Page 68 of Counterfeit Connection

“I was starting to wonder if you fell in,” he says.

I pull my sunglasses from the top of my head, slipping them on quickly before I get too close. “Nope. I’m good. We can go if you’re ready.”

My foot slides into the stirrup as I’m about to boost myself over top of Rocket when Griffin’s hand grips my knee. “Absolutely not. You were laughing when you left me four minutes ago. Now, you’re fine?” Griffin slides my glasses away from my eyes. “Wait. What is this?”

“What is what? Can we please just ride?”

“Have you been crying?”

“No. No. Allergies. The hay and such. I’m not used to it.”

“I see.” Griffin boosts me over Rocket’s back so I’m now five feet above him. “I hope you’ll tell me the truth when you’re ready.”

We’ve known each other less than three weeks and he can already tell when I’m lying? Fuck.

I lead us out into the pasture at a slow trot. The grass is nearly up to the bottoms of my boots. The wind blows warm across my skin with not a cloud in the sky. I shouldn’t have a care in the world, only the world is now looking at me…but not the me who’s real.

Griffin

When I was younger, I wanted to be able to fly or be invisible. Hell, if you’d asked me two weeks ago what my superpower would be, it would have still been one of those two answers.

But right now, I’d give anything to be able to read Kaitlyn’s mind. Something happened while she was in the bathroom and she won’t talk to me about it at all. My instincts tell me to push for an answer. That’s what I do in my professional life and have always done in my personal one as well, but this time, I don’t.

I just ride side by side with her until we reach the edge of a lake just a short distance from the stables.

“I’ve missed it here,” she finally says after riding mostly in silence unless directly spoken to.

“I can understand why. It’s peaceful,” I respond as I reach down and give Spartan a scratch on the head.

“Have you thought about what our breakup is going to look like?” she asks out of the blue.

“What?” I say because I’m genuinely taken aback by her question. I didn’t expect to have that conversation yet.

“Shouldn’t we have some kind of idea ready? I mean, it has to look real so your father doesn’t question the entire relationship, right?”

“Is that what you want to talk about when we have all this in front of us?”

“Will there ever be a right time, Griffin? I need to have things straight in my mind. I don’t do well with making it up as we go along.”

“You seem to have done well so far.”

“Why are you avoiding an answer?”

I take a deep breath then look off into the distance. “I wasn’t going to ask. I’ve done everything in my power not to, but…fuck it. You need to tell me what the fuck happened and we’re not leaving this spot until you do.”

Kaitlyn’s head whips around to look at me. “Back to beating your chest and ultimatums? Maybe I just break up with you and cite irreconcilable differences. I think that would be an easy sell.” She lightly kicks her heels into Rocket’s sides with a click of her tongue and the horse bolts off into a run, not only away from this conversation, but from me too.

“Fuck that,” I growl.

I kick my heels against Spartan’s sides and take off after her. She glances back at my way and when she sees that I’m coming after her, she pulls the reins and sends Rocket toward the right, off the trail and into a wooded area.

I make the same turn she does and tug on the reins hard when I see she’s stopped right at the foot of a large treehouse.

“Whoa, Spartan,” I say. “What the hell, Kaitlyn? I was trying to have a conversation with you…”

“Just give me a second, okay?” she replies, her voice cracking and her hands shooting up to wipe her face.

“I knew it.” I carefully dismount the horse and make my way to her side. “You’re crying.” I firmly, yet softly grip her thigh. “Come down here and talk to me.”

---