His eyes filled with humor as he bent, whispering in my ear. “Maybe I’m a little shy.”
I stepped around him, wanting to squeal with excitement. “Okay, sure, cowboy.”
“So do we have a deal?” he asked, helping me pick out a light jacket that was also water resistant, good for nighttime in case the temperature dropped. I liked it, but then I found it in pink. I liked that one even better.
I put it on and he rolled his eyes at first, but ended up smiling again. “Maybe.”
“Dancing and disaster partners?”
“Fine,” I said, knowing that the game we were playing had taken a more serious turn. We liked each other, the question was, when and who would make the first move?
I couldn’t wait to find out.
Chapter 10
The next two days flew by. Exams went easy, since we spent the rest of our time together studying. I was getting ready for a road trip to Montana and I could barely sleep I was so excited. I couldn’t wait to see Chase. We would have all of English to talk, and lunch. I’d found some really cute hiking accessories with his help, also in cute colors. He’d given up trying to steer me in the direction of browns and greens and other things that blended into the landscape. Later on he decided that the more bright and oddly dressed I was, the easier it would be for him to find me if I got lost.
I guess there weren’t many cowboys wearing pink on his ranch.
Friday after lunch I was on my way to my final exam, English. Well, it wasn’t a real exam. We didn’t have to be there since they were showing another movie. But I wanted to know my grade before I left for the summer with him.
Chase went on a head while I stopped by the bathroom. When I turned, I saw Rachel staring at me. She was with Nathan, and he was being just as rude.
I walked past, pretending not to see them.
“Hey, so we heard your slumming with the slow poke.” Rachel fell instep beside me on the right. Nathan took the left.
I didn’t answer them.
“Yeah, word has it the dumbass had his arm around you yesterday. You were sitting under that tree by the band room all cozy.” Nathan said. “Briar, are you really thinking about this?”
“Leave me alone.” I kept my eyes locked on the auditorium door. Fifty feet. No biggie. And we weren’t staying. I didn’t care what my grade was. It was open campus today because of exams, and we’d ridden to school together the last two mornings anyway. Chase wouldn’t mind ditching a few minutes early.
“Hey, maybe she’s thinking about how it would be to raise the kids in a double wide.” Rachel laughed.
I whirled around. “Shut up.”
Nathan’s mouth dropped open. “Whoa, chill.”
“Chase is a good person, and if you took the time to get to know him you’d realize what close-minded assholes you’re being. I can’t believe I was ever friends with you.”
Rachel crossed her arms. “Please Briar, don’t tell me you really like this guy.”
I glared. “What’s not to like? He’s trustworthy, smart, nice…he loves my grandmother.”
“Sounds like you’re describing a dog.” Nathan smiled, his eyes boring into me.
I glanced at Rachel, uncomfortable and a little freaked out by her boyfriend. “Wipe that smile off your face. I’m not playing around.”
“Wow Briar, way to be a bitch.” Rachel pushed past me into a neighboring classroom.
Nathan didn’t move. “I like that you speak your mind.”
I rolled my eyes. “Shut up.”
“No, I really do, Briar.” Nathan took a step toward me and patted my cheek. “I was hoping we could get together after you broke up with Alex.”
“Do I look that easy?” Or like I was the type to cheat with him when he was dating a friend, who wasn’t a friend anymore?
He smirked. “I made you that easy. You remember the party, don’t you?”
I shrugged. “Most of it.”
“I was the one who spiked your drink.”
I jerked away from him. “No.”
He grinned. “Alex did slip a little vodka in. But I upped the amount.”
My stomach rolled and I wanted to heave “I hate you.”
“That’s a shame. After Rachel passed out I went to find you, but you’d already taken off. I tried to catch you. I didn’t know you could run that fast. I have to say,” he lowered his voice, whispering in my ear, “I will never wipe the image of you falling face first onto the pavement from my mind. It was priceless.”
Never one to overreact, I went ahead and let my emotions fly, along with my textbook. His head snapped back.
