Wyatt (Lucky River Ranch, #2)

by Jessica Peterson

For those of y’all with hearts like wild horses. Don’t let them rein you in. (But if a cowboy wants to tie you up and have his way with you, well…)

Sally. My Sally. Holy shit, she came.

Having a good time feels so effortless when I’m with her. I don’t have to put on a show or pretend to be something I’m not. I can be myself, be a mess, and she won’t bat an eye.

“I do miss you,” I blurt. “All the fucking time, Sally. I worry you’ll forget about me. I’m happy you’re living your dream—don’t get me wrong. But life…it’s suddenly all so different, you know? My parents died. And right now, with you, is the first time I feel like I might not die too.”

“You’re like sunshine, you know? Sounds cheesy, but it’s true. I always feel so much better when you’re around.”

My entire being rebels at the thought of letting this girl go. Every single one of my cells screams at me to keep her here, to make her mine. That’s when I know I’m in love with her.

But in my heart of hearts, I know that somehow, over the course of an hour, maybe less, I’ve fallen in love with my best friend. Or maybe I’ve been in love with her all along, and the realization is only hitting me now.

Checking out the cowboy across the bar, I have one thought and one thought only—Damn, I’ve missed this.

Really, Wyatt got this sunshine thing all wrong. He’s the one who’s the sun. The rest of us just float in his orbit, waiting our turn to bask in his warmth and attention.

I glance at the tattoo of a sunrise on my left forearm. Sally’s remarked on it in passing, but she doesn’t know I got it for her. She also doesn’t know about the other tattoo I got for her, the one on my leg. That one, more than the sunrise, is a dead giveaway of how obsessed I am with my best friend.

She doesn’t know that asking me to show her has me thinking about showing her lots of things. Most of them involving nudity and my face between her legs.

Sally loves me as a friend. But I’m in love with her. Big fucking difference.

Sally’s doing a good job of keeping her eyes locked on mine. The extended eye contact is unnerving, but I…kinda like it. Feels like I’m edging myself. How much can I take before I pop a woody and come in my pants like a teenager?

Wanting her this way—being around her—is killing me. It’s torture. The worst, best, sweetest kind of torture there is.

Being with Wyatt always feels like coming home.

“I have a favor to ask.” I reach for the thermos and refill the cup, grateful for the excuse to not look at Wyatt. “Answer’s yes.” “Let me ask it first.” “Answer’s still yes.”

I got no choice when it comes to Sally Powell. If she’s unhappy, I’ll move heaven and earth to make her feel better.

Fuck me for falling in love with a girl who was never, ever going to be mine.

I love the real Wyatt. I need to bring him out more often.

But it ain’t my place to make that choice for her, is it? Choose me. Goddamn, Sunshine, I’m dying for you to choose me.

“Don’t make me say it. You know, Sunshine. You know I wanna be your guy.”

“Lucky for you”—oh God, oh God, Wyatt is slipping a hand onto my face, using his palm to angle my mouth up toward his—“I’m tight with God, and I’ll have you saying his name often. Eventually though, I’d like you to say mine instead.”

This is what I want—to be with a man who knows how to kiss. To be with Wyatt Rivers, his hands all over me.

Ask me for more. Please, God, ask me for the world so I can give it to you.

“You’re beautiful, Sal. So fucking beautiful.”

“You saved my life, you know,” I huff out. Her teeth find my palm. Her eyes flash with something I don’t recognize. “Maybe you’re saving mine too.”

I’ve been ready my whole life to be loved by you this way.

His kiss tastes like us.

“I want you to be my guy. Not just the guy I have a good time with. But the guy I call, and confide in, and come home to.”

I don’t want to be anyone’s dirty little secret. Not that Sally ever made me feel that way. But it’ll be nice to date her out in the open. To love her the way I’ve always wanted to love her.

Now was never going to be long enough with Wyatt, was it? I want him forever. I want to be kissed like this forever.

“Beautiful.” It’s all I can manage. A single word. Her lips curl into a hazy smile. “That’s how you make me feel, Wyatt.” She cups my cheek in her hand. “Beautiful.” My briefs dampen. I’m leaking. I’m in love.

Only with Sally, I’m able to be a whole human being. I can be the flirt, the good friend, and an even better boyfriend, but I can also be the man who’s grieving. Who’s hurt. The man who wants to do the right thing, but doesn’t know how.

I’m so fucking in love with this girl that I literally can’t speak. For a split second, I worry I’m having a heart attack.