Page 14 of Chasing the Wild
Letting out a heavy sigh, I rest both hands on the countertop. Trying to keep my eyes on her face. Tryingnotto think about the fact the girl from the gas station is here.
She’shereand standing in my kitchen.
“No chance of that. Not with this snow coming down.” I grunt.
The girl checks her phone again for what must be the tenth time since I brought her inside out of the cold. Out of the corner of my eye I can see a layer of white growing thicker by the second on the porch railing beyond the window.
Of course, her piece of shit car broke down. I’m not at all surprised, more amazed it actually made it up here in the first place.
I’d barely had a chance to hang the deer, shower off the blood, and get dressed when she reappeared. Banging on thefront door, frozen to the bone from having to walk from wherever she abandoned her car in the snow. After I was sure that would be the last time I ever saw her.
“Look. I can’t get stuck here. I’ve got to be somewhere tomorrow, and I need to find Kayce before I leave town.” She’s got a look in her eyes like the horses do when something has spooked them.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say she’s running from something.
But none of this shit is my problem. Kayce has fucked up again? Big surprise. That kid never knows when to quit, or how to keep his dick in his pants. If he isn’t too drunk for either of those things, of course.
The way this girl has shown up twice in the space of several months has my teeth on edge.
There’s only one reason girls like her come visiting out of the blue, needing totalk.
“If you could just tow me yourself—”
“Sorry. Even if I could get your vehicle down to the shop, the snow would be settled by then. Can’t risk getting stuck in town.”
“But… it wouldn’t take long…”
She’s looking at me with those fucking mossy green, pleading eyes, and bitterness lines my throat. This isn’t my problem.
“Listen, sweetheart. I don’t know what shit you’ve got yourself into with my son, but I’ve got a business up here and livestock to take care of. If I take you down the mountain, I won’t be getting back myself until the roads get cleared, and that could take weeks.”
Her face pales, and I see the way her nostrils flare.
Tough shit. The truth is a bitter pill to swallow sometimes.
“Oh my god. This can’t be happening.” She’s mumbling and her fists are clenching and unclenching. It’s said more to herself than me. The next moment, she’s headed off toward the front door. I’m not exactly sure what the fuck this girl intends ondoing, but it’s turned into a blizzard already out there in the time it took her to walk back up to the house.
“Hey,” I call after her. She’s either not listening, or is ignoring me.
Pinching my brow, I hesitate in the kitchen rather than follow after a girl I don’t even know. My son’s fuck buddy? Girlfriend? Jesus Christ. She could be a buckle bunny from his time on the rodeo circuit, for all I know.
Maybe she just needs a moment. Life out here is testing at the best of times, and right now, I’ve got to figure out what the fuck to do about having an unexpected house guest stuck under my roof until I can ship her off this mountain.
Jesus. Kayce really couldn’t have picked a worse time to disappear off with his buddies in town, could he? In my mind, I’ve already torn the useless little shit a new one.
I run my fingers through my hair and quickly turn over the mental checklist of what I’ve got in the house. Supplies are well stocked from my last run to town, the freezer is full, and I’m pretty sure at least one of the spare bedrooms has clean sheets. If not, it doesn’t really matter, she can sleep in the room Kayce has been using, since they’re obviously still a thing.
The thought quickly tightens my chest. That girl has haunted me since the day outside the gas station over summer.
Turns out she’s Kayce’s woman.
I’d shoved aside everything about our interaction months ago, but seeing her again, unexpectedly, has brought all sorts of memories flooding back.
The kind that need to stay buried the fuck away.
There’s a sharp howling noise, followed by a crash of the front door closing. What the fuck? I jog through to the foyer and see the outline of her shoulders disappearing down the steps into the thick flurries of white whipping around the yard.
She’s barely got more than a thin sweater and jeans on. Christ, does she have a death wish or something? Of course, Kayce would go for the crazy ones.
