Page 142 of Knot my First Rodeo

By the time dinner is over and the dishes are done, the guys drift toward the living room while I head upstairs with my laptop balanced under one arm.

The online shopping starts innocently enough. At least, that's what I tell myself.

One rodeo outfit turns into three, and a pair of cowboy boots.

An off the wall outfit that’s more like a costume catches my eye. I stare at it for a long moment. The image flashes through my head, of me coming out of the bathroom in it before we have sex. I picture Clint forgetting how to speak, Tripp looking entirely too pleased with himself, and Briggs trying very hard not to stare.

The whole costume immediately goes into my cart.

No regrets.

The horse search starts by accident. One minute I'm looking at boots, and the next, I'm scrolling through horse listings.

Buckskins, Paints, and Quarter horses. A buckskin mare with a white blaze stops me cold. I click through every picture and save the listing, just in case.

The SUV search comes next. If I’m going to be here permanently, I’ll need four-wheel drive, heated seats, and… ooh, remote start.

I sit back against the headboard and stare at the screen. The horse, the SUV, the clothes. I’m shopping for my future.

My fingers hover over the keyboard and I smile. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. But every time I picture the future now, it looks a little less like Virginia, and a little more like Montana.

Chapter

Forty-One

Tripp

The idea starts the night we get home from the rodeo.

Autumn disappeared upstairs after dinner. Considering she'd spent the entire weekend trapped in trucks, motels, arenas, and bars with the three of us, I figure she's earned time alone.

I’m stretched out on one end of the couch when I hear her bedroom door close upstairs. Clint’s in his recliner across from me, half watching whatever show is on TV, and half staring at his phone.

"We should take her on dates." I point at him.

"We should." The corner of his mouth twitches.

I sit forward, resting my forearms on my knees. "Think about it. She got sent here to disappear for a while. To be omega-sat and stay hidden. Meeting her scent matches wasn't supposed to happen. Hell, finding a pack wasn't supposed to happen. She got dropped into the middle of our lives, and somehow ended up right in the center of them."

Clint nods slowly. “Autumn deserves to be courted.”

Not because she's an omega, because she's Autumn.

She deserves flowers and dates and somebody opening the damn door for her once in a while. She deserves somebody planning something nice just because it would make her smile. The fact that she's an omega only makes me feel stronger about it. Omegas are supposed to know they're wanted. Not because instinct says so, but because the people who love them make sure they never have to question it.

I lean back into the couch cushions.

"I call first."

Clint immediately rolls his eyes. "You can't call dibs on a woman."

"I'm not calling dibs on Autumn," I argue.

"It sounds like you are."

"I'm calling dibs on the first date."

"Same thing."