Page 28 of Make Me Whole
I'd never been ashamed of my ways until that very moment. The subtext was clear: I wasn't good enough. I wasn't under some sort of illusion that I was the guy you brought home to meet the parents. Hell, I'd never wanted to bethatguy. I just never imagined being called out on it would sting so much.
The feeling of cotton wool in my mouth had me running my tongue over my lips before I attempted to swallow. "I was only asking."
Mavis walked over to where I was standing, her hand lovingly touching my arm the instant she reached me. "And I was only saying." Over her shoulder, she too, stole a glance at the entryway. "Hailey's heart can't take any more beatings."
Damn, if that statement didn't add more questions to the ones already floating around in my head. With each little piece of information, I uncovered, my hunger to know more increased tenfold.
"Coffee's ready." And just like that we were done talking about Hailey. I went through the motions of preparing my coffee and even drinking it. I was even vaguely aware of buttering my toast and shoveling it into my mouth. The taste never registered. A million thoughts stealing my concentration at once.
By the time I jumped over the training pen's fence, I was even more confused than I'd been when I'd woken up this morning. With a sharp shake of my head, I tried to push the madness to the back of my mind. I dropped my chin to my chest and pulled in a decent amount of air through my nose.
When the smell of wildflowers hit me like a sledgehammer, my head whipped up only to find Hailey standing in front of Max looking like someone who'd just been caught doing something they shouldn't.
I scanned her face—the look in her eyes snatching the breath straight from my lungs—before I followed down the length of her arm. "I hope it's okay." So much uncertainty in her voice. "I Googled it, and they said carrots were considered a good treat for horses."
My hands came to rest on my hips while I bit the inside of my cheek, hard. Her eyes were so big and so full of worry. I was having a really hard time keeping my smile at bay. "He's allergic to carrots."
"What?" She yanked the offending vegetable out of poor Max's mouth and tossed it as far away as she could manage. "I'm so sorry. It was only a nibble. He'll be okay, right?" The more she rambled the more my lips twitched, until I couldn't hold back anymore.
A laugh rumbled its way through my chest. It was loud, and it was genuine. I couldn't even remember when last I'd laughed so hard. When I found Hailey glaring at me, though, I quickly swallowed it back down. Rolling my lips, I pressed them together to keep it from coming back up again.
"That wasn't funny." She narrowed her eyes and tucked her folded arms beneath her breasts.
Smirking, I cocked my head. "Oh, but it was."
"Asshole." I saw her lips twitch before she spun around and retrieved another carrot from her back pocket.
Mavis was wrong. Hailey could never be one ofmy women—whatever the hell that meant. The way this thing inside my chest went on when she was around, made it crystal clear. She was different.
She made me want tobedifferent.
