Page 14 of The Price of My Sins

I glanced back at her, then toward the trail ahead. The sky was still open, wide, and gold-tinged. “Come on,” I said, patting Ghost’s side.

She blinked, hesitating.For a second, she looked like she might say no. Then she sighed, rolled her eyes, and stepped forward slowly. “If this horse gets to actin’ up, I’m going to tase his ass.”

I grinned. “Fair enough.”

She approached cautiously, one hand hovering near Ghost’s neck like she was trying to make peace without saying it out loud. I offered my hand, steady and familiar.

“Put your foot here,” I said, tapping the stirrup. “I got you.”

She gave me that look again, half doubt, half challenge, but took my hand anyway. I helped her up, steadying her as she swung her leg over. She adjusted quickly like her body remembered what her nerves didn’t.

“You good?” I asked once she was up behind me, her arms on either side of me.

“As long as he doesn’t do that wild side-step thing,” she muttered, stiff as a board.

“He won’t. He likes you.”

“That makes one of y’all,” she said under her breath, but I could hear the sadness tucked behind her words.

We rode in silence for a while; the only sound was the soft clop of hooves over dirt and the occasional rustle of wind through the trees. The golden fields stretched wide around us, a slow-creeping dusk settling. It was the kind of stillness you can’t fake. I guided Ghost toward the clearing near the old creek, where the cottonwoods bowed just slightly over the water. We stopped there, and I slid off first, then reached up to help her down. Her hands lingered in mine this time. Not long, but just long enough to make me feel it.

“I never stopped thinking about you, Bo,” she said, almost a whisper.

I stepped closer, close enough to feel the warmth between us. “Don’t do this, O. We both know where this will end.”

She looked down at her hands. “I miss how simple things used to be.”

“We were never simple,” I said, voice low. “We were just better at pretending.”

“Yeah… maybe.”

“Are you ready to head back?” I asked. I wasn’t taking it there with Olivia. She made her choice. It was time we moved on.

She nodded, and we mounted up again, this time with a little less hesitation on her part. Ghost carried us back toward the house. By the time we made it back to the stable, the sky had dipped into a deep blue, just shy of night. I swung down first, then reached up to help her down. She stepped back, fixing her hair as I led Ghost into his stall. I unbuckled the saddle, and he huffed softly, already settling down for the day.

We walked back to the house in silence, the air thick with whatever we weren’t saying. Inside, I headed straight for the bathroom to wash my hands before heading to the kitchen tocheck on the lasagna. I pulled it out and set it on the counter to cool.

“Are you hungry?” I asked over my shoulder.

She hesitated. “Yeah… I could eat.”

I nodded once, grabbing two plates from the cabinet. “You can go clean up if you want. Towels should still be where they always were.”

She gave a small, tired smile and walked out of the kitchen.

A few minutes later, she returned with a fresh face and damp hair. She was wearing one of my old hoodies she must’ve found tucked in a drawer and a pair of leggings. I didn’t say anything. Just passed her a plate, then sat across from her at the table.

For a while, we ate in silence. The food helped fill the spaces between us, but not completely. Eventually, I set my fork down, leaned back, and looked straight at her. Her honey-brown skin glowed like it was kissed by the sun. Even with her hair wet and no makeup, Olivia was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.

“What’s the deal, O?” I asked, voice low but steady. “I told you, I’m not doing this anymore. I laid everything out for you. Every feeling, every damn part of me. And all I got was a fucking letter… I thought we were better than that. Yes, I knew you had a nigga, but I’ve never made you choose. I just ask that you keep it a hundred with me.”

She didn’t say anything—just stared at her plate.

“You chose to walk away,” I continued. “And I respected that. But I’m not about to keep getting dragged through this back-and-forth shit. I have feelings, too, baby girl.”

Her eyes flicked up to mine, but I didn’t stop my rant.

“I’m not sharing you with another man. I’m not standing in the wings while you figure out who you wanna be with either. I’m damn sure not chasing you to prove something I’ve already made clear.” I leaned forward with my elbows on the table. “Idon’t operate like that, O. You know me better than that,” I told her the same thing I had repeatedly said before today.

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