Page 51 of Chasing Forever
“You’re right. I’m just… bad day.”
“You too, huh?” He bends down and grabs a few small rocks, handing one to me. “If you hit the boulder over there, you don’t have to tell me about it.”
“What if I just don’t tell you anyway?”
“What fun is that?” He winks.
I toss the rock because of course I’m going to hit it. The breeze kicks up, and the rock drops short of the boulder, landing with a quiet plop in the water.
“Two out of three?”
He squints, shakes his head. “Afraid not. What happened?”
I shrug. “I don’t know how to word it. It’s not one thing, but…”
“Us?” he asks, like it’s gnawing at him.
I lift a shoulder. “Yeah. I mean, I wish I knew what we were thinking in Vegas. What made us decide to go to the chapel?”
“Me too. For a few reasons. Like knowing what happened when we got back to the hotel room.”
“Brooks!” I screech.
He chuckles. “You can’t blame me. I’ve wanted you for a long time, Lottie.”
There it is again. Heat rolling through me in waves.
“Well, I guess that and the answer to why we decided to marry one another is locked in our drunken subconscious forever. Sorry to disappoint.”
He nods. “I shouldn’t pressure you into going on the dates.”
I should agree with him and tell him he’s right. Say I want to end our agreement so we can carry on with our separate lives, but I don’t. Maybe three more dates is a perfect way for me to test these feelings for him.
“Why’d you come here?” I ask.
“Honestly?”
I nod.
“You.”
“Were you really going to ride Gunner tonight?”
He shakes his head.
“I was at Ben’s. Nash came over to watch the Colts game. He mentioned he saw you at the stables and…” He shrugs, suddenly looking unsure. Like he’s worried about admitting he came just for me.
“Thank you.” I look up at the sky, the last bit of sun painting it in streaks of blush and gold.
We don’t speak, but our gazes meet, the silence between us soft and silent. Comfortable.
“Come on. Let’s ride into the sunset,” I say, walking toward Echo and Gunner.
“Careful of your words there,” Brooks says, stopping beside me. “Want some help?”
I lift my foot into the stirrup and climb onto Echo. “Looking for an excuse to touch my ass, Sheriff?”
He mounts Gunner with the ease of a damn cowboy, smooth and sexy, and there goes another zing straight between my thighs.
