“Yes, from spurs. I just hate to see what happens to horses at the hands of some people. Sam likes to take on horses everyone else has given up on and give them a new life. We specialize in reclamation projects here. From what we were told, Onyx was beaten with a whip and cut with sharp spurs. He fought back, and the more he fought, the more they abused him. At one point in time, they tied his head as high as they could to the rafters and left him like that for hours. To this day, you can’t tie him. He completely freaks out.”
Anger coursed through Isaac at the thought of someone doing such an awful thing to this noble animal. “How does anyone even handle him?”
“Sam is the best at what she does. Calm. Quiet. Gentle yet firm.”
“You love these horses, don’t you?”
“With everything I have.” Avery nodded. Isaac got it. He understood having a passion to the exclusion of anything else. That’s how he felt about hockey.
“Do you have a horse of your own?”
“No, I can’t afford one. I have to be content with riding the training horses. Once I get them going well, they’re either sold out from underneath me or their owners start riding them.” She sighed and stared at their clasped hands.
“That sucks.”
“Yeah, it does,” she admitted.
Isaac never made small talk with women except to get them into bed. Only with Avery, this wasn’t small talk, and it wasn’t to get her into bed, even though he wanted her so badly he ached for her. This was out of genuine interest in her as a person, and it felt good to get to know her.
And it felt right.
Chapter 9—Not Really a Date
Avery unsaddled Riot, groomed him, and put him away. All the while, Isaac hung out with her, asking questions about the horses and her riding as if he was interested in her answers. Even her own family never cared enough about her passion for horses to ask her about them.
But Isaac did.
She took her time just to keep him around. She’d discovered that not only did she lust after his hot body, but she enjoyed his company. Once he dropped the asshole act, he could be a really nice, sweet guy. He’d probably be appalled if she ever called him sweet to his face.
“Are you done for the evening?” he asked as she shut Riot’s stall door.
“Yeah. I’m finished up. Monday is my day off from teaching. Normally I teach students until eight, sometimes nine, at night.”
“You must work a lot of hours.”
She laughed. “It’s probably like hockey. Even on my days off, I don’t get a day off. I start riding horses at eight in the morning until after lunch, then I teach. Usually I ride and teach six days a week. Wedged in between, I hold horses for horse shoers and vets, treat wounds, administer medications, etc. You name it, I do it. Sometimes if the barn help calls in sick, I clean stalls and turnout horses, too.”
“Turnout?”
“Every horse goes out for several hours a day to stretch their legs and be horses.”
He nodded as if he understood when he probably didn’t. “So this is your day off, and you spent it riding?”
“Trail riding. It’s relaxing for me and the horse. No pressure, just us and nature.”
He looked wistful. “Sounds like fun.”
“Have you ever ridden a horse?”
“Hell, no, I’m a city boy, pretty much. Grew up near Pittsburgh.”
“Would you like to ride?” she blurted out, then was sorry she did.
“Yeah, him.” Isaac pointed at Onyx.
Avery threw her head back and laughed. “Are you kidding? Only Sam rides him, and she can stick in the saddle like no one I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m athletic. I have good balance. I could do it,” he naïvely insisted.
Avery admired his brash confidence, but she knew better. “There’s a lot more to it than you’ll ever understand.”
“Probably,” he conceded with a disarming grin. He moved closer, smiling down at her, looking relaxed and happy, truly happy. She felt a surge of satisfaction that she’d put a little joy in his life.
“Definitely. Someday I’ll put you a horse, and you’ll see what I mean.”
“Deal.” He continued to grin at her, showing those rare dimples. “Could I buy you dinner? I’m so hungry I could—” he looked pointedly at the black monster. “—eat a horse.”
“Isaac!” Avery held her hands to her mouth in mock horror.
He laughed out loud, the happy sound echoing through the massive barn and bringing a smile to her face. A smart girl would say thanks, but no thanks.
Avery wasn’t that smart. “I’d love to, but I warn you, I’m not a cheap date. I’m very active, and I can eat. A lot.”
“I think my wallet can afford you.”
