Page 53 of Never Left You

Taking a deep, shaky breath, I turned my back to her, leaning on the railing so I could talk with her but not look at her lips. I cleared my throat.

“Rhett hasn’t trained in a bit; I thought I’d at least see him on Buckle in this arena once.”

I heard her laugh, and my stomach flipped. Yeah, it was a good thing I wasn’t looking at her.

“Lachlan is keeping him very busy. He doesn’t have time to train. He’s taking the year off, but I know he’s wanting to get back in next year… He needs to keep up his training.”

“I’ll get him back on that horse. Speaking of…I was thinking about doing another run tonight, and I was hoping you’d be there. Maybe we can convince Rhett to do a ride after me?” I turned, thinking the moment of wanting to kiss her was gone.

Nope. There she was.

She was so close. All I had to do was close the gap between us, and my lips would be on hers. An entire new door would be open to us, a wall would be broken down. My gaze dropped to her lips, lingering for a moment too long before I flicked my eyes back up. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was blushing.

I blinked.

I knew better.

Clearing my throat…again…I turned back towards Quinn as she told Stetson how her runs would work.

“I’ll be there. Rhett too. I’ll have Lachlan grab a calf—or two.”

“I would love it if you were there, at the chute again?” I met her gaze, waiting for her answer.

“I’ll be at chute.” She nodded, her arms stretching out once again before she pulled herself back. Her attention went back to her son. Her eyes blinked rapidly as it was her turn to clear her throat. Not only did I want to kiss her, but I wanted to know what was racing through her mind. “So tonight? Maybe we can even get Lachlan on a horse.” Her voice rose.

“Ha,” I laughed. “That won’t happen.”

“Hey, I got you on a horse. I may be able to work some more magic.” She shrugged a shoulder. “I’ll be in the stable if you need me. I have another trainer coming to look at the space, Wyatt is helping me.” She jumped from the gate, her boots hitting with a thud.

“I didn’t know Wyatt was back.” I questioned, twisting my torso, catching her just in time to see her spin on her heel.

“He got in last night so…” She pointed at me. “I told him to put his big boy pants on, you do the same.”

Cocking an eyebrow up, I twisted my lips, folding my arms over my chest. “You know he’s the one who hates me right?”

She chuckled. “I say it’s a mutual hatred. I know you don’t care for him.” She took a step towards me and mimicked my stance, her lips twitched as she kept a smile at bay.

We stared at each other, neither one moving as we tried to figure out the other. I was easy to read; I was sure of it. I knew I was looking at her like I wanted more, keeping our eyes locked together. You hear people talk about a tug to the person they love the most. A magnetic feeling that guides you to them and keeps you there, grounds you, and makes everything whole. With the way she was looking at me now, the way I knew I was looking at her…it was there. That pull.

And it was strong.

My gaze dropped to her lips at the exact moment they parted, and a small sigh left her lungs.

“Uncle Cash!” I jumped, breaking the contact to look at Stetson as he ran at full speed towards us. “Miss Quinn said I could keep the time! Can I have the timer?” Stetson was completely out of breath once he made it to me, his hand outstretched for the stopwatch I had shoved in my back pocket.

“Remind her to go slow.” I added, handing in the stopwatch.

He took off, heading to the end of the arena where he would meet Quinn.

“He’s going to want to do this all the time with you, you know that right?” She paused, my attention fully on her once again. She looked at her boot, the tip of her toe digging into the dirt for a brief second because she flipped her hair, her bright blue eyes hitting me with force. “Hey, um…” Her voice was heavy as sheworked through the words. “Thank you, for last night, and this morning and taking Stetson for a ride and just…”

I reached up, using my thumb to gently touch her jaw line, drawing a soft line there. The contact was quick, but warm all the same, and created tingles that were now finding their way up my arm. “Of course Abs. I’m here, you know that. For Stet…for you.”

She inhaled a shaky quick breath before she gave me a single nod. “I know, thank you.” Then she turned on her heels again. Keeping her chin down, she hurried into the stables, leaving me feeling that zing in my fingers.

Seventeen

Abi

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