Page 39 of In Love with a Ranger

Sleeping next to her was torture.

Gideon had never imagined himself as a ‘cuddler’ or ‘wanting to spoon’ – but my goodness, he wanted to wrap himself around Christina in a massive hug and hold her all night long. One leg nudged between hers, an arm around the waist she could use his other for a pillow, and he wanted to bury his nose against her shoulder blades for all time.

“Oh man…” he uttered under his breath, closing his eyes. Was this what it was like to fall in love with someone? How come the other guys seemed to be having such an easy time, and he felt like a failure? He was married to Christina first, but obviously, he was doing something wrong for their relationship.

And tomorrow, seeing Jake and Lena getting married should be a tender reminder of their own wedding. Somehow, Gideon knew that seeing it would only drive that wedge further between them. He needed a break, someone to talk to, or a miracle.

“I can’t lose her before we’ve had a chance to get started,” he whispered to the silence as he finished spreading the hay for the horses.

* * *

As if Gideon’s own self-doubts and fears didn’t plague him enough, Karma had to step forward and show him his backside. They had all gotten ready for Ortega and Lena’s wedding, stopping on the way back to the cabin to pick up a few other people. They had taken the massive cargo van and as they pulled up to a remote airstrip, he expected the excitement to come from Lena at seeing her sister again.

Not his wife.

“Oh my gosh!” Christina exclaimed excitedly, leaning forward and yanking on the door handle quickly. Both she and Lena bolted from the van, leaving Gideon sitting there in shock. Ortega was chuckling, talking to Max, who also looked thrilled at the company that had shown up to celebrate – yet Gideon had the urge to destroy something as he saw Christina running up to a man, throwing her arms around him and hugging him.

“Dude, she looks happy to see that guy…”

“Shut up.”

“You know who that is right?”

“What part of ‘shut up’ did you not comprehend?”

From his vantage point, Christina was smiling, laughing, and hugging the man she obviously knew. His wife looked exceedingly comfortable and affectionate, which rubbed him completely the wrong way. The man was smiling at her, nodding, and hugged her again – and that was enough for him!

He cursed angrily, gathering his crutches and climbing out of the van… only to see the duo walking toward them. Christina looked shocked to see him coming for her – and glanced between Gideon and the newcomer, which incensed a jealous streak he didn’t know he had.

“You can just sit on a bench with your old buddy,” he snapped hotly, making her draw back in shock as the other man frowned. The soldier extended his hand toward Gideon – and he ignored him, turning to climb back into the back of the van. He took a seat beside Daphne, ignoring the glare Max gave him. That left two open benches for Lena’s sister, her husband, and a young boy and plenty of space for Christina to sit with whoever this newcomer was.

“What’s your problem?” Christina snapped hotly – and the man laid a hand on her shoulder, whispering to her.

Gideon could hear the steam exiting his body from every hole in his blasted head like a steam whistle on a locomotive. Did this camo-wearing-fool not know how perilously close he was to needing surgery to remove Gideon’s crutches from his body physically.

“I,” Gideon said softly, looking at her and stretching his arm over the back of the seat where Christina and Max were sitting. “I do not have a problem in the slightest.”

Houghton chuckled, Jill gave him a confused look, Lena was staring at him like he’d grown a second head, Daphne was completely ignoring him… and Christina looked so angry at him that he briefly wondered if she would attempt to throttle him.

“C’mon, Chris,” the newcomer said.

“Her name is Christina Beck,” Gideon said bluntly.

“I know what her name is soldier…”

“Do not call me…”

“Enough guys,” Ortega interrupted, grinning wildly. “While I love to see a pissing contest as much as the next red-blooded man, can you please put a stop to it? I literally just got married and want to savor this for a bit before I go jumping into some butt-kicking contest for giggles.”

“There’s no contest,” Gideon said flatly, not looking away from the other man, who simply lifted an eyebrow and smirked.

“No, there sure isn’t.”

“Logan, don’t egg him on, brother,” Houghton chuckled. “Get in the van, and you know this routine like the back of your hand.”

“Yes, I do.”

“No routine – and there is sure no contest.”

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