Page 9 of Saddle Studs
“Cancel that right now. You’re not going anywhere. Especially not after I found out you like to go commando.” Benny cocked his head. “Kidding, kidding. But not about cancelling the ride. I’m serious as a heart attack with that one.”
“I just… I wasn’t expecting to see you.”
“You weren’t expecting to see me at my family’s ranch, where I’ve lived all of my life and have zero intentions of ever leaving? That’s where you weren’t expecting to see me?”
“Right. Yeah. I mean, I saw you on Instagram and you were posting at a beach. I thought you moved.”
“Thank God you went into PR and not detective work. I haven’t posted on Instagram in like three years. Those pictures are from a trip I took to Florida for a horse show.”
Shit, I hadn’t checked the dates on his posts. I was so focused on, um, the scenery and framing of the photos—and certainly not the fact that he was shirtless and wearing a speedo in most of them—to even check the date. That would have saved me quite a bit of trouble.
“Come on, Herlock Sholmes, cancel your ride and follow me to your room so you can get set up. Then I’ll show you around the ranch. You can meet your new buddy, Dennis.”
There was a brief moment where time seemed to have frozen. My options were laid out in front of me: cancel my ride and succumb to whatever twisted fate was in store for me at Rainbow Ranch, or tell Benny it was nice seeing him, hop in the Uber, and drive off into the horizon, sure I’d never come back.
“Well?” Benny asked. He wore an easy grin on his face. A memory of that grin twisting into a tear-streaked grimace slashed across my mind.
I’d hurt him.
I’d hurt him and hurt myself.
I ran away.
I couldn’t stay and face him.
But maybe I could still make it right somehow. At least I could apologize for what a fucking asshole I’d been.
“Fine,” I said, cancelling the ride and accepting the five dollar fee. “Where am I going to be staying?”
It could have all been in my head, but I couldn’t help but notice a subtle shift in Benny the second I confirmed I’d be staying. His smile grew wider—so wide that his singular dimple on his left cheek decided to make an appearance.
It was enough of a reaction to confirm I was making the right choice. Maybe I’d leave Rainbow Ranch not just feeling refreshed, but also reconnected with an old friend. That’d be nice.
4
BENNY
I genuinely thoughtI wouldn’t feel a thing seeing Sam for the first time in about a hundred and seventy-five years. I wrongly assumed that the time between him leaving and coming back would be enough to ice over any pools of acidic emotion I had left.
But seeing him—seeing that dumb sexy face and that dumb sexy smile, and that dumb sexy ass—thawed right through any icy barriers I had thought were permanent. A torrent of emotions came rushing in all at once. I was happy to be rekindling a connection that had meant so much to me, sad that it had ever fractured in the first place, and confused at the intense physical attraction I still felt for him—even after he’d made it very clear that he would never feel the same way.
Somehow, I managed to keep the wild flood of emotions in check as I led Sam into the house and gave him a quick tour, even though he’d walked through these rooms a hundred times before.
“I like what you guys did to the bathroom,” he said, leaning in and admiring the dark blue walls and eclectic collection of framed art.
“Thanks, that was my idea. I got heavy into Pinterest a year ago.”
Sam chuckled at that. “You always liked design, though. I remember your bedroom was always so clean and cool, and mine was a shitshow.”
“That… is true. Very true.”
“And clearly your sense of design only got better.”
I tried to ignore the rosebud of warmth that bloomed under both my cheeks. “Thanks. It’s honestly my second love, after the horses.”
“How’s that been going? Is Pickles still here?”
A prickle of sadness replaced the warmth. “She’s not,” I said. Pickles was my first horse, and taught me all I knew about taking care of those beautiful animals. She was older when she arrived at the ranch, already retired from racing, and had the kindest and most patient temperament. A chestnut mare who had quite a few first-place trophies under her belt and the largest heart beating inside her chest. “She passed last year. Around this time, actually.”
