Page 21 of Fall With Me (Sugarland Creek)

You can’t walk through downtown without seeing an Ellie & Ranger poster or banner in the windows of several small businesses. Every little girl I see under the age of twelve wears a sparkly pink cowboy hat to support their favorite local barrel racer. So many damn reminders of her.

It’s fucking torture.

I don’t see her in person much, only in between competitions when she’s here to train. Even when she’s around, her dislike for me has never faded, which brings me to today.

Wishing I’d never met her.

Because even after all this time and her obvious hatred for me, my heart reacts the same every time I see her. And that pisses me the fuck off.

Even when she’s somewhat nice, I’m instantly suspicious about it.

Last summer, I ran into her with one of her 4-H friends as they were walking out of Millie’s Ice Cream Shoppe. I quickly stopped to say hi and the girl recognized me from the ranch, so after a few minutes of constant flirting, I asked her for her number.

Ellie smiled at Clara like she totally supported the idea, and she hadn’t shot me any murderous glares, so I figured it was fine. We made plans for that following weekend, and since Ellie had a race, I ended up taking Clara to the rodeo with me.

We had a fun time and seemed to find things in common. But then after Ellie’s race and we went to congratulate her on the win, she barely acknowledged her friend, or me—but that was normal—so it was easy to assume she didn’t like that we came. Considering I was already on her shit list, I didn’t want to get in between her and Clara, so I never asked her out on a second date.

The following weekend, I ended up drunk at the Twisted Bull and took some chick home. It wasn't my finest moment, and I felt like shit about it afterward. But then the next morning, still hungover, I walked out of my house to find a knife in my truck's tire. Every single one had been slashed.

I drove my dirt bike to the barn, and when Ellie saw the knife in my hand, her face split in two. Before I could even ask her about it, shethankedme for bringing it back to her. I was so shell-shocked that she openly admitted to doing it, I couldn't even form words to ask her what the hell her problem was or why she did it.

If it was for dating her friend or hooking up with someone else after not continuing to date her friend, I hadn’t a fucking clue. She was confusing on a normal day.

But this really took the cake.

During Noah and Fisher’s wedding, I asked her to dance, but she claimed to have broken her toe. I offered to bring hersome ice and instead of using it, she left it on the table to melt.Because there was no broken toe.

I should get over her and escape the delusion that she’ll someday feel the same or at the very least, give me a chance. It’s clear there’s a one-sided hatred situation going on between us. There’s no reason I should be as infatuated with her as I am, and still, here I am—unable to get her out of my stupid head.

It also doesn’t help that as I go through roping techniques with my new trainee, Antonio—a fifteen-year-old little shithead—who won’t shut up about her. It’s torturous enough seeing her around the ranch, but now I have to listen to him give me shit while he watches her practice.

“Goddamn, she snatched that.”

“She’s fire out there.”

And then, whenever he catches me staring, he loves to put me in my place.

“Nah, you’re too mid for her. You got no rizz.”

“Stop simpin’, bruh. You’re too old for her.”

I swear to God if he calls mebruhone more goddamn time…

Leave it to some punk teenager to humble me like I’m some creepy old man. I hate that at twenty-nine, I’ve turned into my dad, who can’t understand the younger generation’s slang.

In a lot of ways, he reminds me of Tucker’s daring personality. It’s probably why even though Antonio drives me up a wall sometimes, I can’t help but want to push him to do his best. Tucker was smart and fearless, but it didn’t come easy. He worked for everything he had.

“You think six years is that big of a deal?” I ask him, looking above his head to stare at Ellie, who’s across the training center. “Because it’s not.”

When I look back at him, he’s making a disgusted face. “Cringe.”

“Wait till I tell you my sister’s husband is twenty-two years older than her.”

“Ew, gag. He could lowkey be her dad!”

I can’t even conceal my laughter because if he only knew her husband is also her ex-boyfriend’s dad. The whole thing is fucking hilarious to me. She dumped Jase and then three years later, made him her stepson. Oh, and a big brother.

“They just had a baby last year, too.”

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