Page 7 of Ride With Me
I slid onto the couch next to Kaylee, wrapping my arm around her shoulder in a quick hug. “How’s it going, girls?”
Emma and Kaylee looked at each other. Okay, something was going on.
I waited for them to fill me in, but neither one spoke up. “Um, guys? What’s going on?” I asked.
Emma lifted her eyes to the ceiling before bringing them back to me. “Okay, we all know you want to play with Logan again,” she said under her breath.
They all knew that?
“I mean, we had an amazing connection those times. I didn’t want to do all the talking, but whatever. Yeah, I’d play with him again, but I don’t think he wants to.” Yeah, I was babbling. Talking about my feelings wasn’t my thing, if you hadn’t figured that out already. Crap, if the girls were going to start asking about stuff like this, I was screwed. I’d have to find a new club.
Emma looked at Kaylee again, then darted her gaze toward the play area before bringing it back to me. “Well, something’s up. Drew talked to him on the phone today. And told him to come talk to you here. So, I think you’re going to have to talk to him.”
A swarm of butterflies rose in my stomach. Logan made my head spin—in a good way, usually—but his insistence on talking, questioning everything? I just couldn’t do it. I was only going to be able to hold out so long under that probing gaze before I spilled everything.
And then he’d find out I was broken. And he’d want nothing to do with me. Just like—
“You okay?” Kaylee’s soft voice caught my attention. Her honey-brown eyes were fixed on my face, concern written across her features.
I smiled, nodding. I didn’t want to upset Kaylee. She was one of the sweetest people I knew. “Yeah. I’ll be okay. Just… nervous, I guess. Maybe nothing will come of it, anyway. But it’s weird. He makes me feel so safe in some ways, and terrified in others.”
I’d been so focused on reassuring Kaylee that I hadn’t realized until I finished speaking that the smiles had slid off her and Emma’s faces. They were staring over my shoulder at something behind me.
“What?” I turned, craning my neck to see what they were looking at.
As soon as I saw, the butterflies in my stomach disappeared in a flurry. Now there was just a rock in my belly. A big, heavy rock.
“Um…. hi,” I managed. My words were so soft I could barely hear them, let alone anyone else.
“Hi, doll. I hope you’re having a good night so far. Emma, Kaylee, may I speak with Savannah alone?”
I stared at them, trying to communicate with my eyes. They’d better not leave me alone with him.
They were already on their feet, scampering away. Crap.
Logan settled himself on the couch an arm’s length away from me. At least he wasn’t crowding me, although his dominance filled the space between us. “Hey there, doll. I know you’re not a big talker. I just need you to listen. Can you do that for me?”
He didn’t need me to talk? Maybe I could do this. I nodded, my gaze on my hands in my lap. As long as he didn’t look at me like he could see into my soul, I’d be happy to listen to whatever he had to say.
“Can you look at me, love?” His voice was deep, smooth, warm. Soothing, somehow, even though he terrified me.
I managed to lift my chin just enough for the lower part of his face to come into my field of vision. I chewed on my lower lip.
“Good girl. Now, I understand you know some things about horses.”
6
Logan
“Horses?”Savannah’sheadsnappedup, her eyes focused squarely on me. “What about horses?”
I grinned. So Drew had been right. She was a horse person. “My dad has a ranch. I grew up there, actually, but never got too into the running of things. My dad’s in the hospital. He had a stroke last week.”
“I’m so sorry,” she murmured.
I offered her a small smile. “Thank you. Anyway, I’ve been running things as best I can. But I just found out that one of the horses is pregnant. She’s supposed to have the baby any day now, but my dad is the only one on the ranch who knows how to take care of a mare through delivery. The vet said it shouldn’t be too difficult, but—”
“What?” Savannah burst out. “There’s so much that can go wrong. It can get stuck. There can be too much bleeding. There can—” She broke off as color rose in her cheeks.
