Page 10 of Made for the Mountain Man

Is he limping?My first thought is to go to him and find out what's wrong. But the second I try to talk to him, we'll have a repeat of last night, and I'll be worse off than I was before.

My phone pings as he opens the door, and I glance at it quickly.

Rachel

Violet, we're so sorry. We want you to be happy. Please forgive us.

"Did they make you ride a real horse?" The guy behind the counter calls out as Brooks hobbles through the door. I watch him interacting with his friend, my heart begging me to go to him. Brooks' long-sleeved t-shirt strains over his muscles but fits a little looser on his stomach. He’s not showing off his body, as incredible as it is. His jeans hug his firm butt in a way that begs for a smack. I picture my hands, one on each cheek, with him between my legs as I hold on for dear life. I squirmuncomfortably in my seat as I try to stem the throbbing at the apex of my thighs.

"Cole, next time you ask for a favor, I’ll be checking if it involves riding a tiny bike across the grass." Brooks taps the counter. "And my answer will beno."

Cole laughs heartily, handing Brooks a cup of what I'm sure is hot chocolate or tea since I know he doesn't drink coffee.

"Miranda might have sent me a video." Cole grins sheepishly at Brooks, trying to hold back his laughter.

Brooks' head snaps up. "There's a video?" He shakes his head, a small smile on his face as he groans good-naturedly. "Of course there is."

"I'll send it to you," Cole offers, grabbing his phone.

"Nope. I'm good." Brooks shakes his head again, his phone pinging as he turns to leave. His grin drops, and he freezes as our eyes lock across the shop.

I stare at him, opening and closing my mouth like a goldfish. He blinks at me. The world stops. It's just the two of us as I desperately try to summon my voice. I want to explain my behavior. I want to tell him I'm in love with him. Beg him to be patient with me and give me a chance to fix myself.

Suddenly, his face shutters, and he nods at me once before hightailing it out of the coffee shop, breaking the spell.

I slump against my seat.

How am I going to fix this if I can't even talk to him?

Chapter 5

Brooks

I storm down the street, barely paying attention to where I'm going.

Violet.

Staring at me with her big dark brown eyes, saying everything yetnothing. Literally. Not speaking a word to me. Like the weeks of late-night conversations, most ending with averyhappy ending never happened. It's like I don't exist.

Except she watches me and bites her perfect full lip, begging to be kissed. The effort it took not to storm over to her in the coffee shop, throw her over my shoulder, and out to my truck is unheard of. I should get a fucking medal that she's still clothed right now. We wouldn't have made it out of the downtown before I had her bouncing in my lap, riding me until she came all over my hard cock.

I need to calm down.Now.

Looking around, I realize my buddy Anderson lives nearby, so I take a right at the next street and head to his house.

When I get there, I knock. I hear shuffling as if someone is coming to answer, but thirty seconds later, I'm still staring at the closed door.

"Anderson?" I knock louder. "Hey, man. Can I hang out for a few minutes? I need to cool off."

The shuffling continues, growing louder. The door opens, and Anderson's roommate, Milo, blinks into the daylight. "Hey, man. Did you just get here?"

"Oh, hey, Milo." I step back, taking in Anderson's roommate, who looks at me with sleepy eyes. "Uh, yeah. Kind of." I shake my head. "Sorry if I woke you up. I was looking for Anderson."

Milo runs the auto body shop in town and is a nice guy. A bit of a stoner, but he's friendly, easygoing, and can fix anything. He's helped me repair the welding machine a few times over the years.

"Hey, man. Come in, come in." Milo steps back to let me through.

I follow him into the kitchen, which is a mess. Egg shells are scattered on multiple surfaces, little piles of sugar and flour cover the counter, and cookies are cooling in lines on top of two racks next to the stove.

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