Page 81 of Don't Take the Girl
"Dallas!" Madison calls out again, the sound of boots pounding gravel quickly closing the distance. "Dallas, something's wrong with Titan!"
My heart drops, and I straighten, every muscle in my body tensing. Titan, my stallion, my partner for the past six years, my ear to bend through every late-night ride, for every ten-hour day spent tending to chores. He's been with me, weathering every storm since I arrived, since my world was turned on its head.
"Go," Laney's voice cuts through the silence behind me, barely above a whisper but sharp, the word carrying the weight of her exhaustion and disappointment.
My anger doesn't just rise. It erupts, flooding my veins before I can stop it. Here we are again. She's assuming the worst, paintingme as the monster before I've even had a chance to explain. Before I've had a chance to be anything else.
My knuckles go white against the stall door, wood creaking under the pressure of my grip. I need something solid to anchor me, to keep me from turning around and seeing the look in her eyes, the one that says she's already written the ending to this story.
"I am what you make me." The words leave my mouth, steady and controlled, each syllable measured and deliberate. But they taste like truth and tragedy all at once, bitter on my tongue because no words have ever cut deeper or rang truer.
I want to be her knight in shining armor, her safe harbor in every storm, her always and forever. I want to be the one who makes her laugh until her sides ache, who holds her when the world gets too heavy, who loves her so fiercely that we rewrite the fate the gods decided was ours.
But if she needs a villain and casting me as the enemy is what keeps her whole, what helps her sleep at night, what makes her feel justified in walking away, then I'll wear that mask too. I'll be her darkness if it means she gets to stay in the light.
Whatever it takes. Whatever role she needs me to play. As long as she survives this. As long as she remains whole.
Chapter 25
LANEY
My shirt is still soaked, clinging tightly to my body as I enter the main barn. The jeans I'm wearing are heavy and cold. I desperately want to change, but I'm not at home. Seabiscuit, the horse I was evaluating on the trail ride, got spooked by the storm, so riding home isn't an option. However, the closer I get, the more what felt like punishment looks like responsibility. If I had my horse, if I were back at Fairfield, I'd be able to flee to the comfort of my room instead of facing the music and taking ownership of a choice I made.
Before we took things further, London gave me an out. He asked me if I was sure, and I said yes, and I fucking meant it. I wanted him so badly. I still do, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt. Having him that way again, feeling him want me, his mouth covering mine as he moved inside of me, was everything. All that we had lost was suddenly alive and real again, and fuck if it didn't scare the shit out of me. It's why I pushed. It's why I said things I knew he wouldn't like—that I wouldn't like—and now here I am, still on the outside.
"Stupid," I mutter to myself as I kick a rock, entering the main barn.
"Have you noticed Titan acting any different recently?" I hearAsha ask in the distance, the sound of her voice turning my head. Looking east, I see Trigg, Fish, and Abbey gathered in a tight cluster outside of Titan's stall. I do one more quick scan down my body to ensure my outfit doesn't scream,I just fucked my ex-boyfriend in a stall,and join them.
"Do we know what happened?" I ask, coming to stand on Fisher's left.
"We all reached the stable seconds before the hail started pinging off the roof. Everyone was fine. Madison was helping Abbey untack Gypsy and then went to attend to Titan when she found him lying on his side."
Peering into the stall, I see Asha crouched beside Titan with a med kit spread across the floor, her stethoscope pressed against his heaving chest as London hovers anxiously, his callused hands trembling as they stroke over Titan's coat.
"His bit was bothering him, so I switched to a new one, but otherwise, he seemed normal." London's voice is unsteady. "Just some head tossing and maybe not drinking as much, but after the bit change, he perked right up. I thought—" He swallows hard. "I thought it was nothing."
Asha's shoulders sag as she pulls back from her examination, and a telltale sigh escapes her lips, one that makes my stomach drop every time. Whatever comes next won't be good news.
"Titan is running a fever, and his submandibular lymph nodes are significantly enlarged." Her clinical tone can't mask the sympathy in her eyes. "Combined with the head tossing and difficulty swallowing you described, I think this could be strangles."
London's face crumples as raw devastation replaces hope, and his hands fall limp at his sides.
Before I can move, Madison rushes to console him, leaning over Titan and wrapping her arms around London's neck, pulling him in for a hug. The sight of her comforting him sends a vicious stab of jealousy straight through my ribs.
My hands clench into fists. She's the last person who should becomforting him. I know how strangles are contracted, and her horse is the likely culprit. Strangles spreads like wildfire, and until today, no new horses had set foot on this property except Gypsy. There's no way Titan caught this from Seabiscuit or a Fairfield horse.
"I'll need to collect nasal swabs and blood samples," Asha continues, her voice cutting through my thoughts. "I can process them at the Fairfield's clinic?—"
"No need," Trigg interrupts. "We can run everything in our lab at the stud barn."
Asha nods curtly then surveys our small crowd with the calculating gaze of someone about to deliver more bad news. "This entire barn goes into immediate quarantine. Every horse that went on today's trail ride plus any animal that's had contact with Titan in the past ten days."
"We have a show next weekend," Abbey protests.
"The incubation period ranges from three to ten days." Asha's tone brooks no argument. "No horse leaves this property until we know what we're dealing with. I'll test Gypsy as well, but given the timeline..." She pauses, her meaning clear.
Madison's head snaps up, her eyes blazing. "Gypsy shows no symptoms whatsoever. How can you be sure it's not one of your horses?"
