Page 73 of Ace of Spades
Now that you’re done hugging Hailey, yes.
“Yeah,” I tell him, clasping his hand.
We make our way to the feed room, Hailey pulling out her laughable amount of supplements to mix in with her grain.
“Is all of that really necessary?”
“Yes,” she says, throwing a glare my way.
“Don’t you think it’s a little bit excessive?”
She looks at me like I just grew a second head.
“No. They’re professional athletes, they need to be fed as such.”
“Suit yourself,” I tell her.
“Shit,” she mutters to herself, scooping up the last little bit of electrolytes in the container.
“Don’t panic, we’ll pass the feed store on the way out of town.”
She throws the empty container in the trash, a worried look on her face as she looks anywhere but at me.
“Sorrels, what’s going on?”
“I just—I can’t really… afford that right now. It’ll have to wait until I get my first paycheck.”
Guilt coils in my gut as I remember that she’s not the spoiled brat with daddy’s money anymore. She gave all of that up after finding out just how much of a crook he was.
“I’ll just text Chance and have him mark it as a ranch expense,” I tell her. “I’m pretty sure Mike and Rhonda are running to town for their weekly lunch at Sonny’s diner, I’ll let them know to grab some on the way back.”
“You don’t have to do that, really,” she tells me. “They’re not ranch horses, I don’t want you guys spending extra money on them. Their supplements get pretty expensive.”
“Will you just let me worry about it?”
“Weston—”
“Already done,” I tell her, shooting a text to Mike with a list of the supplements I’ve noticed that she uses, telling him to put it on the company card before sending a second text to Chance, telling him to pull it out of my paycheck. “You’re a Hidden Creek Ranch employee, just consider it a perk of the job.”
“Thank you,” she tells me as I slip my phone back into my pocket, the two of us making our way to our respective stalls.
“Weston?”
“Yeah?”
“I was thinking—it’s a long drive to South Dakota, so it feels kinda pointless to be taking more vehicles than we need. I just figured maybe we could save on gas and all ride in my truck? I know Rafe and Beau are riding together, so I was thinking maybe you, Dakota, and Chance can ride with me. The living quarters in my trailer have the couch that you slept on that one night, and then a recliner. Dakota and I could take the bed and you and Chance could take those? And there’s enough room for Odessa, too.”
My lip tugs into a smirk.
“I love that you think I can sleep in that close of proximity to you and manage to keep my hands to myself, Sorrels.”
I can practically feel her blushing on the other side of the stall divider. She’s so much more fun to mess with in the light of day, where she likes to pretend that we didn’t drive each other to mind-shattering climaxes a few hours ago.
“Is that a no, then?” she finally asks.
“I think I can confidently speak for the both of us when I say count us in.”
A scream erupts from the stall next to mine, startling Lark as I bolt upright.
