Page 19 of Coming to Grips
He lifts his good hand and waves. “She’s a little upset,” he says loud enough for his words to carry.
Chuckles erupt and chatter resumes.
Chase polishes off his cake and rises. Looks down at the tray he can’t bus. He’s about to apologize to Gloria, but a sweet voice stops him.
“Let me get that for you.”
He looks up to find a woman standing next to him.
“Chase Lewis, right?”
The petite blonde sports curves in all the right places and offers him a toothpaste commercial smile.
He smiles back, feeling cheered. “Hi.”
“I’m Bethany. I’m one of the vet techs,” she says as she picks up his tray. “I examined Jewel after the accident.”
“Oh, yeah? I saw her last week, she seemed fine.”
“Yep, she’s okay.” A nod sends her shiny white-blond hair swaying around her jaw. “You’ll probably have to start over with her training, and take her out to one of the far paddocks, away from the center of the ranch, to do it.”
“Yeah. I figured. She’s a sweet horse, but obviously high-strung.”
“Just a little.” Bethany’s eyes crinkle at the corners when she smiles.
He nods to his tray. “Thanks, by the way.”
“Sure. No problem.”
“Sorry you had to see all that with Anna. I’m not really sure what that was all about. She seemed perfectly normal while we dated.” Mostly. Until the end.
Bethany chuckles. “You handled her outburst with good humor.”
“Not much choice. Responding any other way seemed like asking for more trouble,” he says as they walk to the clipper window. Escorting her there is the least he can do. She hands his tray to the dish lady on the other side.
“Probably true.” She waves at his obviously limp arm. “How’s the physical therapy going?”
“So far, so good, I guess. I’ve only got a couple of visits under my belt.”
“I’m lucky. I’ve never had to have physical therapy.”
“It’s not for the faint of heart, that’s for sure,” Chase says and pushes open the mess door with his working hand and lets Bethany precede him out the door. The heat smacks him in the face. Even in the shade of the mess’s deep front decking, it’s cloying and heavy.
“I can imagine.” Then she flashes him another bright-white smile. “Well, I’d better get going. It was nice to meet you. See you around,” she says, bounding gracefully down the wide wooden stairs on nimble feet despite the standard shit-kickers she’s wearing. The silky strands of her blond hair glide softly against one another, back and forth with the cadence of her walk.
Chase follows her trajectory until Kyle comes around the corner and lifts his hat to Bethany as he passes. Chase’s eyes are immediately drawn to Kyle’s friendly smile, his plush lips. Something low in Chase’s belly lurches and—what the hell?
When Kyle spots him, his smile widens, and Chase’s breath stalls in his chest.
What the fuck is happening right now? He’s actually more drawn to Kyle than to Bethany. But that’s just best friends, right? It has to be best friends. Because…he isn’t gay.
Is he?
Kyle lopes up the stairs. “How’d lunch go?”
“Uh...” Chase glances back at the mess doors. Seeing Kyle and experiencing that sudden excitement has got him all flustered, and his brain has gone a bit staticky. “Fine. Yeah. Fine.”
Kyle frowns and turns to glance after Bethany. “Who was that?”
