"Where's Liz?" I ask before Holly can close the door on me.
"Working." She moves to shove the door shut but I lift my hand to stop her.
"What's going on?" I ask her, careful to keep my voice low so the kids don't hear. "Is she okay?"
Holly gives the subtlest shake of her head. "Something...happened," she says. Vague, but I can venture a guess as to what she's referring to. Last night. "She's upset. So she's burrowing herself in work to process." She forces that same smile again. "It's Liz. She'll work it out and be fine. She always is."
I want to argue that no, she's not always fine. That all she's done is master the mask of appearing so. That she shouldn't have to work it out. That it's on me to fix if anything I did or said last night upset her, but before I can get any of those words out, Holly closes the door. And this time, I don't stop her.
I feel deflated. Hearing that her reaction to last night was so vastly different from mine steals the winds from my sails. Smothers that spark of hope I let flicker to life last night. And I didn't realizeuntil just now how fucking much I needed that. How hard I was clinging to it.
Confused and frustrated, my feet move on autopilot toward the barn, my mind turning over every word, every expression, every touch exchanged between us last night, but I can't find the thread that unraveled to bring us here now. It's only when I hear someone grunt my name that I look up and shake free from the haze shrouding my mind.
"Brennan," I say, frowning when I see him leaning against the tailgate of his pickup parked off to the side of the barn. "What are you doing here?" He doesn't come around unless it's rodeo night, but more than that, Sunday's we're closed for business. He shouldn't be here at all.
"Nika was injured Friday night when we were here," he says. "And now she's lame. Vet says she'll need surgery."
I can feel the skin between my brows pinch together. "Injured how?" Horses and riders get hurt. It's part of the deal. Everyone knows it, we all accept it. But I'm not an idiot newbie either. We have forms, release of liability waivers everyone has to sign in order to participate. Hell, I don't let anyone bring a horse onto the property or step foot into the barn without one. Even Holly has signed one, and all she did was pose for a few pictures with horses in the fucking background.
"Your mare kicked her. Caught her right in the left hock and fractured two bones." He shakes his head, accusation burning in his pale blue eyes and I can feel the security of those waivers crumbling away. They won't be enough to stop him if he wants to push the issue. Take me to court. "Won't matter if Doc can fix her up or not, she'll never be able to do the work I need her to. The work she wastrained for. No working cattle. No rodeoing. She'll be an expensive trail horse at most. Maybe be a good broodmare. That's it."
"Kimber only kicked her because you crowded us and Nika bit her.
"You really want to compare a harmless nip to fractured bones?"
I swallow down a growl rising form my chest. We both know it was more than a little nip, and it was far from the first time. Hell, Kimber was the only horse I was willing to bring around Nika, knowing she was the only one able to hold her own against the mare with a significantly reduced risk of injury. But no matter how often Kimber put her in her place, Brennan just kept egging Nika on to come at her.
Fuck.
"What do you want, Brennan?"
He smirks. "I would think that was obvious." He rests a casual elbow over the tailgate of his truck. "I want to be compensated for the damage my mare encountered while on your property, at your event, from your mare."
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
LIZ
It's been almost a week since Jovi and I went out and he surprised me with Dee Sparks. And…other things. I'd woken up confused the next day, but not in a bad way. It was almost exciting. Considering what it could mean. Barely allowing myself to peek at my own feelings already filled me with the sort of giddy butterflies I haven't felt, well, maybe ever.
It seemed insane to even think the words. Jovi and me. Together. By choice. Romantically.
I'd excepted to scoff at the mere notion, but I hadn't. I'd done the opposite. Giggling to myself like a little girl with a crush.
But, I'm never one to go with the flow. So, the whole time I'd been going through the motions, taking pictures of Holly, my mind had turned over every possibility. Maybe it wasn't Jovi that was making my giddy. Maybe I was so man deprived anyone kissing me could set my head spinning with this sort of delirious delight.
To test out my theory, I imagined kissing someone else. Brennan popped into my head first and that thought definitely didn't do anything for me. Actually, it did. The thought of his lips coming for mine,didmake me scoff.
Then I thought of Cas. Sweet and funny and charming and super easy on the eyes. Still nothing. I didn't have any sort of physical reaction to the idea, but I did visualize myself turning away as he leaned in. Like even my imagination couldn't be swayed to smooch another man.
I gave it one more go imagining Zac Efron. Because who wouldn't want to kiss Zach Efron? Or really, either one of the Efron brothers. Well, as it turns out, me. Because pretty boy Zac also got an imaginary brush off when I let that fantasy play out.
Naturally, when that concept failed, I tried to spin it another way. That kissing Jovi had been so traumatic, my mind was now blocking all thoughts of kissing.
But then I tested that theory out by imagining Jovi as the one to lean close, gaze locked on my mouth in that way he had the night before. When his lips closed in on mine, I didn't reject him like I did the others. I leaned in. I kissed him back. And shit took a turn toward Smuts Ville real fucking fast.
Until Tammy crashed my photoshoot, as well as the fantasy, and thoughts of kissing and Jovi fell by the wayside. As did every good feeling I had buzzing through me from the night before.
I kept to myself the rest of the day, trying to shake off her words. By Monday morning, when the kids and I were waving Holly's Uber farewell, I'd almost convinced myself that it was nothing. Tammy was still grieving and her threats were based on all that pain spilling over. A desperate grab for control in a situation there was none to be found.
