Page 19 of Crashing the Altar
“I hate to interrupt, but I don’t have much control over the baby bouncing on my bladder,” Aspen remarked from the open doorway.
Gently, I shoved Bex in that direction. “She needs you more than I do right now.”
She grumbled under her breath but finally trailed Aspen out of the room. I latched the door, dragging in a deep breath to center myself now that I was alone.
I can do this.
I can do this.
I can’t do this.
Panic clawed up my throat, choking me. Chest heaving, I couldn’t draw in enough air, and black spots danced across my vision. My heart rate tripled, and I grew lightheaded, swaying on my feet.
My fight-or-flight response kicked in, and I knew what I needed to do.
I had to get out of here. Now.
With the decision to flee made, I flung the door open, ready to bolt.
But the sight of the man standing on the other side caused my breathing to stop altogether.
Chapter 5
Tripp
Penny:Saw a turkey today. Thought of you and your irrational fear of them.
Penny:Remember that time we came home caked in mud, and you told my mama that we were hot, and we figured since pigs cooled down by rolling in mud, it would work for us too? She was so mad. Took her a whole week to get it all out of my hair.
Penny:Not sure how much you talk to Aspen, but she’s getting bigger every day. I hope her little girl loves growing up on the ranch as much as we did.
Penny:I miss you.
Penny:Please talk to me, Tripp. Tell me what I did to push you away, and I’ll fixit. I swear.
Penny:I could really use my best friend today.
There were dozens of texts sitting on my phone from Penny over the past few weeks. I hadn’t answered a single one.
Keeping her at arm’s length was my piss-poor attempt at self-preservation. I’d squandered the opportunity to claim her as my own, and now that someone else had seen the treasure laid before them and hadn’t wasted any time in snatching her up, I couldn’t stand by and watch on as a future I felt rightfully belonged to me played out before my eyes in real time.
Today, she would legally become another man’s wife. That fucker’s best day would be my worst.
The past few weeks had been spent working myself damn near half to death because staying busy was the only way to keep my mind off Penny. Though it was pointless because she attempted to contact me several times a day, bringing my thoughts right back to her and the reason I was shutting her out.
Having finished unloading the horses from the trailer hitched to my truck, my team was getting them settled into their pen before feeding them. I set about the task of unhitching the trailer so I wouldn’t have to lug it around everywhere I drove this weekend.
It might not feel like it most days, but there were towns smaller than Rust Canyon, and Abbyville, Kansas, was one of them. But with their annual Frontier Days about to start, the place was packed with folks excited to catch the rodeo competition.
Desperate to rid myself of the destructive energy coursing through my veins at the thought of Penny getting married to a man who wasn’t me, I decided that tonight would be the night that I gave in to the steady stream of women who hit on me at bars. Until now, I’d always politely turnedthem away before going back to my motel room alone and stroking my cock with my best friend’s name spilling from my lips when I came.
For years, I’d spurned the offers of female companionship because I was holding that piece of myself back for her. Maybe if I finally broke through that barrier—even if it was with a stranger I’d likely never see again—I could finally move on.
Good luck with that when the idea of putting your hands on another woman makes you sick to your stomach.
Pressing a palm to my abdomen as I straightened, I shook off the wave of nausea.
From behind, a car horn blared several times in quick succession, the sound getting closer with each honk.
