I took another drink of my beer. I’d have to let Lacey know all about this. I could just picture the flat, furious look she’d give me when I rubbed this into her face. Emma had her own childhood friend, the same way I did, which meant she probably wasn’t suspicious at all of my relationship with Lacey. The girl was right about a lot of things, but not this.
My shoulders relaxed as that constant tension building for days relaxed. I felt a lot better now. I hadn’t realized how much the thought had been bothering me since she’d brought it up the other day. I didn’t want to choose between Emma and my best friend. I loved them both.
Oh shit.
I took another long sip of beer as Emma continued on about Jack. Yeah, I loved this girl. I was ready to admit that to myself. But as skittish as Emma’d been so far, I’d do well to keep that safely under my hat for the time being. My feelings tended to come on quick. Hers seemed the type to take a while, which was just fine. I could wait for as long as it took.
We finished our beers and ordered another round, this time with a basket of wings and French fries to go with it.
“How’d you like the rodeo?” I asked.
“It was great!” Emma said, her green eyes getting wide and sparkling with excitement. “I haven’t seen a rodeo since I was a kid. And, it was nowhere near as big as that one. It didn’t have barrel racing at all. Lacey was amazing.”
I nodded as I took a bite of chicken wing. “Yeah, she’s something else. She’s been doing that since she was seven or so. Her daddy was big into the rodeo circuit. She can do plenty of shit that I’d get killed trying out. And, the stuff she can do with a lasso will knock you flat. Ask her to show you one day.”
Emma giggled. She’d finished half of her second glass of beer, the alcohol bringing a healthy flush to her cheeks. “I was a little sad to see Max and Tucker go. But I guess I have to get used to that.”
“Lacey has her favorite on the farm, and I have mine. All the others get sold eventually.” I didn’t tell her how reluctant I’d been to sell Max. He was a damn fine quarter horse, definitely one of the best I’d ever had on the farm behind Lacey’s favorite, Elsa. But the guy I’d been dickering with must’ve sensed my hesitation because he offered five hundred over asking price. I’d have been a fool to say no.
“Do you have new horses coming?”
I nodded. “I’ve been talking with a rancher just south of Dallas. I might send Lacey out there. She’s got a better eye than I do, and she’s a helluva lot better at bargaining.”
Emma tilted her head back, showing off her slender neck, and gulped down the rest of her beer.
“No more ranch talk,” I said, grinning at her. “Tonight’s about us.” I dropped my hand on her leg, loving the feel of that silky damned dress, and she let me keep it there this time. I lifted my chin in the direction of the dance floor where a few couples were clasped together and swinging their hips to the country music pumping from the jukebox.
“Want to dance?”
She laughed, her shiny eyes squinted nearly closed. “You’ll have to buy me another drink before I’ll go out there with you.”
I ordered two more beers. I finished mine quickly, just wanting to get on that dance floor with her body pressed up against mine while I rubbed my hands up and down her silky back. She must’ve felt the same because she finished her drink right after I finished mine, putting her empty glass down next to our basket of chicken bones.
I stood and took her by the hand. She was a little tipsy, so I slid and arm around her shoulder as we got out onto the floor. She turned, pressing the front of her lean little body against me, her arms lifting to loop around my neck as I slid my arms around her waist. We rocked to a slow song, never breaking eye contact, her pretty face the only thing I cared to look at in Murdock’s.
After a few more songs, we decided to try another bar on Sixth Street. We said goodbye to Kasey — who hugged Emma first and then turned to hug me, as well — and walked a few doors down to the next place that looked like a good time, the twangy music pulsing from the open doors.
We spent the next few hours hopping from bar to bar, drinking a little and dancing a whole lot, both of us jumping around and laughing during the fast songs and clinging to each other during the slow ones. We dragged ourselves off of the dance floor of the fifth bar, breathing heavily, both of us tipsy as hell, and collapsed onto some empty barstools.
“You want another drink?” I asked, shouting to make my voice heard.
She shook her head. Sweat was glistening on her face. We’d been dancing up a storm for a few solid hours. She leaned to speak directly into my ear, her lips so close I could feel them.
“I want to go back to the hotel.”
It was well past midnight. I nodded to show I agreed with her. I took her by the hand and led her out to the street. I was in no shape to drive after so much beer. We’d just have to come back for the truck in the morning. We caught a taxi back to the hotel, sitting in the backseat together where Emma’s hot little body pressed into mine. She looked up at me with a smile, took hold of the back of my head, and brought my lips down to hers. I pushed my tongue past her lips, and she responded by opening her mouth a little wider. I kept hold of her neck as the kiss got deeper, not wanting to break away from her if we hit a bump in the road.
I dropped a hand to her leg, running my fingers underneath that silky fabric as the kiss got more intense. As I moved up her soft, supple thigh, she opened her legs to me. I slid my fingers between her legs. I could feel the heat on the tips of my fingers as I rubbed them over the crotch of her panties.
She pulled her lips away. “Pete,” she whispered, nearly breathless, her pretty eyes so dark. But she didn’t push my hand away. She only scooted her ass forward on the seat and opened her legs a little wider. I moved her underwear aside, biting my lips to keep back a moan at how wet she was. I rubbed my fingers over her clit, and she arched he
r back, moaning a little. I slid my fingers into that moist heat, loving how tight she was and how her hips moved, rubbing herself against the palm of my hand.
We got to the hotel, and I paid the driver much more than I had to, not sticking around for the change. I adjusted myself, took Emma by the hand, and we rushed inside, taking the elevator up to our floor. We had rooms side by side. Lacey’s was on the same floor, too, a little ways further down the hall.
I fumbled with my key card, cursing it out when it wouldn’t work the first few times I tried. I looked up at Emma to find her dangling her panties from her index finger and grinning at me. I tried the key card again and nearly cried out with relief when it worked that time.
She walked into the dark room ahead of me, lifting her skirt so I could see the bottom of her round little ass. My cock jumped in my pants, and I couldn’t move for a moment, I was so taken with how sexy she was.