Page 91 of My Cowboy Freedom
“I could stay.”
My chest tightened. He was sodecent.“It’s okay.’
He nodded, then headed toward the barn. I’d have liked to kiss him. He must have seen my desire, because as he walked away, he turned back, gave me a little smirk, and then took off again.
This thing I felt was so new, so exciting, it made me edgy and short of breath and self-conscious. I was convinced the boss would be able read my thoughts—hell, maybe he’d smell it on me.
I followed him into his office. He sat behind his desk giving me no choice but to take the seat across from him. I was willing to testify under oath: My chair legs were sawed down so I’d have to look up at him.
He kept me waiting while he neatened a stack of file folders. Then he looked up. Shot me a distracted smile. I’d played some poker with the boss. Him and the hands had a regular weekly thing during winter. If one of them was busy, the boss sometimes let me join in. They would give me chips to play with because I hate losing money.
Boss was hard—but not impossible—to read.
“We need to find you a new physician. I’ve contacted your parents. We had a very productive discussion about things, and they agree.”
Okay, wow. Ante up, cowboy.
“I mean no disrespect, sir, but my parents don’t get to choose my doctor for me.”
“I understand. A man likes to make his own decisions.”... And he checks.
“And Elena can’t be expected to take me into Austin for every little needle stick and test.”
“No, that’s right.”He checks again.
What did he have? He had something. He was too confident. Time for a feeler on my part. “Dr. Winters is close. He’s perfectly capable of—”
“You won’t be going back to Dr. Winters.”He calls and raises. A lot.Didn’t matter. This wasn’t poker. Was he really ready to go all in? To ruin my life? He had to know what sending me back to my parents meant. Living with them. Being part of the Pathways machine. Or maybe a group home and a boring job. Possibly conversion therapy. Was the boss’s anger at his daughter blinding him to the consequences of using me to destroy the doc’s business?
“I don’t see how you can stop me.” All in. Everything. Take everything.
I am ready to go all in.
He raised his arms in a languid stretch, and folded his hands behind his neck.
Oh Christ. Oh Christ. He stacked the deck somehow.
There’s no way he can lose and he knows it.
He’s proud of it.
Pride kept me from reacting.
“It’s a tough economy. That’s hard on everyone.”He’s making idle conversation? This cannot be good.“Especially for a guy just getting started after getting out of prison.”
“What does—”
“Elena told me you’re both real fond of Skyler. She had a lot of nice things to say about him.”
“He’s a nice guy.” Wooden... The words came out wooden because I was nothing more than a marionette.
“I know that. I’ve enjoyed having him here. He’s a hard worker. Polite. Seems thoughtful. He has a good seat and good hands. I think a man like Skyler could go far around here.”
“I’m sure he could.” The lunch I’d eaten at Earl’s churned in my gut.
“I liked his dad. I like to think he can look up to me as a substitute. I went to his arraignment. Did you know that? He took a plea.”
“He told me.”