“Fuck!” blood gushed and he bent forward holding his nose.
I ran for the auditorium. Nathan didn’t follow me. He was lucky I didn’t do more to his face. Chase was sitting in the back where he always sat. I didn’t stop running until I reached our seats.
“Hey,” he smiled. “You worried about being late?”
I gasped for air, shaking my head. “Get me out of here. Now.”
Chase stood, shrugging into his backpack. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t care about grades or attendance or anything. We passed. Good for us. Lets go!” I grabbed his hand, pulling him down the aisle.
“God damn it!” I heard Nathan shout. “I’m gonna kill you Briar!”
I suddenly found myself being tugged by Chase down the aisle for the back entrance. I could barely keep up with him. We tore down the steps and through the courtyard for the parking lot. Chase all but tossed me in the truck and floored it out of the lot.
“Briar, you want to tell me what happened to Nathan’s face?” Chase kept his eyes trained on the rearview mirror.
“He deserved it!”
“What?”
I turned to see if anyone was following us. Luckily, we were clear. “You think I broke his nose?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me.” Chase took my hand and laced our fingers together. He was trying to calm me down enough to get a straight answer. I’d never bloodied anyone’s nose before, so I was pretty much a wreck. “What happened?”
“The night we met. It wasn’t a stranger who chased me. It was Nathan. So I hit him with volume two of British literature.” I winced, realizing I’d left it in the hallway on the floor. Oh, well. It would find its way back to the teacher somehow. “Maybe I should have screamed for help. I overreacted.”
“You should have used the math one. It’s heavier.”
I stared at him, gripping the seat as he took a corner. “Wait, you’re happy I hit Nathan with the book?”
“Yes. Very.” He smiled.
“So what are we going to do now?” I asked. “We can’t go back to school.”
“Are you finished with your exams?”
“Yeah, thank God.” I never wanted to see another number two pencil again.
“Great, then we’re not going back.”
He headed for the beach and parked the truck next to an outcropping of rocks. We spent the rest of the day watching the waves roll in and out. Didn’t do much talking. We just sat in the truck bed, keeping each other company.
It was like this between us sometimes. Chase wasn’t a chatty person. I’d have to get used to it. Normally I felt a need to fill the silence, even with my so-called friends. It had always felt uncomfortable and strained. I had to speak to keep things moving, to feel less than awkward. I’d never been able to relax around any of them.
There was no awkwardness in the silence with Chase. I felt no need to fill the void, because for once there wasn’t one. For the first time in my life, I let myself be.
I simply existed.
I kicked off my shoes, rolled my jeans up, and hopped out of the truck bed, strolling down the beach to let the warm water rush rhythmically over my feet.
The heat washed over me. The sun beat down on my head. I titled my head back to feel it’s rays sink into me.
“You look like you’re enjoying yourself.” Chase said from behind me.
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I didn’t turn around as I felt him draw near. “I am. I feel so calm.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so upset.” He chuckled. “And that’s saying something.”
“Shut up,” I swatted my hands behind me to playfully smack him. He pulled me back against his chest, resting his chin on top of my head. His arms wrapped around me, and we stood together in a peaceful silence.
Eventually I opened my eyes, keeping them on the horizon. Sounds of the gulls overhead were drowned out by the waves. “You’d think I’d come here all the time. I live ten minutes away.”
“When was the last time you came?”
“I can’t remember…”
“You gonna miss it if you spend the summer in Montana with me?” he asked.
I turned in his hold and wrapped my arms around him, resting my head against his chest. “Not even a little.”
I never wanted to see those people I had called friends ever again. Once school started back up I would transfer to a public school for my senior year. I wouldn’t give a damn what my parents said.
“Should probably head home,” the day was getting late, the sun thinking about setting. We were still on the beach, our feet buried in the sand and our arms wrapped tight around each other.
With a resigned sigh, I dusted the sand off my feet and took Chase’s hand to walk back up to the truck. He drove me to Grandma’s and walked me to the door. “See you tomorrow.”
