I haven't heard from you in days because by now you're sleeping with Will, right?

Upon reading this text, I immediately picked up my phone and dialed Amelia. I needed girlfriend time and I needed it now. Between sex, politics, and my new job, let alone Will's statement that we were dating, I had a lot to cover with her and I wanted advice.

After talking with Will's parents, who were incredibly nice, his mom outgoing, his dad friendly, but less talkative, just like Will, we excused ourselves and Will walked me to the bunkhouse. He followed me inside, all the way to my room, and when we got to it, he closed the door and kissed me hard. Then he muttered that he had to go check on things around the ranch and left. I heard him whistling for Trixie once he got outside.

I changed clothes into jeans and my vegan boots and went into the bunkhouse office to finalize my plans for the upcoming week: a group of thirty 12- and 13- year olds from Oakland. With a group this large, they could not all ride horses at the same time, so I had to schedule more activities for them. Still, it would be fun to have them here. Both Janine and Stephanie were out for the weekend, leaving me and the male wranglers to hold down the fort.

Then I remembered that I had not checked my phone in a long time. Funny, now that I was enmeshed in life at Headlands, I didn't seem to check it very much, unlike how I spent every waking hour on it at home. There was just too much to do here: horses and fresh air and taking care of kids and spending time with Will, among my favorites.

Amelia answered immediately.

"How did you know we fucked?" I asked, without preamble.

"Ha! Lucky guess."

"That's not all that's lucky," I said, and she laughed. "Listen, though. It's an emergency. I need Amelia time. Can you come up?"

"Sure. When?"

"Uh, today?"

"I can leave in an hour and be there in two. Should I bring Ryan so that we can all go out to dinner?"

There was a reason why Amelia was my best friend and this was it. I told her to bring boots and jeans in case she wanted to ride a horse, and stuff to stay overnight.

Two hours later, she and Ryan pulled up in Ryan's Land Cruiser, a surfboard tied to the top.

"I totally have to pee!" exclaimed Amelia, as she burst from the car and gave me a rushed hug.

I laughed. "I know the feeling. Go into that ranch house, down the hallway, two doors down on the left, and don't forget to knock first."

As she ran off, Ryan stepped out of the car.

I may have mentioned previously, that while he was my best friend's guy, a girl had eyes. Boy. Ryan was tall and lanky, but muscular, dressed in jeans—Levi's, thank you very much, that hung down nicely on his hips—and a plaid shirt over a white t-shirt. He had wild, curly blond hair and tanned skin, and when he smiled he had dimples.

"Hey, Marie," he said, in his low, sexy, surfer voice, and pulled me into a tight hug.

Just then, Will walked around the barn, wearing a fitted, but faded black t-shirt that showed off his chest, a trucker hat squashing his waves, and his usual Wranglers and boots. Even from this distance, he affected me in the worst way. He saw us, and a strange look came over his face as he strolled over.

I called out to him, waving, excited, "Will, this is Ryan Fielding, my best friend Amelia's fiance. She's using your bathroom." Will looked at me, and I could read a bunch of emotions that washed over his normally stoic face: apparent relief that I was not with Ryan, surprise that my friends were visiting, and humor at Amelia being just like me.

The guys shook hands, gripping firmly. "Will Thrash."

"Ryan. Nice to meet you. This ranch is great. I have a coffee business and there are some coffee growers I work with in Kona," and Ryan was off chatting with Will as if they had known each other forever. Ryan was the type of guy who would be equally comfortable talking with drunkards at a demolition derby or at a formal dinner with the Queen of England; he was just a cool guy. He was perfect for my girl, and had really helped her through some personal issues. I also knew, from Amelia, that he was dynamite in bed, so I was happy that she had finally found her partner for life. They really were meant to be together.

The ranch house door opened and Amelia walked down, got a glimpse of Will, her violet eyes wide, and mouthed "Holy shit" to me.

