Page 78 of Slay Ride

The door to Cat’s room opens and closes.

“Coast is clear,” Maverick calls from the bedroom.

I open the bathroom door. “There is no way in hell you’re taking her out,” I say as I step into Maverick.

“I don’t have a fucking choice now,” he says as he takes a step back. “Don’t get pissed at me. None of this was my idea, remember?”

“Then make it a fucking choice. Either she goes bow hunting with me, or she doesn’t go at all.”

Cat clears her throat and steps between us. “Excuse the fiddlingfuckout of me, but I’m capable of making my own decisions, or have you both forgotten?”

We turn to look at her, both our mouths opening with a rebuttal, but she holds up a hand.

“Shut up. Just shut the fuck up, both of you.” She pins me in place with a glare. “Where is my fucking cat?”

“He’s in my room.” I look down at the carpet. I’ve only felt this sort of shame once before, and it was when my mom caught me beating off to the Food Network.

Look, in my defense, food porn is a thing.

“It’s common knowledge that I had a crush on you,” Cat says to Maverick. “I want to apologize if I made you uncomfortable. But if you ever offer yourself to a woman as a pity date again, I will cut off the entirety of your manhood and let Chef Maurice do something incredible with it.”

Maverick swallows hard, and his throat clicks. “Uh, got it.”

“Now, I’m going to get my poor cat from Bennett’s room, and then I’m going to go bow hunting with Bennett. Are we all clear?”

Feeling triumphant, I smile, but Maverick quickly wipes the grin off my face.

“There’s just one problem with that plan,” he says. He mentions the cameras down at the shooting range and explains that someone is always monitoring them.

And Kindra is currently holed up in the surveillance room with popcorn and wine.

“She really wanted this for you,” Maverick adds.

Cat sighs and sits on the edge of the bed. “Why does this have to be so complicated?”

Maverick goes to sit beside her, but then he notices my clenching fists and opts to stand in front of her. “It doesn’t have to be. Why don’t you just tell everyone? Yeah, they’ll be shocked at first, but?—”

“Shocked? You think they’ll be shocked? I wish that’s all I could expect.”

“She’s scared everyone will give us hell,” I say. “I thought she was being ridiculous at first, but you’ve seen the way everyone tries to keep us apart.”

Maverick runs his hand through his hair. “Yeah, but you’re a dick, dude. We all care about Cat, and we just don’t want her to get hurt.”

“Wait!” Cat shouts, and we turn to look at her. “I have an idea.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Cat

Igrip the sleeve of Maverick’s coat as I snuggle up in the back of the sleigh. It’s late afternoon, not yet dinnertime, but it might as well be night. I sigh and drop my head against a strong shoulder.

The horses’ hooves thud against hard-packed snow. Gnarled branches creak in the light breeze, and the tack jangles like tiny bells. Cold cuts through my face mask, so I raise my hand to ward off the icy wall. Despite the slight discomfort, this is the definition of romantic.

“Are you too cold?” Bennett asks, and I lift my gloved finger to my mouth to remind him to be quiet. He grunts and wraps his arm around me.

Well, he tries to wrap his arm around me. Maverick is a smidge taller and leaner, so Bennett had one hell of a time squeezing into his clothes. I didn’t complain as I watched him stuff his rippling muscles into the jacket and pants, though.

What with all the cameras, I figured this was the best plan. While Bennett pretends to be Maverick, the real Maverick is inmy room with Shorty. Now Kindra can eat her heart out and believe her little plan worked while I get to spend more time with Bennett. Maybe I can even get some clarity.

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