Page 13 of Spurred On

“Alright, well have a good night, honey.” Her thin lips stretch out in a smile as she backs away from the door and heads to the truck sitting idle in front of the cabin.

“Thank you.” I wave and close the door behind her.

Walking to the kitchen, I pull a fork out of the drawer and dig in. If he wants to ruin my morning, I will ruin his night by eating his dinner.

Taking my first bite of meatloaf, I nearly moan. It’s been so long since I’ve had a good home-cooked meal like this. I can cook, but I didn’t have two pennies to rub together through college, so it was ramen noodles and boxed mac and cheese a lot of the time. This is amazing. The fluffy mashed potatoes smothered in gravy melt in my mouth. A pang of guilt flashes through me for eating his dinner, especially because this is so good. Not enough to stop eating, but enough to feel bad about it.

I sit the empty plate in the sink as Maverick’s headlights shine through the front windows. My feet sprint across the floor to my futon, and I pull the book off the back of it just as he walks through the door.

He walks in, pulls off his Carhartt jacket, and slides off his boots. I pretend to be very interested in my book while watching him from the corner of my eye.

Turning to look at me, he gives me a grin and says, “Hey, how did your interview go?”

“It went great, and I wasn’t even late.” Another small wave of guilt hits me because he is being nice and caring enough to ask how my interview went.

He laughs at that. “What a shocker. If you use your gas pedal, you can get to places faster.” He shoots me a wink, and I can’t help but want to blush. His sharp jaw is covered with just enough stubble toadd a rugged, sexy look. I can try and deny how attractive he is all day, but now that I'm living with him, I spend half my time being annoyed by his perky and carefree demeanor and the other half trying to hide my ogling.

He walks to the kitchen, swings open the refrigerator door, and spends a good two minutes shuffling through it. There’s not a whole lot in there, so I'm not sure where he thinks a plate would hide itself.

He stands up, scratches his head, and searches the lone countertop, seeing it completely cleaned off. “Hey, did Mabel bring by a plate of food?”

“The sweet lady from the big house down the road? Yeah, she came by and dropped off a plate.”

A confused look washes over his face, and he looks around the room. I bet he feels like he is going crazy or blind, which makes this even funnier. “Where is it?”

“In the sink.” I try to hide my snicker behind my book, unable to keep my face straight.

He looks at me like I’m borderline crazy. “You put a plate full of food in the sink?”

I drop the book from my face so he can see the look of pure, smug satisfaction on my face. “No, but I did put an empty plate in the sink. She makes the best meatloaf I’ve ever had. I’ve always thought it was a little on the gross side, but hers,” I widen my eyes for dramatics, “wow.”

His face falls as his jaw drops. His tone turns accusatory. “You atemydinner.”

“Oops.” I shrug my shoulders and bring my book back up, discreetly peering at him over it. Yeah, this is worth the guilt I feel.

“You ate myfavoritedinner.” He says it more as a statement as he stares at me in disbelief. He slowly blinks like he can’t believe it.

“And you almost made me late for my first job interview. Now we are even.” I’m sure he doesn’t know what it’s like to have to interview for jobs. Or what it’s like to care about things like that.

He presses his tongue to the inside of his cheek and purses his lips. “Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be? You sure you want to play this game, sweetheart?”

It didn’t really occur to me that he would want to retaliate. I thought we would call it a wash. “I’m not playing a game. You ruined my morning, so I decided it was only fair if I ruined your night.” I mean, I wasn’t really sure if it would ruin his night, but I’m sure having your dinner snuck out from underneath you would at least be a damper on the evening.

“You’re lucky I’m going to be gone next week, but when I’m back, it’s game on.”

“I’m shaking in my boots. You’re leaving again?” I feel like the championship just ended? Wouldn’t that mean it’s at least time for a break?

“Yup, bull riding is pretty much year-round. The more I ride, the better chance I have at earning big and securing my spot for championships.” It quickly becomes clear to me that I don’t know as much about his job as I thought. “Well, since you stole my dinner, I am going to head up to the house and see if there are any leftovers stashed anywhere.”

He turns and walks out the door, leaving me with my thoughts, which is a dangerous thing to be left alone with as a chronic overthinker. I can’t help but wonder what other things about him I’m wrong about.

Chapter 10

Maverick

Ihop out of my truck as soon as I put it in park. Exhaustion is eating at me, but sleeping the day away will only get me on a fucked up sleep schedule, and besides that, they need help with fence and moving a few cows.

My best friends, Rhett and Weston’s trucks are already at the house. Mabel always cooks us a hot breakfast, even if it’s the crack ass of dawn. She somehow became a stand-in mom for all of us. Rhett’s parents divorced, and his mom moved to the other side of the country. Mine took one look at me and decided she had better things to do. Having a mom who bailed on you makes life hard, but Mabel did a great job filling in the gaps. Her husband filled in the gaps of a father figure when my dad passed.

---