Page 13 of Skye's Fall
“What do you need? You have it all, don’t you?” I stop myself from going any further. She has people who love her, a mother who loves her. I wish I had that.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing. Forget it. Let’s go get this shit straight.”
We find Sal sitting on the couch with his wife, playing on his phone.
“What the fuck, Sal?” I hiss.
“Oh, good, you two found your cabin.”
“We need to change.”
“Sorry, Linc. No changes. Just learn to deal with it,” Sal hums.
“Fuck this shit.”
“Linc, I’ll drop out. I get it— you can’t stand me, and that hurts more than you know, but it’s okay.”
“You can’t drop out, Skye, it would be an uneven number,” Sal points out.
“Don’t you have another girl you can bring in?” Skye is really trying. Trying to get away from me, from this. I want her to and then I don’t. I’m so confused and frustrated. Had she just left with me the day of her wedding, maybe we wouldn’t be here. Too late for that now.
“Nope, just suck it up.” Sal rises and kisses his wife, then turns to address everyone since the others are back.
“So since this is kind of like ultimate cowboy meets love connection, you won’t be taking a car to the festival. Saddle up, boys and girls. You’ll be sharing a horse.” I hear the groans and whines from the some of the other contestants. Not from me, and to Skye’s credit, she doesn’t say a word.
This is an easy task for me.
“Look, this isn’t ideal, but let’s just play the part on camera,” I tell Skye, who just nods. I’m not sure what to think of this new person. This is who she was before— sweet, soft, shy. It’s why I fell in love with her in the first place. Shit.
Ever winks at me as she hands me Turbo. He’s my favorite horse. I take the reins and lead him outside, mount him, then pull Skye up in front of me. I can feel her heat and my body starts to betray me.
She giggles as we watch the others try. Only two other couples are on their horses. I know the guys from the rodeo circuit, Mason Lexington and Jimmy Rustin. Good guys, both of them. I don’t know the girls yet. Both are cute, but not my type. No, my type is sitting in the saddle in front of me and I want to hate her and love her.
“If you are up in the saddle, you can head to town. There are signs that mark the way,” Sal yells out to us. I click Turbo and head to town, the other two couples following.
“Hey, man, haven’t seen you in a while,” Mason sidles his horse up and falls in step with mine.
“Yeah, just going through some shit,” I tell him.
“Yeah, I heard about your parents,” he says and I give him a look to shut him up and he does. To Skye’s credit, she doesn’t ask or comment. I wonder if she knows, and if she does, does she know the whole story?
“Congrats on your all-around win,” I change the subject quickly. Still don’t like others in my business.
“Thanks.”
“Skye.”
“Mallory.” Skye introduces herself to the girl with Mason. Mallory is definitely Mason’s type of girl.
The festival comes into view and I don’t want to get off the horse. I don’t want Skye asking questions. I don’t need pity, not from her. And in a way, I love having her close.
“Any idea what we are supposed to do once we get there?” Jimmy joins us.
“I’m hoping the tables have our names on them,” I reply. Sal has a way of being vague. He never gives out full instructions. Not sure what to expect from him. It can be frustrating at times.
Five minutes later, we are tying the horses off in the grass area and walking through the booths. The girls are stopping to either talk to someone that Skye knows or looking at goods and wares on the tables.
