Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 55599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
The last mile of our horseback riding is slow. All eight of us who are visiting are still taking in the scenery. It’s like a painting. There are tall mountains in the distance, vibrant green trees, fields of tall grass and colorful wildflowers. And the sunsets here are spectacular.
Linc came to watch us in the playoffs, and when he offered a stay at his ranch to anyone who wanted a getaway to shake it off, several of us took him up on it. In addition to me, Josie, Jenn, Aiden, Dalton, Justin, Tate and our trainer, Gina, are all here.
Josie has become great friends with Jenn, Elena and Gina, and she’s getting closer to Trinity on this trip. Not only does she fit into our group perfectly, but I fit in better than I ever have now that I’ve settled down with her.
As soon as we get back to the newly built stables, Josie’s horse takes a massive shit. She grabs the shovel Linc showed us how to shovel horse shit with, but I take it from her.
She gives me an amused look. “You think I’m too precious to shovel shit?”
“He just loves horseshit,” Aiden quips. “Almost as much as he loves bullshit. You’ll see.”
I flip him off with my free hand before cleaning up the mess. The women all want to brush the horses, so we do that before heading for the screened-in porch for an afternoon drink.
Linc and Trin did an incredible job on the renovation of this place. They had the main lodge completely updated and they added on to and remodeled the guesthouse. There are new heated and air-conditioned quarters for their eleven rescued dogs. They also have several cats, four goats, eleven horses and a bunch of chickens.
The massive screened-in porch was a new addition, as was an in-ground pool and hot tub.
Tate slides behind the bar on the porch and starts serving drinks, starting with glasses of wine and amaretto stone sours for the women.
“Do I smell like a horse?” Jenn asks Josie.
Josie sniffs her. “Yep. But I think we all do.”
“We’ll get in the pool later,” Aiden says. “That’ll take care of it.”
Jenn shakes her head. “There’s no soap in the pool. You have to take a shower before bed tonight.”
He gives her a ridiculous smolder. “You know you love my man musk, baby. It’s my pheromones that make you jump me every night.”
She laughs as Tate passes her a glass of wine. “Yeah, no. I spend enough time smelling your sweaty hockey gear. You can at least shower on vacation.”
Josie slides onto my lap, a bottle of water in hand. “Don’t forget we’re making dinner tonight.”
I groan because cooking sucks. We divided it up, though, because none of us wants Linc and Trin cooking for us every night.
“What are we making?”
“Steak and shrimp fajitas.”
“I’ll try not to drink so much beer that I fall onto the grill.”
She shrugs. “I’d still do you if you had grill marks on your face.”
“That’s true love,” Gina says from nearby.
Dalton hands Dane a fresh beer, then gets everyone’s attention. He raises his bottle into the air.
“I’d like to propose a toast to myself in honor of my upcoming appearance on Celebrity Singles. I expect you all to have watch parties every week when it’s done filming and spend every minute of every day on social media making sure I’m trending.”
“You’re gonna be the first one voted off the island,” Tate says.
“There’s no island. And Archer found his true love on a reality show, remember?”
“Who else is going to be on this show?” Lincoln asks.
“No idea. None of us are allowed to know until we get there.” Dalton glares at him. “Anyway, back to my toast.”
“Are you even looking for love, though?” Trinity asks her brother. “Last time you were here you said you like being single.”
Dalton lowers his bottle, looking agitated. “I’m...looking for exposure.”
“Bro. Do not expose yourself. It’s not a good way to pick up women,” Justin says.
“Especially not when your dick’s as small as his,” Tate adds.
Dalton sighs heavily. “Will you fuckers stop? I proposed a toast.”
“No one proposes a toast to themselves,” Linc says. “That’s where you went wrong.”
“Fine.” Dalton raises his bottle again. “A toast to all the women I’m going to meet.”
“Such a bad idea,” I say to Josie. “Seriously, what’s your professional opinion?”
She cringes, looking apologetic. “I mean...there are some scenarios where it could be good.”
“But more where it could be bad.”
“Yeah? Those shows with marriage proposals at the end are always pretty...soapy, I guess. They don’t seem real. Everyone’s sleeping with everyone. At least it seems like it.”
Dalton shakes his head and tips back his beer, abandoning his toast.
“I think we should go shower,” I say. “I’m sweaty from being outside so much.”
The corners of Josie’s lips tilt up slightly in a smile because she knows I really want sex followed by a shower. Her business is booming, which is great, but we’ve never had this much time together with neither of us working. We’ve been making the most of it.