Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 115683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Goddamn it, I want this man. I also want to kill him.
“You jinxed me,” I manage, looking at Dean.
He holds a little finger to his lips. “Won’t do it again.”
I have to smile at how he looks on his horse. He’s already such a pro, handling the horse with an ease that only comes from years and years of experience.
He spots some deer and rides ahead a little ways, leaving me and Colton alone yet again.
I wonder what I should say. Are we going to actually talk about what happened in the barn with the handcuffs? If we are, do I play it cool? How the fuck would I do that?
He clears his throat. “So you’re good.”
“I’m better than good. I’m fucking crushing it, Colton. Obviously.” I motion to the saddle I’m still in.
“No. I mean…after what happened that night at the barn.”
Is he talking about the bite mark he left on me? The one that’s still visible, albeit barely? The one I revisit every night when I’m alone and so turned on I want to scream? Or is he digging into the fact that there’s a fucked-up power dynamic between us with him being the boss and me being…whatever I am to him?
Also, why does he care?
I don’t know how to answer that, so I’m quiet for a beat. “You know, you’re so hot and cold. If you’re gonna push me off this horse, just do it already and put me out of my misery.”
“Aw, Dallas, don’t pretend like you ain’t enjoying hatin’ me.”
“I do like hating you. I’m just confused as to why that happened. Like, why were you Dr. Jekyll then and Mr. Hyde now?”
His turn to pause. He looks down at the reins he holds in his hand. “That day…it was a super shitty one before I ran into you.”
I let out a mirthless laugh. “I mean, how shitty does your day have to be to bite someone?”
“Oh, but you liked the bite, didn’t you?”
Fuck, I really, really liked the bite.
“Keep telling yourself that,” I blurt.
Colton looks away. “I mean, I think it’s safe to say you’re having a shitty day when your sister and your best friend tell you they’re dating or hooking up or whatever behind your back.”
My heart trips to a sudden stop. “You mean Billie—”
“And Ryder. Not sure if you’ve met him yet, but…yeah. Billie and I got into it that day, and…” Looking down, he shakes his head. “Never mind. It’s stupid.”
“Doesn’t sound stupid. Sounds like it hurt. A lot.”
He doesn’t say anything to that.
“You didn’t know about them being together?” I ask.
“Nope.”
“Shit,” I say. “That sucks. I’m sorry.”
Why am I being nice to Colton all of a sudden? He is confiding in me. Which seems totally incongruent with his rudeness from before. But here he is, opening up to me. Even if it’s just a crack.
He lets out a mirthless chuckle. “I been lied to before. Shouldn’t be surprised it happened again.”
I wonder if the person who lied to him was his wife. Is that why he always has to be in control? Why he’s so angry all the time?
I frown. “That’s a sucky way to go through life, thinking everyone’s out to pull one over on you.”
“That’s reality. And now I’m worried…” Colton sighs. “I just don’t want this to blow up in their faces.”
“Billie and Ryder’s?”
“Yes—”
“Guys! Can you ride faster, please?” Dean shouts. “I’m so far ahead of you, jeez!”
Colton chuckles. “We’ll be right there.” He looks at me. “Give your horse a squeeze with your legs. He’ll know to go a little faster. You got this, yeah?”
Wait, wait. Is Colton being nice to me now too? After opening up to me and everything?
It’s a mindfuck of the first degree.
“I’ll do my best,” I say and squeeze the horse like he tells me.
I follow Colton and Dean in a big loop around the pasture before we head back toward the stables. A shadow of disappointment falls across my chest at the prospect of our ride being over. I could keep riding—keep talking—all day.
A woman and a dark brown baby horse are in the corral just outside the barn. The horse canters easily around the corral, and the woman beams, her hands going to the ends of a stethoscope that hangs around her neck.
“Come see, Miss Lainey!” Dean says. “That foal broke her leg a while ago, but Doc Sally fixed her right up.”
“Doc Sally?”
“The head of our veterinary program,” Colton explains. “She’s a rock star surgeon.”
Colton and Dean dismount, handing off their horses to a waiting stable hand. Then, in that no-nonsense way of his, Colton reaches up and grabs me by the waist.
“Same as last time,” he says. “Hands on my shoulders. I got you.”
Same as last time. He says it so casually, like last time didn’t entail handcuffs and mutual masturbation.