Roseanne.
Roseanne: I almost kissed the cowgirl again.
*Hyeri Calling*
"Wait. So, you didn't kiss her?" Hyeri sounds horrified by the prospect.
"No, Hyeri." I huff out a breath, still jumbled this morning from my run in with Lisa yesterday. Still slightly embarrassed by my outburst when I slid off her horse and sulked the rest of the way back to the ranch. And still a little obsessed with the way it felt to have her pressed up against me while we doubled up on the way back.
Too good is what it felt like.
Oh, and I also have bruises on my inner thighs from riding like a bat out of hell to rescue Lisa from what I was envisioning as some sort of hillbilly showdown in my head.
"That's disappointing. You're such a bore sometimes. A young, hot bore who should be living it up." She sighs and takes a bite of something crunchy on the other end of the line.
"Thank you for the vote of confidence, bestie. How's your dating life then if I'm so boring?"
"Meh. Every time I think I've met someone, they either end up boring me to death or just wanting to tell me what to do."
I laugh. "Godspeed to the man who tries to tell Hyeri what to do."
"Amen," is my friend's solemn reply.
"It's okay to put yourself first. Don't settle, Hyeri."
She's quiet for a few moments. All I can hear is her chewing. Probably cookies. She loves baking. "You should take your own advice."
I grunt at that. I guess if I'm going to hit her with truth bombs, she can do the same to me. "I'll try if you do."
"Okay." I can hear the smile in her voice now. "Keep me posted on how riding the cowgirl goes."
I shake my head and say, "Love you, psycho," before hanging up on her. I head down to the cozy kitchen to have a cup of coffee before Lisa and I need to leave for the airport.
Butterflies dance in my stomach at the thought of coming face to face with her after practically climbing her last night. She was the perfect gentleman, never taking more than I was willing to give. But there's this part of me that wishes she had. Then I wouldn't be kicking myself for not telling her to kiss me again.
Because I just know that having Lisa Manoban kiss me for real, not because my ex is watching, would be different. Good different. And I don't know if I'm ready to cross that line with her. We're already dangerously close, closer than is professional, but not career-ruining levels of unprofessional.
Friends.
I huff out a quiet laugh at how adept I am at lying to myself as I round the corner into the kitchen and plaster on my go-to smile, the one I wear like a suit of armor.
But I don't need it. The only people here are Marco and Ten.
"Good morning," I sing-song as I breeze in and grab myself a mug from the wooden cabinet.
"Good morning, Roseanne," Marco smiles kindly, as always.
Ten crosses his arms and leans back in his chair. I think he offers a low grunt and a tip of his chin in way of greeting.
"Not a morning person, Ten?" I ask, knowing that I'm poking the bear and not really caring. He could use some poking.
"I'm a rancher. Of course, I'm a morning person. I've been up for hours already."
I pour myself the last cup of coffee, lean back against the counter, and smile at her over the lip of the mug. "So, it's just good moods in general that you have something against?"
His cheek tugs up momentarily before he hides it with his own cup of coffee. "No, I'm just working myself up to apologizing."
"To who?" My head quirks as my eyes flip over to Marco, who snorts.
