She shakes her head. “Things are different now, Cole. Our lives look nothing like they did when we were kids.”
I’m not sure how to proceed. For the first time in my life, I’m at a loss for words. “Okay,” I say with simplicity as I rise to my feet. “I understand.”
“I'm sorry,” she says again, softly, with a frown pulling down the corners of her lips. “I just don’t think it–.”
“El, stop. It’s fine, I understand.” I force a smile onto my lips. “Thank you for being honest with me. I promise this changes nothin’ and we can pretend like this never happened.”
She stares at me for a moment, like she doesn't believe a single word I said. Her forced smile matches mine and she bobs her head. “I would like that.”
“I’ll see ya again soon,” I say before turning my back to her and walking away. I hate myself for saying anything, but it was only a matter of time before I did. I know now that she’s much more guarded than I realized.
We can pretend like this didn't happen, but we both know it did.
And she isn't going to scare me away that easily.
CHAPTER TEN
COLE
“What's goin’ on with you?” Cash questions me as he walks into the tack room, hanging up the bridle he was using.
We went out for a ride this morning to condition the two blue roan mares he’s taking to the rodeo this weekend. Not much conversation was had between the two of us while we were in the arena.
“You’ve been weirdly quiet all damn morning.”
“Nothin’s up,” I lie with a shrug. I slide my saddle onto the rack, turning back to him. “I’m good.”
“Come on,” he presses as he walks over to me. He clasps his hand on my shoulder. “You’re my brother. I know you better than anyone else, except maybe Cade. You haven’t been acting like yourself.”
Dammit.
Cash has always been an easy going, go with the flow type of person with everyone but me. If he wants an answer, he’s going to be persistent as hell until I give him an explanation of some sort. I suppose we aren’t much different from one another, considering that we’re only separated by eighteen months in age.
I sigh, my shoulders immediately sagging in defeat. “I asked Ella to get dinner and she turned me down.”
Cash’s eyes widen. “Hold on. You asked her to go on a date? I mean, I know you’ve had a little thing for her forever, but I didn’t think you’d ever act on it.”
My forehead creases. “No, I haven’t and not on a date. Just dinner.”
Cash snorts, shaking his head as he releases my shoulder. “Yeah, okay. You were always on her side when we were kids. Always stickin’ up for her and takin’ her side.”
I purse my lips. “Because you guys were always pickin’ on her. She needed someone on her side.” I shake my head at him. “It doesn’t matter anyways. We’re adults now, things are different.”
Cash’s face cracks and laughter spills from his lips. My fingers twitch with the urge to slap him upside the head, but I resist the temptation. “I’m sorry,” he chuckles. “I shouldn’t laugh. I just don’t know how you didn’t see that rejection coming. She’s Wyatt’s little sister, for god's sake. She knows better than to get involved with a Wild.”
“What’s that have to do with anything?”
“She knows that the legacy we’re building here is more important than anything else.” He shakes his head again. “I think everyone knows that.” He tilts his head to the side. “There’s three of us and none of us have settled down yet.”
He’s not wrong about the legacy we’ve been building. Running a ranch comes with more responsibilities than I realized I would have. When the three of us took over the ranch to relieve our parents from managing it, I wasn’t here, so I was more of a voice in the decisions rather than being hands on at the time.
Our parents gave their lives to this ranch and it was only right for us to take that burden away from them. Neither of them traveled much outside of where the professional rodeo circuit took the two of them years ago. They decided to leave Wyomingand do some traveling in South America. After finding an equine sanctuary in Argentina that needed volunteers, they chose to settle there temporarily.
I narrow my eyes on him. “Maybe because none of us have found someone to settle down with yet.”
“Speak for yourself,” he says with a shrug. “I have no plans of ever doin’ that.”
“I’m not sayin’ I do either,” I say defensively. “I just–I don’t know. It was stupid. I thought it would be nice to get dinner and talk to her outside of only seein’ her at work.”