"I know," I mouthed. Then I turned to Will. "I invited my best friend up to visit and I thought we could all go out to dinner. Would you like to come?"

"Sure, darlin'," he drawled, and Amelia got a look on her face that wasn't hard to figure out.

"I'd like to take them horseback riding too, if I can find Jimmy or one of the wranglers."

"Sounds good."

Amelia walked up and I introduced her to Will and she shook his hand. She seemed to quiver a little bit in his presence, and I didn't blame her.

We agreed on a time to meet up for dinner, Ryan unstrapped his surfboard, saying that he was going to explore a secret surf break that was supposed to be around here, and Amelia, who was already dressed for riding, and I headed over to the horses. Jimmy got us saddled up, me on Happy, Amelia on Astrix, and we headed out on one of the well-worn trails.

Once we were out of earshot of everyone at the ranch, Amelia started. "Marie, he's gorgeous. No wonder you wanted to tap that. I would want to, too."

"I know. He's amazing. I feel this overwhelming attraction to him, but also this repulsion because of his backwards politics. It's like we're both magnets, and if we get the sides right, there's no separating us, but if we turn the magnet around, there's no getting us together."

"So is the issue that you may want to be with him for more than just the summer?"

"That's exactly it. Isn't it crazy? He's not my type. I mean, remember Jeremy?"

We rode on, through a lemon orchard and out to the rangeland where cattle were gathered under some oak trees.

She laughed. "Man bun. He wasn't enough of a challenge for you. What does your heart say?"

"My heart says that if I don't protect it, I could fall in love with him," I said, admitting and articulating thoughts that were buried really deep.  "And then what would I do? I'm only supposed to be here for the summer. I can't be with him, I have to finish my school."

"I think you're getting ahead of yourself and you have to trust what you feel," said Amelia gently, "and not worry about the consequences yet. There are ways of still going to school and seeing him, if that's what you want to do. This isn't all that far away from home."

"No. But what about this feeling that I'm turning into a cavewoman if I hang out with him. Is he going to start ordering me around and making me eat dinosaur?"

Amelia laughed. "Well, a certain amount of being bossed around is kind of hot. There's a balance. If he respects you, and I think he does, then you'll work it out. You wouldn't be attracted to him if he treated you shitty. I think you guys just argue because you like each other. And cavewomen didn't eat dinosaur."

"I still feel the need to remind him that I am a modern, enlightened woman. He's only two years older than us, but some of his attitudes are from a different generation."

She smiled.

"But he's fucking hot in bed."

Amelia laughed, a full-on laugh, and said, "Girl, now you must spill."

So I told her.  I went into detail about Will's immensely huge junk, which made her eyes flash.  I continued with a discussion about the way he went down on me at the beach, how he had me riding cowboy in his bed the first time we did it, how I then sucked him off in the bathroom, then he nailed me in his shower, and then he made gentle love to me first thing that morning.

"All of this since yesterday?"

"Yes."

"Omigod."

She needed a little bit of time to recover.

Once she had been fully briefed on the situation, she said, "I have an idea."

"Yeah?"

"I think we need to throw these guys off their game. Ryan can be very take-charge too. I think after dinner, we need to do something that they wouldn't expect. Make them be along for the ride instead of us, for a change."

"Will likes to drive."

"So does Ryan. Okay, here's what I'm thinking," she said in a rush.  "I'm thinking we take them to a strip club and see how they act with modern, enlightened females getting lap dances from strippers."

I snorted.  "Amelia! You're starting to think dirty, all the time, like me. But how does going to a strip club with them serve any purpose?"

"One, they're used to telling us what to do and so, for once, we can tell them what to do. Two, it's hot. Three, I want to see their faces. Four, strip clubs aren't just for men. Women can enjoy them too. Five, I think they won't be able to stand it and I totally want to torture them, especially if Will is anywhere near the horny bastard Ryan is. What do you think? Surprise them?"

"Totally. I can't wait to see the look on their faces."

"Or the looks we'll get afterward."