Page 54 of Wild and Wrangled

“I haven’t stopped thinking about kissing you,” Dusty said again. This time, his gray eyes were on mine. “I think about it all the time, actually. I think there’s something wrong with me.

“I think about you when I wake up and when I go to sleep. During the day, you just stand at the front of my brain, and I can’t shake it. When I’m with you, I don’t want it to end, and when I’m not, I just want to see you again.

“Is it stupid for me to write this in a note that I’m going to give you in English class? Probably. But I like writing to you. I like that these are just ours…well, not anymore obviously,” Dusty added, smiling a little.

“I can’t say for sure, but I think I’m in love with you.” My breath caught in my throat. The smile on my face was big and reckless, and my cheeks burned with embarrassment and excitement.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” Dusty said, and I nodded eagerly. He rose and took my face in his hands before his mouth landed on mine. I forgot we were in class. I forgot people were watching us. I forgot where I was completely.

Dusty just made me brave, I guess.

Cheers erupted around us. Our classmates clapped and whooped. I heard Chloe’s familiar yell.

We only kissed for a second before Mr. Watson cleared his throat. “All right, you two, that’s enough,” he said. Dusty pulled back. He was grinning. “Mr. Tucker, please return to your seat, and Miss Ashwood”—he looked at me—“I’d recommend finishing your exam.”

Before Mr. Watson walked away, he handed the note back to Dusty.

Chapter 25

Dusty

After I saw Cam and Riley at Rebel Blue, Emmy and I cleaned stalls and groomed the horses. It was too early for them to start losing their winter coats, so I didn’t end the day with a mouth full of horse hair, which was nice.

“So,” Emmy said as we were walking back toward the Big House—toward our trucks, “anything new and noteworthy to report on you and Cam?” Emmy and I had gotten closer since I came home. We worked together a lot. I was usually with her or Gus, so basically the same person in a different font. Stubborn, hardworking, hotheaded, kind—all qualities that I liked about both of them.

“You’re hanging out with Teddy too much,” I said as I shook my head. “Where’s your subtlety? Your finesse?”

“You two dance around each other enough, so I figure straightforward is the way to go here.”

Huh. I couldn’t really argue with her there, except for one small correction. “I don’t dance around her nearly as much as she dances around me, you know.” Actually, there wasminimal dancing these days, but I was still worried that one wrong move would spook her.

“Are you okay with that?” Emmy asked.

I shrugged. I hadn’t really talked about this with anyone, but I liked that Emmy asked. “I don’t blame her. She’s had a weird couple of months, but she gives me just enough that I can’t help but let a little hope slip through all the cracks, you know?”

Emmy nodded. “Hope is good, though, right?”

“Depends,” I said with a shrug.

“On what?”

“On whether or not you’re hoping for something that’s never going to happen.” Sometimes, I wondered if I’d spent fifteen years building Cam up in my head and that when I came home, I’d realize that.

Now that I was here, I didn’t feel that way at all. I almost felt like the feelings I had for her back then were just a solid foundation for the new ones to build upon.

I just didn’t know if she was standing on that foundation with me. I thought she might be. I saw the way she looked at me. Shehadleaned in to kiss me (as I reminded myself every night when I’d replay that moment before bed, trying to forget the moment when she had pulled away). When we talked, it felt like she was holding herself back—like she was afraid to let herself fall again. I understood it. I empathized with it. I was trying to be patient, but I didn’t know what to think anymore.

Honestly, it frustrated me. I was the one who had been trying to convince her that we could be friends. But now, I was worried I’d given her a way out, a path to escape her feelingsfor me, and she seemed hell-bent on taking it. And I felt like I didn’t really have any choice but to let her.

I had pushed, and she’d pulled away.

I already knew how this story ended.

Emmy shrugged. “I think it’ll work itself out,” she said.

“That’s…optimistic,” I responded.

“I’m all about love conquering all these days.” Emmy laughed. “I don’t know. I just think you and Cam are tied together in so many ways—in even more ways than Luke and I were. You guys actually liked each other. I don’t think those ties exist for nothing, you know?”

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