“Oh, Mr. Wolfe, you silly man. You know not what you say,” she teased, giving him a playful sock in the arm.
He rubbed his arm, his lower lip puckered in a full pout. “Baby, I know exactly what I’m saying.”
She ducked her head, suddenly shy around him. “And that is?”
“That I like hanging out with you, talking to you, just being with you. Is that okay?”
“Oh, yeah, it’s more than okay.” She smiled up at him, basking in the glow of his attention.
“Good. It’s settled. What do you like to eat?” He grinned down at her, hands shoved in his pockets.
“Anything. Asian. Italian. American. Mexican.”
“Hmmm. Me, too. You pick. You know the area. Not me.”
“Let me clean up, and I’ll meet you in front of the barn in a half hour. I know just the place.”
“Okay. But a half hour? What woman gets ready in a half hour?”
“This woman.”
Isaac nodded, shot her a parting smile, and walked from the barn, whistling as he walked. Hal waddled after him, grumbling all the way. It struck Avery that Hal, despite outer appearances, really was attached to Isaac. He followed him everywhere.
The two of them were a pair.
But then so were she and Isaac.
* * * *
Isaac rubbed his sweaty palms on his jeans and paced the length of the barn, waiting for Avery. He never got nervous over taking a woman out for dinner, but then he never took women out for dinner. He took them to bed and walked out as soon as the deed was done, usually not even knowing or remembering their names. Except this wasn’t a date, not really. This was two people who enjoyed each other’s company having dinner together.
Isaac stopped at Onyx’s stall, keeping a safe distance. “Hey, buddy. I get it. Truly I do. We could swap stories about abusive childhoods.”
Onyx turned his head to watch Isaac. His brown eyes were full of mistrust, and the skin above his brows wrinkled as if he were worried. Isaac hadn’t realized horses had expressions or emotions, but this one did, and he found it fascinating. The wounded creature spoke to him, somewhat like Hal did with their dysfunctional need for each other.
Isaac dug in his pocket for something, anything, to give the horse as a token of friendship, which made him chuckle. Isaac didn’t make friends with people, but now he was trying to make friends with a horse? How weird was that?
He found a chocolate covered mint. Approaching the stall carefully, he dropped it through the stall bars into Onyx’s feeder and backed away slowly. Onyx continued to watch him, but he didn’t attack, and Isaac was careful not to make any threatening moves toward him.
Isaac heard the pounding of feet on the apartment stairs and his heart raced with anticipation. He shot a last glance at the horse. Onyx shoved his head back in the corner and dismissed him.
He forgot all about Onyx when he caught sight of Avery dressed in a pair of tight jeans and a bulky Sockeyes blue and green sweatshirt, most likely given to her by Cooper.
“Nice sweatshirt,” he noted approvingly with a wink.
“I thought you’d like it.” She tossed him a sassy smile, and he smiled back. Again. He’d smiled more in the short time he’d known her than he ha
d in the past three years.
“Yeah, I do.”
“The only thing better would be a number eighteen jersey, but have you seen the price of those things?” She tilted her head in the damn cutest way and batted her eyelashes.
Isaac chuckled as he held the car door open for her. “Yeah, outrageous, huh? I’ll have to rectify that.”
Avery frowned at him as she got into the car. “Cooper would love that.”
“He’d shit a brick,” Isaac said as he shut the door and crossed to get in on the driver’s side. He started the car and drove down the driveway to the main road. She was silent, and he sensed she had something to get off her chest. He waited patiently for her to break the silence as he stopped at the stop sign.
Finally she sighed and turned in her seat to face him. “Isaac, let’s be honest here. We don’t know what to do about this thing between us. We know the trouble it’ll cause with Izzy and Coop. We know it’s not the best thing for your career. But we also know we like hanging with each other.”
“All true,” he said as he pulled onto the highway and headed toward Renton. “Where to?”
“Just keep going down this road for about ten miles. I’ll tell you when to turn.”
“Sure.”
“It’s a dilemma. You and me. Let’s stay friends, keep it simple.” Avery continued their conversation.
