Playing With Fire

I ground my teeth together, offended by his question. Thanks a lot, Jake.

Then he added, “I mean, she’s a cute girl and all. But since when did you become a sucker for a woman with a brain?”

That comment had me biting my lip and stifling a laugh.

Cowboy shrugged, but still didn’t say anything.

Jake shook his head and gri

“Spill what?” Cowboy asked, shifting uncomfortably.

“I want to know what’s going on with you and the woman who dresses like a grandma.”

I cringed. This was precisely why people shouldn’t eavesdrop.

Then Jake said, “You’ve been behaving strangely today and I’m betting it has something to do with A

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cowboy said.

Jake sighed. “Don’t play fucking games with me. Or with A

Cowboy leaned back, hooking one arm over the top railing of a nearby stall, as he gave the others a cool look. “I’m not interested in playing games with anyone.”

“But you’re interested…in her?” Jake asked, his expression souring.

“So what if I am? You got a problem with that?”

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 A

Jake shrugged, unaffected by Cowboy’s temper. “Just looking out for her best interests.”

“And that isn’t me, right?”

“Damn it, Cowboy. A

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 a

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 A

Cowboy tossed his hat back onto his head and glared at his friend. “You know what, Jake? Go fuck yourself.”

Yeah. What he said.

Jake gri

Judd shook his head and squinted in confusion. “Why are you getting so mad, Cowboy? You got a real hankering for this girl or what?”

“No!” Cowboy’s mouth tightened into a grim line before he released it on a heavy sigh. “Maybe.”

I rolled my eyes. Obviously, he said that to shut his friends up. I didn’t know why they continued to pester him about me, but I hated that I was stuck there listening to them talk about me like…like…well, like I wasn’t there. Sheesh.

“Come on, Cowboy. You have no shortage of women wanting to jump into your bed. What the hell do you want with A

“That’s none of your damn business.”

“It is if you’re going to hurt her.”

“Yeah, and I’m genetically coded to do that because I’m not you, right?” Cowboy’s tone was anything but friendly.

“Why her?” Jake asked gruffly. “Why not someone like Mandy? She’d be a better fit for someone like you.”

“Someone like me, huh?” Cowboy shook his head, allowing irritation to show plainly on his pinched lips and narrowing eyes as he glared at Jake.

“Well, you said she propositioned you before.”

“I think that was only to make some boyfriend of hers jealous. But you know damn well I don’t fish in another man’s pond. Never have. It isn’t sportsmanlike and you tend to catch things you don’t want.” Cowboy shook his head at Jake. “I thought you of all people knew that about me. Guess I was wrong.”

I felt bad being a voyeur to Cowboy’s persecution. He hadn’t done anything to deserve Jake being so hostile.

“Look, I don’t know what you’re getting pissy about. I just don’t understand what you want with A

“Because you think I’m only looking for a piece of ass, is that it?”

Jake raised one eyebrow. “Well, aren’t you?”

“Ya know, I almost hate to deflate your already low opinion of me, but I’m not nearly the jackass you automatically assume I am when it comes to women.”

Jake scratched his head and gri

“How the hell am I supposed to do that?”

“By leaving A

Cowboy marched over to Jake and shoved him. “Fuck you, Jake! Why don’t you mind your own goddamn business and stay out of my relationship with A

“So you admit there’s a relationship between you two?”

“Of course there is, you fucking prick! What the hell do you think we’ve been talking about all this time?”

Jake gri

Cowboy looked as puzzled as I felt. “What the hell’s so fu

“You are,” Jake said, still laughing his ass off. “You want this girl so bad, you can’t even see straight.”

What? What the heck was he talking about? Cowboy and I were just friends. Nothing more. There could never be anything more.