Page 42 of Cru's Crush
“Good.” I spun around and raced up the stairs, realizing Cru was absolutely right in saying there was too much at risk for me to keep flirting with him. He and I were meant to be friends, but clearly, not lovers. It had only taken three days to come to that realization.
“I can tack my own horse,”I said when Cru brought one out of the stall, then proceeded to brush him.
“I don’t mind.” He ran his hand over the animal’s withers.
“What’s his name?”
“This here is Goose.”
I slowly approached, letting him make eye contact with me, then held out my hand to touch the bridge of his nose. When he didn’t flinch, I stroked the same area, stepping closer every few seconds. When he bumped me with his head, I wrapped one arm around him and stroked his mane.
“He likes you,” said Cru.
“It’s all about building trust, which is why I’d rather take care of him myself.”
“Sure. Makes sense.” He handed me the brush.
Twenty minutes later, we were both ready to ride. Fifteen minutes after that, Cru pointed to an opening in the trees. “There’s something I want to show you.”
I nodded and followed. We led the horses through a shallow stream that would likely dry up by late spring.
“What isthat?” I asked when I looked ahead of us and saw an abandoned building.
“The original winery.”
We dismounted and tied the horses to a split-rail fence.
“Is it safe to go inside?” I asked.
“The building is sound, if that’s what you’re asking.”
I raised a brow. “But?”
“Critters may have taken up residence.”
Something occurred to me. “Cru, why don’t you have a dog?”
He was about to open what looked like the main entrance, but turned around. “Sometimes, it seems like you can read my mind.”
“Yeah? Have you been thinking about getting one?”
“I actually thought about it on the way back from the fish market. There’s a rescue facility on the opposite side of the highway.”
“You could’ve stopped.”
Cru nodded. “I decided a new dog and hosting a dinner all in the same day might not be the best idea.”
“We could go tomorrow. I mean, unless you want to go alone, in which case you can obviously go whenever you want to.”
He studied me. “Why are you so nervous around me?”
I shrugged. “You said it yourself. Things are different between us. We don’t have Beau as a buffer anymore.”
When he sat down on a bench just outside the building’s entrance, I sat beside him.
“I feel like I keep swinging and missing,” he murmured.
I thought about his analogy. It was the perfect way of putting how I felt too. “My life has changed so much so quickly.”
