“J.” His green eyes swim with irritation. “Drop it while you still can.”
Max puts his hand on Liam’s shoulder and steers him toward his truck. “Come on. Let’s head to the airport.”
Ashley and I wave goodbye as they pull out of Wild Ranch, and then we walk to our cabin.
It’s a cool fall day, and the sun is just setting. We sit together on the dock and watch it go all the way down. She rests her head on my shoulder.
“You tired?” I ask her.
“I am. I tossed and turned last night for a while.”
“Because of what you need to talk to me about?”
“Yes,” she says.
“I want to hear everything, and hopefully I can help. But can I grab a shower first? All I can smell is horse.”
She laughs. “That’s because you and Hunt insisted on cleaning up the manure pile before we rode.”
“And Hunt doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing. He backed me right into the damn pile.”
Still laughing, we stand up and walk arm-in-arm to the cabin.
I give her a kiss and go shower, but when I return to the bedroom, she’s already fallen asleep.
I tuck in behind her and follow her into sleep with my arm over her warm body.
She has an in-office meeting with Mia bright and early the next morning, and by the time I wake up, she’s already left the cabin.
Meet me for lunch?
I smile at her note with the smiley face at the end. I text her that I’ll meet her at her office and treat her to a meal around noon, and then I head in to work.
We have a skate and drills session in preparation for our game tomorrow night.
I skate hard and do the drills even harder.
As I leave the ice, I’m wiping sweat off my brow.
I look up, and Declan is waving to me from outside the locker room doors.
When I reach him, he hands me a key.
“What’s this?” I ask, my mind on meeting up with Ashley for lunch.
“Cabin just for you. One opened up early.”
I stare at him. “Seriously?”
He holds my gaze. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”
“I’m not sure he knows what he wants,” Max says as he joins us in the corner of the arena.
“This isn’t your business,” I tell my twin.
He shrugs. “Someone has to tell you what to do. Our parents aren’t here.”
“You’re really going for the bare facts today, aren’t you?” I say.
