Page 27 of Waiting for the Rancher
When they were out of hearing range of the others and away from the cattle, Sterling halted and crossed his arms. “Well?”
The men on the wagons had resumed their work but were casting glances at them, clearly curious. Or maybe hoping for a fight.
The thing was, he and Sterling had never fought. Sure, there had been times when they’d irritated each other—mostly he’d been the one to irritate Sterling. But even those moments had been rare because their temperaments had balanced each other out.
Now, having Sterling peering at him with such animosity felt unnatural.
Maverick slipped off his Stetson. The moment felt too solemn, too grave, to keep it on. “About all that happened—”
“Don’t apologize.”
“I was just trying to get Violet back in the house—”
“I don’t want to hear your excuses.” Sterling spun on his heels and started to walk back to the hay wagons.
Maverick took a step after him, frustration rising inside. He had to make Sterling see the truth, had to get him to listen, even if just for a second. He scrambled to find something to say and then blurted the first thing that came to mind. “I love Hazel.”
Sterling skidded to a halt in the snow.
Maverick twisted the brim of his hat. “She’s the only woman I want.” Hopefully his confession would help Sterling to understand that Violet never had been and never would be someone he’d be interested in.
Sterling slowly pivoted. His face was still just as stormy, if not more so.
“Violet doesn’t mean anything to me.”
Sterling’s fists were balled.
Maverick tensed. “Her kiss meant nothin’ compared to Hazel’s.”
“You kissed Hazel?” Sterling’s tone turned brittle.
“Just once.” Maverick wanted to palm his forehead. Why had he mentioned the kiss? He shouldn’t have said anything about it. And maybe he shouldn’t have said anything about loving Hazel either.
He could have said he liked her or had feelings for her. At the very least, he could have stuck to the matter of doing away with his and Sterling’s pact. But of course, he had to make a mess of the matter.
“It wasn’t a long kiss,” he hurried to explain. “We fell asleep together, and it sort of just happened.”
“You slept with my sister?” Sterling’s voice dropped into the deadly zone.
“Notsleepsleep.” Blast. Why hadn’t he rehearsed what he would say to Sterling? Now he was only making matters go from bad to worse. “We were resting. That’s all—”
Before Maverick could finish his statement, Sterling was stomping back toward him, fists raised, fury in his eyes.
Maverick braced himself for a hit. And it came a second later. Sterling’s fist slammed into his face, hitting him in the jaw. It was still sore from the last punch there on the wedding day, but Maverick didn’t move. And as Sterling wound back to hit him again, Maverick squared his shoulders for another pummeling.
If it would make Sterling feel better to beat him up, then he’d let him.
Sterling held himself rigidly only a foot away. But he didn’t take another swing, almost as if he’d sensed Maverick’s resignation and didn’t want to fight someone who wasn’t willing to fight back.
The loathing that had been there on the wedding day was still there along with a heap more of it.
“C’mon, Sterling.” Maverick held up his hands in surrender. “I’m mighty sorry for everything that happened last week.”
“You’re not sorry.”
“I am. And I’ll do anything to prove it to you.”
Sterling lowered his fist, but his whole body remained taut and ready for a brawl. “Anything?”
