Page 3 of Sugar
“I’ll say.” I chuckle again. “Well, the good news is racing isn’t all that different from what you both are used to. I’m sure Duke will pick it up quickly.”
Her nose scrunches again, and I have to admit: it’s pretty damn cute. “Rodeo and dressage are completely different.”
“Eh, the tricks might be different. But it’s all about horsemanship, really. If Duke trusts you, it won’t be hard to navigate his training.”
She considers it. “You some kind of horse expert or something?”
A muscle in my cheek tics. “Or something.”
“Why are you here?”
“I’ve been on horses all my life, but my parents are strictly against rodeo. My dad had a pretty bad accident . . . Anyway, they don’t know I’m here.”
She probably already knows everything about my father and his accident. And his drinking. And all his arrests, since her father’s always been the one to get him. But if she does know, she’s nice enough not to show it. “My dad doesn’t know I’m here either,” she admits.
I move a little closer—close enough that she’s within reach. “Lying to the sheriff.” I nod. “Impressive.”
She scoffs. And then her expression changes, face relaxing as an honest-to-god giggle bubbles out of her. The sound of it lights me up from the inside out, drawing me nearer. Before I realize what I’m doing, I reach a hand out to pinch the strand of hay in her hair between my fingers, slowly tugging it loose.
All traces of humor leave her face as her lips part, her chest rising with an unsteady breath. Her hair is so goddamn soft I want to bury my fingers deeper into it. “Sorry . . .” I say, showing her the rogue hay. “You had?—”
“What the fuck?” someone says with a heavy dose of irritation, piercing through the moment like a popped balloon. We both turn to find a tall boy in a black button-down and jeans staring hard at Ava, his dark boots dusted from a day of riding. I recognize him from breakfast this morning.
“Benji.” Ava pulls away from me. My hand drops with a thump against my thigh. “I was just coming to find you.”
His mouth twists in a frown. “Sure doesn’t look like it.”
Ava squares her shoulders as she turns to face him more fully. “This is Kasey, we just ran into each other. I go to school with him.” She faces me, but I keep my eyes trained on him. “Kasey, this is Benji. My . . . boyfriend.”
He looks like he might be a year or two older—definitely has a couple inches on me. I wonder if he can drive, if one of the old trucks parked in front of Benny’s house might be his. The thought annoys me. Still, I take a step toward him and reach a hand out. “Nice to meet you,” I mumble, doing my best to overcome the frustration that he interrupted something important between me and Ava. That he even exists in the first place.
Benji looks down at my hand, his frown deepening. Before I even know it’s coming, he throws a wild punch, his fist landingwith an explosion of pain to the side of my face. “Keep your hands off my girlfriend, asshole.”
“Benji!” Ava shouts.
He turns to look at her, pointing away from the barn. “Let’s go. Now.” I don’t like the way he looks at her, like he owns her.
Ava lets out a dramatic sigh. Benji scoffs and turns away from us both, stomping back toward wherever the hell he came from.
“Fuck,” I mutter, wrapping my palm around my already-swelling cheekbone. Embarrassment sets its hooks in deep for letting him hit me like that. Brooks would have never let something like that happen. I should have been ready—now I just look like a sucker.
“Come on, Ava!” Benji hollers as he rounds the barn.
Ava gives me a careful look, her eyes locked in on my cheek. “Sorry,” she whispers. And then she’s following him, disappearing from view behind the barn.
Later that night,as I lay on my assigned bunk in a dark room full of other boys—cheek still pulsing uncomfortably with a bruise I know will be nasty by morning—I replay Ava’s laugh over and over again, the way her chapped lips parted when my fingers grazed through strands of her hair.
I’d already decided the punch had been well worth it—no question.
If I had any doubts after she showed up at football tryouts, they’re long gone now: I’m totally in love with her. What I don’t yet know is how this won’t be the first time my love for her is going to royally fuck me over. Not even close.
CHAPTER ONE
KASEY
My heart pounds so violently I feel like I can’t breathe.
Before I have a chance to register what it means, my feet are already moving, aiming for the burst of light spilling out of the open barn door. I’m only vaguely aware of Wells shadowing behind me, his booted steps just as quiet and careful as mine as we pick up speed. Maybe if I had a little more reason, I’d tell my youngest brother to stay back, to wait in the truck where it’s safe. I’d try to keep him away from what I know in my gut is going to be something bad.
