“I scrubbed out all the water buckets first tonight,” he retorted.
“And yesterday you cleaned our tack?”
“Yeah. You can’t say I didn’t do a good job.”
“No, I can’t say that, but you didn’t ask first.” ’Course, I’d have had to say no, if he did. The boss had spoken loud and clear on that.
Austin huffed, like I’d punched him. “No, I guess not. I’ll be going, then.”
“Going where?”
“Why do you care? I’ll stop trespassing.”
“And do what?” I glared at him. “Go die in your truck?” What kind of man did he take me for?
Austin met my gaze, his jaw clenched, those full lips pressed flat, and I realized maybe hewasthinking along those lines. Maybe this little trade of labor for a place to sleep that wasn’t below freezing was the only idea he’d had, and I’d shot it down.
“See you around, Seth,” Austin told me, turning for the door.
“The fuck you will!” I lunged and grabbed the back of his parka. Austin staggered as I yanked. He fell sideways, slamming against me, knocking me into the nearest stall door. For a moment, I had my arms full of wiry, angry, wild-eyed man. Then he wrenched free and ran.
Chapter 5
Austin
Tangled thoughts whirled in my head as I sprinted for the barn door. I hadn’t eaten much for days, hadn’t slept well because it was fucking cold even huddled under a blanket beside a horse. Somehow, in my head, Seth got mixed up with my father, with that last night I’d spent at home. The heavy thud of his feet behind me was pain and anger, a brandished weapon, waiting to land on my head.
I’d almost reached the door when he tackled me. We hit the floor hard with me underneath, the breath knocked out of me. Despite my pained gasps, I tried to fight, swinging wildly.
Seth grabbed my wrists. “Stop! Quit it!” He pinned me to the ground.
My chest heaved futilely as I struggled for air and fought to get free.
Seth barked, “Austin, stop!”
The sound of my name got through. I wasn’t Frankie anymore. This wasn’t my father. I slumped, letting myself go limp until my lungs quit spasming.
Seth bent over me, his narrowed eyes boring into mine in the faint glow of a fallen flashlight, holding my arms pinned over my head. “You’renotgoing out there in the snow.”
The fuck I’m not.I managed to wheeze, “You’re not my boss. You’re not my father.”
“Thank God for that!”
For an instant, something hot and heavy passed between us, lightning in a thunderstorm. Seth yanked his hands from my wrists like my skin burned him, and scuttled away, pushing to his feet.
He put his back to the door. “I’m not the kind of guy who can let even a stranger run off and die, and you’re not a stranger.”
What am I?I couldn’t argue with the rest. I was tired and lost, down to spinning stories in my head as I huddled against the cold, hour after hour. It’d be so easy to let go. I sat up, feeling achy and weak, and rubbed my eyes. “What, then?”
“What was your plan before you ended up here?”
“San Francisco.” Since I didn’t much care anymore, I added, “Somewhere I could be gay and not worry about a chair cracked over the back of my head.”
I saw his throat ripple as he swallowed hard, squeezing his eyes shut for a second, and wondered if I should be afraid, but he said, “Wouldn’t that be most places, these days?”
Not my house.A flash of Dad coming after me, swinging that chair with his beefy arms, made me sway, but I shoved the memory down. “Frisco just sounded nice.”
“The locals don’t call it Frisco.” Seth ran a hand over his head, further mussing his curly blond hair. From the look of him, down to the pillow crease on his tanned cheek, I’d somehow roused him out of his bed.
