Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“I’ve been workin’ with a quarter horse organization. I got a new stallion,” I said, placing the mug in the dirty dishes tub under the bar, feeding my father a metaphorical apple like I did Whiskey.
“You’ve ridden again and we didn’t know?” my mom shot out. Clearly her feelings were all over the place, currently locked into hurt. I knew her well. She’d let it go and be happy for me if I gave her a minute.
“Mom, it was a lot on me. This has been happenin’ pretty quick and I’m determined not to fuck it up with my own head issues, so I’m goin’ with it. I need you to too.”
Thankfully, she let that sink in then smiled her small smile and met me between where she had sat and the edge of the bar top, arms open wide. Ready for a hug I readily gave. “This wasn’t what I hoped, but still very good.”
“Mom, I’m sure all of your grandbabies need to be had by Lori. I’m not interested in havin’ children,” I said into her thick head of hair.
“You didn’t always feel that way, Mace,” she said, cocking her head to stare up at me.
“I know.” I patted the top of her head and placed both hands on her biceps, using force to remove her tight grip on me. She never made it easy.
“When do we get to see what you’re doin’ out there?” my dad asked.
“Any day next week. That’s why I switched to Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. I was surprised you didn’t ask about that,” I said, heading for the jukebox, manhandling it aside until I was able to plug it into the electrical socket.
The music began before I was able to carefully nudge the box back in place.
“Honey, we try to give you room,” my mom said.
“Mama, he knows you’re lyin’ when you say that,” my dad said, caught in the act of leaning over the bar top and reaching to grab a cold Corona. Not the first time he’d made that move, or the following move where he twisted off the cap and let it fly to the trash can, nailing the landing.
As the first chords of a Garth Brooks song filled the air, I went back to the bar and rearranged the liquor bottles in my preferred placement for fast pours.
“Ignore your father, son. I do give you room,” she said as if her words held truth. They still didn’t. Dad and I both knew it.
“Look, I’m tryin’ to not allow myself to be freaked out. I will if y’all make a big deal about all this,” I explained, handing her a cold can of Dr. Pepper Zero. “How’s Lori? I haven’t heard anything since she had the baby.”
“She’s okay. Angry. Like always,” my father answered then took a long swig of his beer before continuing.
“Maybe I’ll go by her place tomorrow before work,” I said. “Let her give me some chores to do.” As I spoke, the front doors banged open. Four or five dusty construction workers came inside, loud and ready for a good time.
Here we went, another Thursday night ready to log into the record books.
=♥=
Slade
A Few Days Later
The jonesing for Mace was getting the best of me.
Same as every other day since I’d left Texas, but this time, I was practically home. My heart latched onto the simple comfort of knowing I had someone waiting on me to arrive. It meant dreams did come true. My heartbeat picked up when I spotted Mace, leaning against the bumper of the hood of his truck.
The cowboy hat was a new staple to his wardrobe, he wore it all the time. So was the close crop cap of hair. He complained about the crazy style his loose curls made when he was hot and sweaty. Since I loved that look, reminding me of when we first met, I’d snapped a picture before he went for the buzz cut. He also regularly wore a goatee with a bit of a beard hanging off his chin. The closer I got, the more my thighs thrilled at the anticipated tickle of those sexy whiskers.
My heart locked on my cowboy as I listened to my pilot talking into his headphones and mic to Nico, who went with me everywhere. I was four hours into this rushed travel plan. I only had twenty-one hours left before jetting off again. We needed to land this bitch.
“Sir, you’re clear. Watch your head and stay toward the nose,” the pilot said seconds before I ripped off the headphones and left them dangling as I slid the door open. I left the rest of my belongings inside the helicopter as I hopped down to the skids and took off in a crouched jog, heading toward my target. The whomp-whomp of the blades and the flying dust had me squinting but not stopping. Mace lifted his sunglass-covered gaze to me, standing straight when I got within ten feet of him.