Page 6 of Taming Bull

She stared at me.

I stared right back, refusing to show even the slightest flicker of how I truly felt.

Anger and pain flooded her eyes and hardened her features. “A sister? That’s what you’re going with? For real?”

I nodded.

“Great. Fuckin’ unreal.” She released her bottle and it fell on its side, rolling across the table. Grabbing her raincoat from the seat beside her, she stood. “I can’t believe you. You are so full of shit. You might be able to lie to yourself, but I know the truth. Why do you keep pushing me away?”

I dropped my gaze.

“You know what? I’m not interested in your lies, or your friendship, or being your sister. You know what else?” Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears. One leaked down her cheek and she angrily wiped it away. “Forget it. I’m… I’m outta here.”

Turning her back on me, she marched toward the door.

I’d finally pushed her away for good, and I felt like shit for it. I should have let her go, but I couldn’t. Not like this. Scrambling out of the booth, I hurried to catch her. “Lily, wait. I’ll give you a ride.”

“No.” She halted her steps and poked a finger in my chest. “No way. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

I could feel the stares of everyone in the bar on us. Holding up my hands in surrender, I lowered my voice. “I don’t want you to walk alone.” I didn’t care if it was broad daylight, there were still creeps on the street, and I wasn’t willing to risk her.

“Youdon’t want?” She swiped at another tear. “Oh, by all means, let me move heaven and hell for what the mighty Bull wants. That’s what we always do, right? Whateveryouwant. Do you even give a single fuck about whatIwant?”

“Lily, I—”

She held up a hand, silencing me. “No. I’m done listening to you.” She surveyed the patrons at the bar. “Can anyone else give me a ride home?”

Nobody spoke.

“Lily, I—”

Her shoulders dropped. “Please?”

Carly, one of the bartenders, appeared to be coming onto shift. She glanced at Flint and he nodded. “I’ll take you, Lily.”

More tears rolled down her cheeks. Each one felt like a knife to my chest. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Come on.” Glaring at me, Carly draped an arm over Lily’s shoulder and steered her toward the door.

I watched them go, knowing I’d screwed up big time, but I didn’t have a clue as to what I should have done differently. I couldn’t be with Lily, and it was high time she accepted my limitations on our friendship.

2

Lily

IT WAS RAINING out, and my boots were muddy, so I bypassed the front door and went around to the side entrance of the shelter. Using my individual code on the recently installed electronic lock, I let myself in.

“Hello?” Monica called from the next room. A friend who’d appointed herself as my adoptive mom when she and her biker husband, Stocks, had taken over management of the shelter, Monica was the most amazing woman I’d ever met. She’d lost an arm while home on leave from the Air Force, ending her career, but she didn’t let that slow her down one bit. She’d just altered her dreams, found the man of her life, and made life her bitch despite her disability. I wanted to be just like her someday.

“Hey.” I kicked off my rubber boots and removed my raincoat. A row of crowded hooks lined the right side of the mudroom wall, and I found the least full one and hung my coat up to dry. “It’s just me.”

“Uhoh. You’re home early. Not a good sign.”

No, it wasn’t. Still fuming from my talk with Bull, I marched into the adjoining kitchen and found Monica preparing dinner. Feeding eight grown adults meant she spent a lot of time chopping veggies and kneading bread. The rest of us helped when we could, but the purpose of the shelter was to provide a landing pad while we sought schooling and jobs to better our lives. Most of us only made it home long enough to eat and sleep.

Today, Monica was preparing a roast roughly the size of a small country to feed our horde. Crowded with potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, she had at least a quarter of a cow rubbed in spices and ready to go. The sight of it made my mouth water. She opened the oven and paused, arching an eyebrow at me. “Debrief me, babygirl.”

Operation Make Bull Admit His Feelings for Me had been a total flop. I rolled my eyes so hard they dried out. Bad idea. My vision was still a little blurry from the optometrist, and for a second, I didn’t think my eyeballs would roll back into place. Luckily, they did, giving me the chance to shift my focus back onto the important topic of my non-existent relationship with Bull. “Ohmigod. He is such an asshole.”

---