Page 64 of Shattered Mind

She looks around the café with pride in her eyes. “I don’t venture into town too often because I have everything I need at home and if by chance I do need something, I send Roman, but I came to pick up some things for Savannah’s baby shower and thought I’d swing by and grab a coffee. She’s done a great job with this place.”

I nod in agreement. “She works hard.”

“Hmm. Both Ashby kids always have. They had no choice with parents like theirs,” she says taking a sip of her coffee. I’ve never really spoken to Bella about her parents or her upbringing, but I have heard stories about how Killian spent more time on the ranch than at his own home. I knew she was planning to move back in with her mum when her contract was up on her apartment and that she wasn’t very happy about it, but I never thought to ask why.

Before I get the chance to ask what she means by that, she pulls her bag over her shoulder and stands. “Anyway, I’ve got to get back, but I’m planning on inviting everyone to dinner this week. It’ll be nice to have you all together. I’ll get Savannah to text you the details.”

I look up at her and nod. My chest fills with warmth at the invitation. It means a lot to me that this family have welcomed me into their fold with open arms after such a short amount of time. “Okay. It was nice seeing you, Amelia.”

“You too, Liv. Take care of my boy,” she winks with a laugh before strutting out of the café and I find myself blushing for the third time in the last ten minutes.

***

I arrive at the training barn beside Grayson’s house at exactly six o’clock the next day and I’m not even the slightest bit surprised when he emerges from the building with two horses in tow.

“Are we going horse riding?” I ask, a nervous excitement bubbling up inside me.

“We are,” Gray replies, coming to stand in front of me and tying the horses off on the wooden fence. Oncethey’re secure he turns to me and takes me completely by surprise when he grips my hip with one hand and pulls me towards him, placing a gentle kiss on my lips. The kiss is chaste and over as quickly as it started but my lips tingle in the wake of it and my eyes widen as he pulls back. The look of confusion on his face indicates that was as unexpected for him as it was for me.

He shakes his head as if to clear the fog. “I don’t know why I just did that,” he says with a frown, and I shrug with a small laugh.

“Neither do I, but I liked it.”

His brow lifts. “You did, huh?”

I nod with a shy grin as a begrudging heat climbs up my neck and into my cheeks. His eyes roam my body for a moment, and his frown returns as they land on my feet. I look down, taking in the white converse I paired with my skinny jeans in confusion.

“Something wrong? You look like my footwear have personally offended you.”

His gaze snaps back to mine. “They have. Wait here.”

Grayson turns on his heel and disappears back into the barn, quickly returning with a brown box. He thrusts the box towards me. “Put these on.”

Now it’s my turn to frown as I take the box and slowly pull the lid back, careful of anything that could possibly jump out at me.

Tissue-like paper conceals the object within the box, and I peel it back, letting out an audible gasp when I find the most beautiful pair of cowboy boots underneath it. Brown leather with a unique pattern stitched on either side of the boot. They look a lot like the ones I’ve seen Bella wear, only newer and my eyes snap up to Graysons. “You brought me cowboy boots?”

His expression is sheepish. “The red ones you own are too pretty to be worn on a ranch,” he says with a shrug.

“So, you brought me new ones?” I ask, completely baffled, but also getting a kick out of the slight blush tinging his cheeks.

“It’s not a big deal, Liv. I saw them and thought of you, so I brought them,” he says nonchalantly, trying to play off his embarrassment.

I decide to fuck with him a little. “Aww, you think of me?” I coo, which earns me an unimpressed shake of his head.

I take one boot out of the box and inspect the details before another thought occurs to me and I pause, looking back at the grumpy, yet incredibly sweet man before me. “How’d you know my shoe size?”

“I looked at your other boots when I took them off in my truck,” he says with a cocky lilt to his voice.

My eyebrows rise in incredulity. “Wow. You better be careful, Gray. I might start thinking you actually like me.”

He stares into my eyes intensely as if he’s trying to figure out if that’s a joke or not. “I’ve always liked you, Blue.”

I snap my mouth shut, unsure how I’m supposed to respond to that. Instead, I nod my head silently and kick off my converse, replacing them with my new favourite pair of cowboy boots.

CHAPTER 35

GRAYSON

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