I blinked rapidly and felt my heart rate speed up.
“I do if you’re leading her to believe that whatever’s going on between you two will be a mutually monogamous relationship.”
Cowboy shoved off the stall, shuffled a few feet away, and kicked at a clump of mud mixed with hay. At least I thought it was mud…until the barn’s pungent odor of manure worsened. Then he spun around to face Jake, irritation lighting up his face. “I guess this is your way of telling me to leave Anna alone…all because you don’t think I can be faithful to a woman.”
Jake shrugged, unaffected by Cowboy’s temper. “Just looking out for her best interests.”
“And that isn’t me, right?”
“Damn it, Cowboy. Anna’s not like other girls you’ve chased. She’s always been so sweet and innocent and…naive. From the looks of her, I don’t think any of that has changed. I just don’t want you to do anything to disrespect her.”
Sweet and all, Jake, but you could’ve left off the part about me being naive. Jeez.
“So what you’re really saying is you don’t want me to soil her reputation. Why the hell would I do that?”
Jake gave him a get-real look. “If she takes a bath with a dog, he’s not going to dirty only his half of the water.”
Cowboy’s face reddened and anger flashed in his eyes. He took three large strides and got into Jake’s face, making my eyes widen. And Jake didn’t back down. Ox and Judd shifted closer to the faced-off pair, as if they were readying themselves to break up a fist fight.
“When the fuck did you get so self-righteous, you bastard?” Cowboy snarled. “If it wasn’t for Emily, you’d probably be out at the bar right now looking for some action.”
“Don’t confuse my string of morality with yours, jackass. And don’t bring Emily into this, either. I’m not the one who went home with every girl who sashayed her ass in my face.” Then Jake’s voice deepened, doing the best Cowboy impression he could muster. “Why buy the milk when I can get the pair of tits for free? Sound familiar, asshole?”
Cowboy huffed out an annoyed breath, but backed down, stepping away from the other three men. He took his hat off and scrubbed his hand through his unruly sandy-blond hair. “Yeah, well maybe I’m looking to change my ways.”
I blinked, not sure I heard him correctly. Or maybe he didn’t mean it the way it sounded. But if I pressed my cheek any closer to the slats in the gate, I was going to have splinters in my face. He couldn’t have possibly meant…
They all stared blankly at Cowboy, and then a slow smile formed on each of their faces.
“What?” Cowboy asked, seemingly confused by their grins.
That’s when the laughter began.
Jake let out a loud barking laugh, chuckling so hard that he held his belly and doubled over with tears springing into his eyes. Judd snorted and threw his head back, chortling himself into hysterics. Ox slapped his knee, hooting and cackling so much I was sure he would fall over any minute and roll around on the ground laughing.
At first, Cowboy didn’t appear to appreciate their expressed humor. He looked like he was on the verge of having an aneurysm the way the vein in his temple kept popping out. But the more the others laughed, the more Cowboy’s expression softened, until he ended up chuckling a little himself.
But I wasn’t amused in the least.
“Never would’ve believed that line of bullshit in a hundred years,” Jake said, still snickering. “Like some stuffy librarian would be the cause of your demise. You can’t even keep your dick in your pants long enough to be serious about any girl, much less a mouse like Anna.”
Cowboy tossed his hat back onto his head and glared at his friend. “You know what, Jake? Go fuck yourself.”
Yeah. What he said.