Page 130 of Spurred On

After a month of trying, he had to accept the fact that she was too stubborn for him to reach. And after he got over his initial grief at losing her, anger settled in.

He had done nothing wrong, but she’d jumped at the first opportunity to break it off with him.

He could come to only one conclusion. Her feelings for him were not, and never had been, as strong as his had been for her. It sucked, but there it was.

If she’d really cared, really felt something, she would have at least given him a chance to explain himself.

“You gotta get back on the horse,” Cade said to him one afternoon, several months later as he and his brother walked from the barn back to the house. Both Cade and Claire had been complaining for weeks that he was impossible to work with, so this bull crap was nothing new.

He glowered at his brother. “Butt out.”

“I can’t. I care about you, and you’re in a bad way.”

“I’ll get over her.” Eventually.

“Will you?”

“Yeah.” Probably.

“But who wants to live with you in the meantime?”

Cody snorted. “I could always go sleep in the bunkhouse.”

“That’s not what I meant. Why don’t you just try dating someone else? Maybe you’ll be surprised.”

What a stupid idea.“Would you date someone other than Lisa?”

“That’s not the same thing. Lisa and I are engaged.”

“It’s exactly the same. If Lisa walked away from you, you’d be just as ornery as I am.”

“No one does ornery like you.”

Cody showed Cade his teeth. “Thanks for the compliment. And the last thing you’d want was another woman. Just some random chick. You and I both know how it feels to love someone. You can’t just bury it or pretend it doesn’t exist.”

They rounded the corner to the back porch, and Cade shot him a curious glance. “Have you tried reaching out to her again?”

“No point.” She’d made her position clear. And part of him had accepted that it was probably for the best. If she was that quick to judge—and with her knowing every check in his checkered past—they wouldn’t have lasted all that long anyway.

Sad but true.

He opened the screen door and they stepped into the kitchen where Claire, Lisa, and Porsche were seated at the table surrounded by froth. The women spotted them, so it was too late to escape.

“Perfect timing,” Lisa said. “We need a man’s perspective. Com’ere.”

Cade shot Cody a defeated look and plodded over.

Lisa held up swatches in two nearly identical shades of pink. “Which one do you like best?”

Cade frowned. “Neither.”

Lisa smacked his shoulder. “You have to like one of them.”

“But I don’t.”

“Why not?”

“They’re pink.”