right?” Max said, looking at his phone. “Starts in five minutes and I’m pretty sure I saw a big ass TV downstairs when I was snooping earlier.”

“Great, let’s go watch it. We’ve got beer, TV and chaps, what more do we need?” Leo asked.

They all turned to me, waiting for me to agree. As much as it had annoyed me having them invade my space, now they were here I guess it wouldn’t hurt if they stayed a little longer. As long as they stayed in the living room. I looked at their expectant faces and I gave in.

“Sure.”

They thundered down the stairs, still in their chaps, and into the living room.

I followed them, cringing internally when they spread out around the room.

Jack tapped the piano keys. Leo was sitting in my spot which made my eye twitch, but I curbed my compulsory response to kick his ass and take my spot back.

I was kind of having fun with them, so I decided to let it slide.

Just this once though. Next time I would tell them not to touch my stuff and to sit elsewhere but today, since we were bonding, I’d let it go.

“What’s up with you?” I asked Jack as I caught him looking at us all and fighting off a laugh.

“We look like that Friends episode where the girls are sitting around in wedding dresses but instead it’s chaps.”

Leo snorted. “When did you watch Friends?”

Jack shrugged, taking a sip of his water, he didn’t want a beer. “Prison.”

I ended up making popcorn and I snapped when Max dropped some on the couch but he didn’t bat an eye as I made him pick it up. Other than that, it was a good night.

The game was disappointing, our team not doing so well but that made us bond a little more as we complained about them and eventually, they left, with their chaps.

I looked over at Gertrude’s dark windows and sighed before taking myself off to bed. I was just drifting off to sleep when my phone pinged.

I unlocked the screen, squinting at the brightness.

Gertrude: Why did three men leave your house?

Gertrude: Did they rob you?

Gertrude: Are you alive?

Gertrude: Should I call the police?

Gertrude: For real though, Tate?

I felt the smile unfurl across my lips as I read each individual message that pinged through. I thought for a moment about what to reply.

Tate: Miss you too.