“Okay,” he shrugged, not sure what else to say. He’d settle for a platonic relationship, if that was her wish, though being around her, breathing her in, having her touch him and smile at him in the most innocent ways filled him with not-so-innocent ideas.
She cocked her head at him. “Just okay? That’s all you have to say?”
“Maybe I could use a friend,” he admitted.
“Everyone needs a friend or two, Isaac. Even a big, bad guy like you.”
“Just keep it our little secret.” He winked at her.
“Deal,” she laughed. Hell, even her laugh turned him inside out and made him nuts. “Think we can do it?”
Isaac sighed. “I don’t know.” She’d been honest. He might was well be honest. “I look at you, and I want to be inside you in the worst way. I think about you all the time. Hell, it takes a major effort on my part to concentrate during practice because my head is elsewhere. That’s not normal for me.”
She didn’t respond for a long time, and he glanced at her. She stared back at him. Her expression was hard to read in the light of the dashboard. She worried that plump lower lip between her teeth, and he almost groaned. He wanted those lips around his dick in the worst possible way.
“It’s not normal for me either. With me it’s always been about the horses. Until you.”
He nodded his understanding. They were quiet for a while except for her occasional directions. He parked on a side street, and they got out. He took her hand as if it was the most natural thing in the world. They walked into a small Mexican restaurant, which was virtually empty late on a Monday night.
He ordered a mango margarita for her and a virgin margarita for him. They sipped on their drinks and made conversation. He talked about the Sockeyes’ run for the playoffs, and she told him about being invited to ride for a big-name trainer. The way she explained it, riding for this Hans guy equated to being called up from the minors for the first time.
“Congratulations,” he said, saluting her with his glass.
“Thank you.” Her eyes lit up with excitement. “I just hope I can live up to his expectations. He’s really tough on his students, but riding for him is a huge deal. Especially for someone my age. Most of his students are older.”
“How old are you?” Isaac had never asked her before, but now he wanted to know her age, her birthday, everything about her.
“I’ll be twenty-three on Valentine’s Day. And you?”
“Twenty-six.” God, he usually felt a lot older than twenty-six, yet tonight he felt younger than he’d felt in a long time.
He had Avery to thank for that, along with a lot of other things, things he latched onto with the desperation of a dying man given a second chance at life.
Chapter 10—Wounded Animals
A few days later, Avery rode Riot around the arena, desperately trying to follow Hans’s bellowed instructions. Despite how important her first ride of the clinic might be, she couldn’t concentrate. She should be proving herself to Hans, showing him that the faith he put in her was well-founded. Instead she felt like a rank novice unable to perform the simplest of tasks. Riot didn’t help matters any, not that she could expect him to perform well when his rider sure as hell wasn’t.
Isaac had left on his first road trip with the team yesterday, and Avery missed him already. She’d volunteered to dog sit Hal. The boxer lay near the arena gate, panting and watching Tiff as she warmed up her horse. The poor dog actually shook like he was worried Tiff might ride off into the sunset and never return.
She’d never seen anything like it. Hal adored Tiff, and Tiff adored Hal.
A stream of German curses erupted from Hans’s mouth. Avery jerked her attention back to the here and now and almost fell off her horse.
“Ride to zee center. Now!” Hans shouted, his face red with anger and the veins standing out on his neck, but then Hans leaned toward the dramatic. It was all part of his persona.
Shoulders slumped and humiliated beyond belief, Avery rode to the middle of the arena and halted before Hans. Riot yawned and cocked a hind leg in an expression of outright boredom and disinterest.
“No. This vill never do.” Hans pointed at the horse’s legs.
Avery pretty much agreed.
“Make him stand square, equal weight on all four feet. Do not let him be lazy, not until you have allowed it. Control every foot. Do not be sloppy. This iz a sport of precision. Slobs have no place here.”
Properly chastised, Avery sat up straight, gathered the reins, and squeezed her legs tight in an attempt to wake up Riot. He swished his tail and refused to move. She bumped his sides with her heels, harder with each bump. Hands on his hips, Hans scrutinized her with a critical eye and judgmental scowl. His silence was worse than his shouting and cursing.
