Page 26 of Reckless Skye

TJ did not waste time, Skye thought, as he left her at the front of the house after they’d unsaddled and brushed down both horses, saying only, ‘Wear jeans and boots. I’ll pick you up at six.’

She watched him walk away with a half-smile on her face, but the moment she stepped inside, very real anxiety settled in her stomach. She didn’t know anything about dating, about men in general. And TJ was so experienced, so confident.

Instead of making herself sick over it, Skye went up to her room. Bandit, who had met her at the front door, followed closely on her heels. She showered and then headed back to her room to change, while the dog dozed on the rug on the floor.

Deciding that there was no better time to do it, Skye spread out on her bed and started a new Instagram account.

After twenty minutes of searching for a username that wasn’t taken, she settled on recklessskye. She uploaded that first picture Stevie had taken of her and Smokey, and then, because they were on her mind, followed Andrea and Stevie first.

They both followed her back within five minutes. Stevie, who ran a fashion lifestyle account with over two hundred thousand followers, gave her a shoutout in her stories, so that Skye’s follower count hit two-fifty before she’d even posted.

She sent Stevie a text:

Thank you! Now I just have to figure out what to post every day! LOL …

Just think of it as your own reality TV show. You’re doing this super cool thing! Document everything!

Skye gave the message a thumbs-up, but because her date with TJ was still hovering on the forefront of her mind, she replied with:

Have a date tonight, btw.

Stevie didn’t reply. She FaceTimed. Immediately.

Skye answered the call with, ‘That was quick.’

‘This is momentous! Who? What? Where? Tell me everything?’ Before Skye could get a word in, Stevie added, ‘Actually, hold that thought. Let me add Andrea.’

Skye waited patiently while Stevie added Andrea to the call, knowing that she’d rather tell them both at once anyway – and then take whatever advice they gave her and find the middle ground.

Andrea answered with, ‘Guys, I’m at work. Can I call you back tonight?’

‘Skye has a date!’ Stevie blurted.

Andrea’s eyes widened. ‘Give me one minute.’ She stood up from her cubicle and tucked the phone against her shirtfront, blocking her camera while she walked, and when she came back on the screen, she was in the restroom. ‘Oh my God, you have a date?’ she squealed.

Skye tried for nonchalance. ‘Jeez, if I’d known y’all would get so excited, I’d have done this ages ago.’

But the girls saw straight through her.

‘It’s okay to be scared,’ Andrea said gently.

Stevie propped her phone on her kitchen counter and sat down on a barstool. ‘Are you kidding? Given what you’ve been through, it’d be weird if you weren’t.’

‘I’m not scared of him – physically. He’s …’ How did she even begin to describe TJ? ‘He’s super arrogant, but in a kinda self-aware, playful way.’ Skye thought back to the way TJ had wordlessly dismounted and walked back with her, instead of making her ride double. ‘I think he’s a good guy.’

Stevie clasped her hands together and did an old-school cartoony victory pump.

Andrea frowned, clearly worried. ‘I’m concerned. What’s his name? Let me verify him.’

‘Verify him?’

‘I’ll pay for a background search.’

Skye rested her chin in her hand. ‘No, you’re not paying for a background search. But I love you for caring.’

‘What’s his name?’ Stevie asked. ‘We’re at least allowed a vibe check, right?’

‘Jesse James Jones.’