Page 57 of Forever Enough

“Is it?”

“Yes!” I said with another chuckle.

The horses kept a steady pace, and we continued our ride in comfortable silence. It was nice to simply hear the sounds of nature. The crunch of the horses’ hooves in the snow, the wind blowing through the snow-covered trees. There were even a few calls from other horses in the distance that made Chief and Barkley turn their ears in that direction. And once a light snow started to fall, I swore I could hear it hit the ground. No loud horns or traffic. No sirens or people yelling. Just beautiful silence.

No, not silence. The music of nature.

When I peeked over at Bradly, he seemed lost in thought, and my mind drifted to the conversation about Duke. I thought about the times his friend had come to the farm and helped. It hadn’t been Michael or Lou he’d posed his questions to…it was me. Well, the majority of the time. Duke had also stopped by the greenhouse just this morning to make sure we didn’t need anything, despite knowing we weren’t scheduled to work. He’d even asked me if I was good on firewood for my apartment.

And when Lou had mentioned I was going on a date with Bradly, his whole demeanor changed.

“I think you’re right.”

“About?” he asked as he caught my gaze. The way his cheeks were a soft pink made my veins throb throughout my entire body.

“Duke. Now that I think about it, I think you’re right. He stopped by the greenhouse earlier and asked me if I needed any firewood. For my place.”

Bradly frowned again.

“Lou told him I was going on a date with you later today, and he seemed to go from happy to…not so happy.”

A muscle in Bradly’s jaw ticked, and he looked straight ahead. “I’ll have to let him know we’re dating. He, of course, is probably going to tell you it’s a bad idea to date a guy like me.”

I quirked a brow. “A guy like you?”

“Gone all the time, buckle bunnies, the money, the fame…he’ll tell you it’ll all go to my head, and I’ll get tired of you eventually.”

“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “He’s your best friend. Why in the world would he say any of that? I’d think he’d be happy for you.”

A bark of laughter slipped from those soft lips. “We’re friends, yes. But we’ve also always been in competition for different things over the years.”

“Does he bull ride?” I asked, surprised. He hadn’t struck me as that type of guy.

“He tried it a time or two and didn’t enjoy being thrown.”

Confused, I asked, “If he doesn’t ride, what in the world were you in competition for?”

Bradly brought his horse to a stop, and Barkley followed Chief’s lead. “Let’s see—who could ride a horse better. Who could bull ride better. Who was a better ranch hand. Who knew more about cattle. Who had the most girls.”

“Wait,” I said with my hand up. “Who had the most girls? Do you mean, as in, who slept with the most girls?”

“Not necessarily. More like, who could attract more girls. Like if we went to a bar, he used to count how many women approached me and how many approached him. I never cared about that, and to be honest, I was shy and didn’t really talk that much. He and Will ended up leaving me behind at the bar plenty of times while they left with women.”

It was my turn to let out a roar of laughter “Oh, and sweet, innocent Bradly stayed behind and what? Talked to the poor girls who got left behind too?”

He winked. “Yep. Sometimes the girls appreciated the guy who stayed behind to make sure they all got home okay.”

“You scoundrel!”

“Scoundrel? I was no such thing. I just happened to be smarter.”

I shook my head in disbelief and let Barkley follow Chief again.

“It didn’t happen as many times as you think. Most of the time it was me leaving early and very much alone. I’ve never been the type for one-night stands. I honestly would rather be at home with my family or reading a book.”

Tilting my head, I regarded him. “Seriously? You expect me to believe that you would rather be home with your family or reading than out with a woman?”

“Why is that so hard to believe? I’m not saying I’m a virgin. Far from it. But I don’t sleep with a woman simply because I can.”

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