Page 22 of The Little Things

“Well, it’s good to see you.”

“You too. It’s been too long.” Connor turned his attention to Rae, offering her that charming-ass smile of his that earned him countless ad campaigns and no shortage of bedmates. “I’m Connor.” He extended his hand toward Rae.

The acid in my stomach threatened to travel up my throat as she reached out and wrapped her fingers around his, giving his hand a shake. “Rae. Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, the pleasure’s all mine, I assure you.”

Christ, what was the deal with all my friends wanting to die today?

A low growl worked its way up from my chest, and I swear, it only made him grin that much bigger.

Raylan jerked his chin up at me in silent acknowledgement as I joined their little huddle. “We should hit up the Tap Room tonight,” Raylan said, clapping Connor on the shoulder again and giving him a little jostle. “You know you can always count me in for a good time. Matter of fact, I was trying to talk Rae here into hitting town later on to cut loose for a bit.”

Her blush grew, staining her cheeks an even deeper red. “Oh, um, I don’t know.” She danced around the invitation, her gaze darting all over the place, almost as if she were too nervous for it to land on me. “I’m kind of tired.”

“Come on, boss.” Raylan grinned and nudged me with his elbow like it was a given that I’d side with him. “Tell her she should go out with us. We’re a hell of a lot of fun.”

Normally I would have agreed. Raylan knew how to have a good time, that was for damn sure, but as I forced myself to look away from a blushing Rae, my eyes narrowed menacingly. “If she said she doesn’t want to go, she doesn’t want to go. End of discussion.”

His chin jerked back at my tone, his brow furrowing in confusion. I couldn’t really blame him. To most of my friends, I was known as the easy-going one. I’d rid myself of the habit of being quick to anger a long time ago, but something about the woman standing less than three feet away threw me so off balance, I couldn’t tell which end was up.

Sensing shit was spiraling out of control, Con finally decided to stop being an asshole and cut me some slack. “Come on, man,” he said to Raylan, leading the way back toward the door he’d exited only a minute ago. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starvin’. Let’s get some grub.”

Raylan shook off the awkwardness easily enough. “Sounds good.” They started back into the lodge, but stopped so Raylan could look back over his shoulder. “Hey, Rae, just let me know what time works best for you.”

She graced him with another smile that I had no reason to be pissed about, but I wasn’t feeling particularly rational at the moment. “Thanks. I really appreciate that, Raylan. I’m excited.”

My gaze ping-ponged between the two of them. “What’s going on? What are you excited about?”

“Ivy suggested I ask Raylan for horseback riding lessons.” She bounced on the tips of her toes, her excitement palpable.

“I can teach you.” The words spilled out, sounding a lot more like an order than a suggestion.

Rae’s eyes went big, her lips parting to form an O. “I-I couldn’t ask you to do that. Really. You’re so busy?—”

“It’s no problem.”

Raylan cut in, taking his life into his own hands as he said, “I really don’t mind. It’s kind of my job.”

For some reason, the thought of letting another man teach Rae to ride a horse made my skin prickle uncomfortably. If Raylan did it, he’d get to touch her. He’d get to spend time with her, just the two of them and the animal. It set my teeth on edge.

“You got guests to take care of,” I clipped before getting a hold of myself and pulling in a deep breath, hoping to calm the raging waters inside of me. “You focus on the paying guests. I can take care of Rae,” I said, the finality in my words leaving no room for argument.

One thing was for sure. Connor was never going to let me live this shit down. He’d hold my crazy-ass behavior over my head for eternity. He’d probably even tell Raylan why I was acting like a jackass, and the two of them would enjoy giving me hell together.

But as I finally caught Rae’s gaze, her excitement still showing in the beautiful curl of her lips, I really couldn’t find it in me to care.

Chapter Thirteen

Rae

Iregretted my decision to take up horseback riding as soon as Zach adjusted the stirrup and helped hoist me onto the back of his horse, Roam.

“You have to try to relax,” he said for the third time in less than a minute. His voice was low and soft, and would have been soothing if I wasn’t currently freaking the hell out.

Roam shook his head, tossing his mane, and made a noise that sounded distinctly unhappy. He wanted me on his back about as much as I wanted to be there.

“That’s really easy for you to say when you’re all the way down there, and I’m all the way up here.” No one told me I would be so high off the ground when I got on the back of this damn thing. I took my eyes off the horizon and looked down the three stories to the ground where Zach was standing at my side to see him fighting a smirk. My eyes bulged out of their sockets. “You think this is funny? I’m like, a bagillion feet off the ground! If I fall off, I’m going to break my neck.”

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