A lifetime later, Riot finally stood square and at attention.
“This iz enough,” Hans spat out, disgust dripping in his tone. “Tomorrow, you vill come ready to work and to concentrate. Ya?”
Avery nodded, unable to speak around the lump in her throat. Holding her head up and her shoulders square, she rode Riot from the arena, as her world caved around her.
She needed—
No, she couldn’t need him, but she did. She wanted to call Isaac and share her bad day with him, not her twin sister or her trainer, Sam, or any of her long-time buddies in the horse world.
Nope, she wanted Isaac. After all, they were friends which made it okay for her to want to share with him. What wasn’t okay was to throw away money she didn’t have because she couldn’t get her act together. It wasn’t Isaac’s fault she spent the majority of her waking hours thinking about his abs, his hard, uncompromising gaze that softened when she touched him, and how when he smiled his rare smile, his dimples came out making him less imposing and more real. She doubted he’d like that, but there it was. His dimples were sweet and endearing, two adjectives she bet were rarely used to describe Isaac Wolfe. But today wasn’t about Isaac. It was about her chosen career, the opportunity she’d been given to make something of that career, and how she would blow it all to hell if she didn’t get her act together.
Banishing Isaac from her mind as best she could, Avery put Riot away and spent the remainder of the afternoon watching the other lessons intently and taking notes, hoping to impress Hans with her serious study, but he wasn’t impressed. Not a damn bit.
Sam slid onto the bench next to her. “He’s in a mood today. More so than usual. Don’t take his attitude personally.”
“I deserved everything he said. My head wasn’t in my riding,” Avery admitted with a self-deprecating smile.
Sam narrowed her eyes and blew out a long, deep breath. “Ah, would this have anything to do with Mr. Tall, Dark, and Attitude?”
“Everything to do with Mr. T, D, and A.” Avery didn’t so the point in denying the truth. Isaac had gotten in her head and messed with it, not in the way Izzy and Cooper feared, but a scarier, more personal way. She felt like the high school nerd girl crushing on the school bad boy.
Damned if that wasn’t exactly what she was.
“I’m not going to lecture you or tell you what to do. It’s not my place, and I’ve been where you are. Listen to your gut. When it comes to matters of the heart, it’s usually right.” Sam patted her on the shoulder and left her to her thoughts, confusing as they were.
Avery sighed, stood, and went to her apartment. She had a hockey game to watch, after all. And gut feelings to interpret.
* * * *
Isaac’s last couple teams had given him his own hotel room since no one else wanted to room with him. He’d been fine with that. He hated having a roommate on road trips.
Not so with the Sockeyes.
They stuck Blake with him, and Isaac almost felt sorry for the guy, but that’d be out of character for him. Instead he grunted one-syllable answers until Blake got the hint and quit trying to make small talk.
Yet, being alone didn’t quite hold the appeal it once did, and Isaac found himself watching Blake and wondering how the guy was doing. Everyone in the NHL knew Blake had lost his entire family in a float plane crash three years ago, and Isaac thought he had problems. It’s one thing to be alone by choice, but to lose everyone in your life in one night to something like that. He couldn’t even begin to fathom how Blake managed to get out of bed every morning.
Isaac understood the scars left by a devastating loss since he’d been dealing with a similar tragedy, even though he still had family left he rarely saw. On those few occasions he visited with his brothers and father, the experience wasn’t pleasant for any of them. Their relationship—or lack of— hadn’t bothered him until recently. His heart didn’t harden like it once did, and his thick skin had shed a few layers of armor. Even as he balked at the changes in himself, part of him didn’t want to go back to the person he’d been. He had Avery and his team to thank—or blame—for this new Isaac. Their faith in him disturbed and pleased him. He wasn’t entirely comfortable in his new skin, yet the old one didn’t fit anymore. He didn’t quite know how to handle that. So he did the only thing he know how to do, he played lights-out hockey.
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