Page 61 of The Cowgirl's Secret Love
She pulled out the papers and began reading through them. A course syllabus, with lists of books they’d be covering, and the hands-on activities of working with experienced trainers.
The tight feeling in the pit of her stomach just got sharper and sharper until she shoved the pile together haphazardly, not even trying to replace the papers in the envelope.
She must’ve eaten something that didn’t agree with her. Or maybe she’d caught a bug, because she was definitely not feeling herself.
She put the whole mess on the bookshelf in the far corner of the room, shoving an old rock that was there for some reason on top of the stack to keep it in place in case—
Hell, she didn’tknowwhy. Maybe a windstorm would sweep into the living room and the rock would be the only thing that kept everything from tearing apart.
She stomped across the room and headed to bed because there was no way anyone needed to be inflicted with her cranky self.
Something was wrong.
Finn miscalculated a step between the crutches and his good leg, accidentally knocking his cast into the corner of the hallway.
“Goddamn—”
He jammed his mouth closed and stifled his curses.
“Fuck, that one hurt,” Zach offered on his behalf. Only he said it in a sotto whisper, which amused Finn enough to mostly forget the pain throbbing up his leg.
Okay, that was a lie.Nothingmade him forget the pain, but he was capable of more than one thought at a time, and the second one was the business of something being wrong.
“You don’t need to babysit my ass,” he whispered back at Zach once they’d made their way into the master bedroom.
“But it’s such a fine ass, or so I’ve been told.” Zach stepped out of swinging range, holding his hands in the air in surrender. “You know I’m just joking. If we swung that way, we would’ve done the deed a long time ago.”
“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, your chances for a career in comedy are nil.”
Finn debated. Drop trou and then crash? Or muster up enough energy to at least brush his teeth before he collapsed into bed?
Zach sat on the mattress, and as patiently as if he were dealing with a two-year-old, he shoved Finn’s hands out of the way and helped peel off his pants. “You’re about to fall over. Stop fighting and let me help.”
“I kind of hate you right now,” Finn told his best friend.
“That’s okay. I’m big enough to handle mean words.” Zach rose from where he’d bent to pull off Finn’s socks. “Need any more help?”
“Piss off.” Finn paused then sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Thanks.”
There was nothing but an amused glint in his friend’s eyes. “I’ll grab your painkillers.”
He was back in the room a moment later, a tall glass of cold water and the requisite drugs in the palm of his hand.
Finn barely had a chance to swallow the pills when, to his shock, he was dragged close and given a brief but thorough back pounding.
Zach stepped back, his grin firmly in position. “Never said it before, but I’m glad you’re okay. I mean, you’re hurting like hell, drugged up to your eyeballs, and totally confused about what you’re doing with your love life. Set on vengeance and trying to meet an impossible challenge, but you’re alive, and that’s what matters.”
Finn pinched the bridge of his nose. “You done?”
He glanced up in time to see Zach glance off into the distance as if considering before he nodded firmly. “Pretty much.”
The two of them stared at each other for a moment before they burst into snorts of laughter.
“Get the hell out of here,” Finn ordered as he made his way to the bed, amusement still bubbling inside.
The suspicion that something was wrong remained, though. There were still mysteries to be solved, and yes, as Zach had mentioned, there was a challenge to be won.
But there were also things that were right. He had friends—goodfriends. He would heal and be stronger than before.
