I take the opportunity to throw the last bit of my sandwich, and it hits him right on the cheek.
“Really,” he deadpans, wiping the side of his face. “You know I hate mustard.”
“It’s more than that,” I explain.
“You should have tried taking her on an actual date again instead of inviting her to a party last weekend,” Gage suggests. “She looked uncomfortable as hell at times, not gonna lie.”
I groan and squeeze my eyes shut. “I know. I’m surprised she showed up at all, to be honest.”
“Mauling her with your mouth in front of Emma’s ass and everyone else didn’t help,” Tripp says.
That earns a chuckle from Heston who’s running the blade of his pocket knife over the end of a stick. While the rest of us are in the saddle, he’s sitting on the ground, back against a big tree and hat pulled down low. We had to bring out some t-posts and a post driver to fix fence today, so he drove the side-by-side instead of riding his horse.
“Give her another call,” Gage continues, trying to help my pitiful situation.
I didn’t get hung up on a girl that kind of hates me on purpose. It just happened, like I couldn’t control it. I miss her and we’re not evenfriends. Her words.
“You don’t think I’ve tried that? She’s gun shy and won’t even talk to me,” I say.
“Give me your phone,” Tripp demands.
“Yeah right. I’m not?—”
He snatches it out of my hand before I finish my sentence and immediately starts typing away on it. My heart sinks because I know it was already unlocked and he’s probably about to make a bad situation even worse. When I move my horse closer to his to try and take it back, he signals to his horse to move back without even touching the reins.
Most people wouldn’t expect Tripp to be such a skilled rider. Of all of us, he spends the most time in the saddle. He barely has to move his feet and legs, and his horse knows exactly what to do. I sigh and drop my shoulders knowing there’s no stopping whatever he’s about to do without literally jumping on him.
He brings the phone up to his ear and holds one finger up like he’s waiting for someone to answer. I almost throw up when his eyebrows shoot up and he starts talking.
“Hi, is this Savannah?” he asks. I swat my arm out again and then even throw my hat. All failed attempts to stop him. Gage is laughing his ass off behind me and Heston is leaning back and looking up at us, scowling at Tripp’s antics, but still interested in how they’re going to play out.
“My friend Warren here is down bad for you, and I was wondering if maybe you could come over and put him out of his misery. He said he’ll rub your back and kiss your feet every day for a year if you’ll be his girlfriend,” Tripp says.
“You’re fucking kidding me right now,” I seethe as I finally get close enough to him to grab his arm. With a huge shit-eating grin, he turns the phone toward me, showing the home screen and no phone call.
“Psych,” Tripp laughs. Between coughs and gulps of breath from cackling so hard, he hands the phone back over.
Ding
He’s lucky a text chime comes through because I was about to chuck the phone right at his nose. With one last glare at him, Iturn my gaze to the phone screen. The smile that curves onto my face is impossible to hide when I see who it’s from.
“She texted me,” I say, shocked.
“Never underestimate manifestation,” Tripp grins. “You’re welcome.”
Savannah
Can we talk?
Before I get the chance to text back, a call from my dad comes in. I answer it right away like I always do when it’s someone from my family.
“What’s up, Dad?”
He grunts like he’s standing from a sitting position. “Just had some lunch at the house. You still out in the pasture?”
“Yeah, we’re finishing up. Should be done before the heat gets too bad this afternoon.”
“Good deal,” he says. “Anything else been going on lately?”
