Perfect Secret by Molly McLain
Prologue
FOUR YEARS EARLIER…
“I’m done with men. In fact, from now on, I’m a lesbian.”
From the stool beside me at Pony Up’s glossy mahogany bar, Laken laughs. “Oh, sweetie, you don’t want to do that. Toys are nice, but nothing compares to a real life dick.”
“Ugh. Dicks are nothing but trouble. T-r-o-u-b-l-e. Especially the ones attached to cheating, no good bull riders.” I reach for my drink, but it’s empty. Dammit, who drank it when I wasn’t looking?
“The one attached to Cory Mitchell is the absolute worst, but I wouldn’t write off all men, Al. Most are pretty decent. Take Aiden, for example.” Emma bats her eyelashes and purses her lips, and I almost throw up. I’ve been away from Mason Creek for almost three years, but she’s still just as gaga over my brother as she’s always been.
“Eww. Do not bring Aiden into this.” I lift my empty glass in the air to catch the attention of the bartender. Maybe if I have just one more drink, I’ll forget she said that. Maybe I’ll forget about Cory, too.
“Already?” Jack strolls over with a smirk to go along with his cowboy swagger.
“Yep. Fill me up, handsome!”
“Won’t be able to say that again if you become a lesbian now, will you?” Jessie snarks and Jack’s brows dart up.
“Who’s a lesbian? Alana?”
“Yep. Mason Creek’s golden boy turned me into one. I never want to see another dick in my life.”
He chuckles and takes my glass, adding a scoop of ice before the Malibu. “Not sure ‘golden boy’ is the correct term. Douche canoe, maybe. Sack of dog shit, for sure.”
“How is it that everyone knew he was bad news but me?” Maybe I should have come home from college more often. Maybe they would have clued me in, not that I would have listened.
“Love makes us blind.” Laken sighs and Emma nods along.
“She’s right,” Jack says, topping off my drink with pineapple juice. “Don’t let an asshole like that make you shut up shop and miss out on all the fun. You’re young yet. Hell, you’re just starting out.”
Starting out? Nah, I’ve taken a few too many steps backward for that. At twenty-one, I should be spending the summer interning and planning my future, not back home nursing a broken heart and suddenly questioning everything.
For four years, I built my life around Cory. My high school sweetheart and the man who’d promised we’d grow old together on a ranch right here in Mason Creek once he retired from bull riding.
But instead, he broke every promise he’d ever made to me in a single weekend. With not just one girl… not even two… but three. Three buckle bunnies in as many days.
And just like that, everything I thought to be true about my life came crashing down around me.
And he didn’t just tell me about it—he bragged. Like I was supposed to be as proud of him for breaking my heart as I was him adding another buckle to his collection.
Maybe all men aren’t lying, cheating scumbags, and maybe I’m not really going to become a lesbian, but I will never—and I mean never—so much as look at a man in cowboy boots and chaps again.
And I will absolutely never—tie me to a stake and set me on fire never—fall for another bull rider.