Page 4 of Wrangled

“Just because you’re my business partner, that doesn’t give you the right to talk to me like that.” I thought we were friends, for God’s sake. I glared at him. “Whyam I? For being honest? Would you prefer it if I strung him along? Toyed with him? The situation wasn’t going to change.”

“How do you know?”

I kept up that glare. “Because I know myself.”

I ordered a lime and tonic water, shutting out the barrage of questions.

This was a bad idea.

It wasn’t long before I saw the first one, a twink in a jock and a harness, slinking toward me like a shark circling chum, spotting its next victim.

He dropped to his knees, hands behind his back. “Sir? Can we play?”

That had taken about a New York minute.

He was fresh, eager, pretty… and I wasn’t interested.

“I’m not in the mood.”

Of course, it didn’t stop there, and by the time the second and third sub had made their move, I’d gotten the message.

They saw an opening. A challenge. The chance to get their asses in my sling, and my collar around their necks.

I grabbed my jacket. “I’m outta here.”

“But you only just—”

“Later,” I hollered as I made a dash for the door.

Much later. Like maybe a month or two. By then something new and shiny would grab their attention, and my break-up with Tyler would be ancient history. And it wasn’t as if Sean couldn’t run the place without me, right? Hell, that was why we’d gone into business together—this was what he did. I messaged him from the metro, just to let him know not to expect me for a while.

He’d be okay with that. He usually joked that I only got under his feet anyway.

I was still on edge, however, by the time I got home. I had to do something to get my mind off the situation. I flopped onto the couch and grabbed the remote.

A Hallmark movie was someone’s idea of rubbing my face in it, and I scrolled away. I flicked onto Paramount. I was halfway through season two ofYellowstone. Someone at the club had recommended it, and I’ve been hooked from the start. The huge Montana skies, the horses, the blue mountains capped with snow, the rolling green plains…

All of it took me back to my granddad’s place in Wyoming when I was a kid. I could still hear his voice.

‘The best thing for the inside of any man is the outside of a horse.’

How long had it been since I’d ridden? Long enough that I’d almost forgotten.

When the idea first came to me, I dismissed it. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I needed a break. It was going to be awful at the club for a while anyhow.

I sat at my table, opened my laptop, and typed three words into the search engine.

Dude ranches Montana.

Chapter Two

Saturday, June 11

Robert

Rusty slowed as we neared the creek. “You know where we’re going, don’t you, boy?” I murmured, leaning forward to stroke his neck.

Of course he did. We’d traveled the same route every morning for the past four years.

---