Free Cowboy Famous: Book 4 (Cowboy Justice Association) by Olivia Jaymes Page B

made any difference now, would it?” Griffin turned on the heel of his well-worn cowboy boots and made straight for his truck. His day was turning out to be a real doozy. He couldn’t help but long for a quiet lazy afternoon on the lake.
    But he sure as shit wasn’t going to get it.
    *   *   *   *
    The smell of stale beer and sweat coiled around Griffin as he walked through the now quiet roadhouse. In just a few hours the place would be filled with people stopping in for a cold one after working all day. The jukebox in the corner would be rocking and the air would be filled with cigarette smoke but at the moment the only sounds were the other men laughing and popping open a soda can. The roadhouse wasn’t allowed to serve alcohol outside of business hours, not that the men would have drunk it anyway. They were on duty.
    Griffin pulled out a chair, sank into it with a sigh, and caught the cold can that Seth slid down to him.
    “What did I miss?” Griffin asked with a smile. Just being around his friends made him feel better. He trusted these men more than anyone else in the world, and he knew they trusted him. They’d seen some rough times but they’d always pulled together.
    “I was just giving Logan some shit.” Reed laughed and took a swig of his soda. “He’s too fucking happy. It gives me the creeps.”
    Reed Mitchell was the slickest, coolest son of a bitch Griffin had ever known. He made everything look easy – the job, women, fishing. Fuck, Griffin had never seen anything Reed wasn’t good at. And the kicker? Reed didn’t give a shit either way.
    He didn’t care if women chased him. Although they did.
    He didn’t care if he was the best shot of them all. But he was.
    Reed was also the most mysterious. Griffin had known him for over five years and yet didn’t know a damn thing that was truly personal. Reed played it close to the vest without being an asshole about it. The men knew that was what he wanted and they all respected it. Once Griffin had been having some drinks with Jared and Logan and they’d speculated about Reed’s past, coming up with ever increasingly outlandish tales. Logan had postulated that Reed had been some sort of spy and Jared thought Reed might be a genius on the run from foreign governments. Or several ex-wives.
    They’d probably never know.
    “You hate familial happiness,” Seth Reilly countered with a grin. “You should talk to a shrink about that. It’s a flaw in your character.”
    “One of many, I fear,” Reed mocked and then shuddered. “All this conjugal bliss makes me break out in hives.”
    Jared Monroe sat back and stretched out his long legs, a smile playing on his lips. “As long as it’s not contagious I’m fine with it.”
    “Not looking to find a good woman and settle down? Man wasn’t meant to walk alone.” Tanner Marks nodded as he studied the men around the table. “A good woman can be the making of a man.”
    “And a bad one can be his undoing,” Griffin replied. “But then you’re so happily married you can’t even think straight. It’s all that sex. It messes with your mind.”
    Tanner chuckled and popped a potato chip into his mouth. “I’ll go to my grave crazy but well laid, thank you very much.”
    “A man can have sex without marrying a woman these days, Tanner.” Jared snagged the bag of chips from the middle of the table and pulled them toward his end. “Trust me on this one. I know.”
    Jared certainly did know. His story was serial monogamy. He’d date one woman until she started to squawk about marriage and kids and suddenly Jared would have a new one on his arm. Generally the ladies lasted twelve to twenty-four months tops. All of them beautiful and all of them successful. Jared’s standards for perfection were way too high for anything else.
    “Can I interrupt with a little bit of business?” Griffin queried. “Dare resigned today. He’s moving back to his hometown, Valley Station. He’s going to take