Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 77936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“I think you’ve got a horse girl on your hands,” I said to Maverick, leaning my arms on a nearby stable door.
“Apparently.” Maverick shook his head. “Faith’s gonna have kittens. Surprisingly, I can’t wait to see it.”
“Guess it’s good one of y’all has fun.” I smiled, watching the girls, feeling more conversational than usual. “You settling in?”
“I suppose. Got the Wi-Fi sorted. Bumbling through some ranch questions with Grayson. Set up a finance meeting. Faith is looking into challenging the will.”
“Sounds productive.” I had no doubt Faith and Maverick would bail the second they found a loophole, but the longer they stayed the better for the community and also for my kid. I didn’t know where else Willow could train at a price I could afford.
“I’ve got no clue what I’m doing.” Maverick slumped against a post. “I’m gonna fuck things up.”
“Probably.” I wouldn’t lie. Maverick had spent his whole life running from the ranch. He was going to make mistakes, probably some big ones. But he also knew more than he thought he did. “Maybe no worse than someone else would.”
“Guess that’s one way to look at it.” Maverick’s gaze shifted to watching the girls as Willow saddled up Pepperjack. “Willow looks like Betsey but with your eyes.”
“Yeah.” Willow was tall for her age, blonde with brown eyes, and Betsey’s confidence, as was evidenced by her efficient movements and determined jaw.
“I’m sorry you lost Betsey.” Maverick’s tone turned sympathetic. “It must have been hard on you and Willow both.”
“Thanks.” I gave a curt nod. “Been harder on Willow. Betsey’s folks moved to Arizona after the accident. Couldn’t stomach sticking around here.” Betsey had died on the way to a rodeo, an unlucky tango with a semi. “We’re grateful to Gray and Kat for giving us a place to keep Willow’s horse.”
“I’m glad Gray and Kat were there for you.”
“Hey, Kat!” Willow called out. “What if Hannah tries Magnolia?”
“I could ride?” Hannah’s eyes darn near turned into a pair of horseshoes.
“Sure.” Willow didn’t seem in any hurry to get to her usual routine of warming up before chasing down barrels. “I can show you.”
“She’s probably as good a teacher as me at this point.” Kat gave a warm laugh, turning toward Maverick. “And Magnolia is old, slow, and as sweet as they come.” She pointed over at Magnolia’s stall, where the older horse regarded us through bored eyes. “You wanna call Faith for permission, or do you wanna give the green light?”
“I’ll let Faith turn her wrath on me.” Maverick laughed with the ease of someone who hadn’t been a parent. However, in this case, I was inclined to let him make the call. Hannah clearly yearned to ride. “Easier to beg forgiveness.”
“Alrighty.” Kat rubbed her calloused hands together. “Let’s get Magnolia saddled.”
“You sticking around to watch?” Maverick asked me.
This would be the ideal moment to slip away, go do some errands in town, anything to avoid more time with Maverick. “Sure.” I nodded anyway. “I’ve got the whole day for Willow.”
And him. I always had been a bit of an idiot where Maverick Lovelorn was concerned.
Chapter 10
Colt
Then: After Senior Prom
The night sky sparkled above us, but all the wonders of the heavens were no match for what Maverick was showing me in the bed of his truck.
“What am I gonna do with you?” Maverick sounded equal parts frustrated and turned on.
“Kiss me again, I hope.” I tried to sound convincing. I was buzzed. A pleasant warmth to my chest and a floaty sensation in my brain, but I knew exactly what I was doing. I was kissing Maverick, my best friend, and for the first time in my whole life, kissing, sex, romance, all of it just made sense.
Ever since Maverick had come out to me, I’d wondered how he knew girls weren’t for him. Most of the time, I found guys and girls equally appealing, which was to say, not very. In the abstract, kissing and sex seemed weird and clinical. Guys all joked about jerking off, which I did do, but only because it felt good, not because I saw something sexy on TV or the internet. In the interest of figuring out what was wrong with my brain, I’d tried to make myself think about Betsey or Maverick while lying in bed at night. Neither image had gotten my dick hard.
But then Maverick had said want felt like a stomachache, and somehow I just knew. Maybe thinking about our mouths together was weird, but I’d had this rogue thought for months about what Maverick’s hair might feel like under my hand. And then we’d kissed, and yep, a little odd, pressing lips and tangling tongues, but also good. So good. I hadn’t anticipated that. Nor had I figured on wanting to do it again and again.
But here we were, kissing again, and I couldn’t get enough of how amazing it felt to make Maverick gasp and moan. The way he clutched me made me feel twelve stories high, a powerful rush. At some point, I’d settled down on him, chest to chest. I was slightly taller with a longer torso, so his dick pressed against my lower belly. He was hard, and I liked knowing I’d made him that way. He seemed to like nearly everything I did, so I kept doing more, kissing and licking and sucking until he shoved at my shoulders.