Page 66 of Spurred On

“You’re not welcome here, get the fuck out of this house,” Rhett says, looking down at Doug.

Rage trembles through me. “Oh, and you’re fired. Dickhead.” I will need to find someone else to manage what sponsorships stick around after I announce this to the media on Monday.

He gets off the floor, looking like dog shit. A split lip and bruised ego. “I’ll be pressing charges.”

“Okay, there are a whole lot of witnesses who didn’t see shit. Looks like you fell when the door hit you on the way out,” Weston says.

I may not have blood relatives, but I do have a family. And every single one of them are standing ten toes down for me tonight. They always have. That alone is worth more than any amount of money I could make.

“You’re going to regret this, Maverick, and don’t come crawling back when you do,” he says as he stands, wiping a trickle of blood off his split lip. Pathetic little man he is.

“Doug, I have wanted to fire you for the better part of our working relationship. I’ll personally catch myself on fire before I reach out to you. You will be hearing from my lawyers at the beginning of next week.”

He stomps the whole way to the front door as I silently kick myself for not firing the fucker years before. What a dumbass. He and I both.

“Well, Mav, what do you plan to do next?” Mabel asks.

“Hopefully working here full time, if you will have me.” Guess I didn't really plan this part of it out, but there’s no place I’d rather be than here. Bull riding never made me feel like I was doing something worthwhile like working here does. Keeping the animals safe andgetting to take in the land. All of it. That’s what I want to spend the rest of my days doing.

“You know we always need the help,” Jack says as he pats me on the back. A flicker of pride shines in his eyes. My old man may not be around, but his best friend has done his best to fill his shoes. And for that, I will be forever in his debt.

“Alright, then I will see you all as soon as I am cleared from restrictions.” Looking over to Ava, I add, “I have a very bossy nurse.”

Apftsound leaves her lips as she props a hand on her hip and points at me. “If I wasn’t bossy, you would have already busted out your stitches. It won’t kill you to go a few weeks without working.”

Raising my eyebrows, giving her a knowing look, I tack on, “Coming from the girl who started talking to cows because she was going so stir crazy.”

She’s quiet for a second, trying to find a rebuttal. “That was different!” she states defensively. Clearly, she came up empty.

“Whatever you say, sweetheart.” The smile on my face comes easy, it always does when I’m looking at her.

Jack chuckles. “That bull must have knocked some sense into you, son. You’re learning much quicker than I ever did.”

“Learning what?” I look over at him as I drape my good arm over Ava’s shoulders, pulling her body closer to mine.

“Happy wife, happy life,” his Mabel says with a laugh as she elbows him in the ribs.

Ava laughs, but my thoughts start to avalanche. Will she still want to be my wife when time is up? Where do we go next?

I thought the conversation we had here today was scary as shit. Asking your wife if she still wants to be your wife? Now that is scary, but even scarier is not knowing. Not asking. If she needs time, I’ll giveit to her. Someday, she’ll be Mrs. Ryder, and it won’t be an accident. I kiss the top of her head; just thinking about it makes my heart feel relaxed. She was the best choice I ever made.

Chapter 38

Ava

If that was stressful for me, I don’t even want to imagine how that felt for Maverick. I’m almost shocked he kept his cool. I thought for sure I would have had to take him into the ER and get his stitches fixed. Thank God for country men and their need never to let a lady get walked all over. Though, I would have liked to pop Doug straight in the mouth myself. What a douche.

The past few days have been an absolute whirlwind. I’ve had to turn down shifts to be able to stay home and take care of Mav. His stitches healed nicely, and if he could be trusted to lounge at home and not get back to work on the farm, I probably would have already gone back to work. But I trust him as far as I can throw him, which isn’t very far. He’s as stubborn as an ox, and I would call him out on it if it wouldn’t be incredibly hypocritical of me.

“Are you doing okay? I know that was a lot.” I look over to him from the driver's seat of his truck. Mav is playing passenger princess with the pain meds he’s taking, well, when I can get him to take them. Apparently, he doesn’t think he needs them even though he went through a trauma that probably could have killed him. It should have, looking at the injuries he had, but he must have a guardian angel looking out for him because he’s recovering beautifully.

“Yeah, that went better than I thought.” He nods his head, and I have to wonder if he has short-term memory loss or something.

“You’re kidding. Did we just leave the same house?” I turn and give him an incredulous look. Rhett literally knocked Doug on his ass. And then Doug threatened to press charges.

“Well, besides Doug, no one was disappointed in me. And I honestly don’t really care anymore. As long as you and I are good, I’ve come to realize that the rest is just not that important.”

That stuns me a little, even though he shouldn’t. He hasn’t only said the nice pretty words to make me feel better, he’s followed through, and tonight was proof of that. My trust may have been cracked, but he has put in the work to make sure that never happens again.

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