I nodded, smiling. “I can’t wait.”
“Bright and early. Six o'clock.”
“Okay,” I got out of the truck, and just as he was getting back inside, I stood on my tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to he cheek. I’d almost lost my nerve, but he was grinning like a fool as he got back behind the wheel.
I made sure I had everything ready and went to bed early. The sun wasn’t up when Chase pulled into the drive and loaded my things in his truck.
“You take good care of my baby,” Grandma said, hugging me tight.
Chase gave her a nod and winked, “I will.”
We said goodbye, and I turned in my seat to watch Grandma’s frail figure fade from view as we drove down the drive. I really was going to miss her, but I’d see her in a few months. I’d talk to her as often as I could.
We headed for Chase’s house. But when it was time for Ash to get in the trailer, he was restless. He wanted to play. He ran up to Chase, rubbing his face on him, licking his cheeks and chin.
“Well,” Chase looked back at me. “Want to go for a ride?”
I frowned. “Aren’t we supposed to be leaving?”
“He’s got different ideas and wants to go for his morning run.”
Ten minutes later we had trotted down the street and neared the school. It was early Saturday morning, and the biggest piece of empty land around.
“Are you sure we won’t get caught?” I asked, holding tight to Chase as Ash galloped into the football stadium.
Chase laughed. “I doubt anyone will notice us.”
I looked around the dark stadium and felt almost bad. I mean, we had a horse on school property. What kind of punishment would we be given if we were caught?
But, I decided after a few minutes, that I just didn’t care anymore.
It was time to have some fun.
Chase brought Ash to a stop and helped me to the ground. I sat on the bottom row of the bleachers and watched in awe as he trotted Ash into the grassy center. Then they were off, flying down the field. I was on the edge of my seat. I’d never seen them move so fast together. On the far side of the field was a low chain length fence. I held my breath. Ash cleared it gracefully, running farther out into the practice field on the side of the stadium. He came back over it just as easily.
I clapped, whistling, and stood on my seat, watching as they circled the football field.
“Fancy seeing you here.”
I jumped clear out of my skin and off the bleachers onto the track. Behind me, coming out of the tunnel under the stadium, were Nathan and Alex.
“What are you doing here?”
“Oh, just came to throw the football around.” Nathan grinned, tossing it to Alex. His nose was purple and red, bandaged up. He looked like he was recovering from two black eyes as well. “Guess we lucked out. I’ve been hoping we’d run into each other.”
I gulped and looked at Alex. He wasn’t going to be any help. In fact, he was going to side with Nathan on this one, I could tell by his sly grin.
Shit.
“So, what, are you going to do break my nose as payback?” I asked.
Nathan shrugged. “Sounds like a good start.”
Horse hooves thundered behind me. The ground trembled under my feet. I glanced back to see Chase racing across the field for us.
“Looks like we’ve pissed off the hick.” Alex laughed.
I turned back just in time to face Nathan. He grabbed for me, but the thing about being a boxing legend’s granddaughter was…I kinda knew how to fight.
I punched his already busted nose and boxed his ears. He went down on the ground wailing.
I rounded on Alex. He lunged for me, his clenched fist heading for my face.
Lightning went off in my ear. The crack so loud I flinched and turned away.
“Fuck,” Alex screamed. His legs flew out from under him and he landed on his ass with a thump.
Where had Chase gotten a whip?
I looked at Alex’s foot and grimaced. The leather was wrapped around his ankle.
“Sucks to be you,” I accepted Chase’s outstretched hand. He pulled me up behind him on Ash and retrieved the whip with ease, not even getting down from the horse. Then we were off like a shot, over the fence, and barreling back to his house.
This time Ash went right into the trailer, seeming satisfied with the morning’s excitement. We were loaded up and ready to go, so we went inside and said goodbye to Chase’s mother.
“You leaving?” She asked, standing from the breakfast table.
Chase nodded. “Yeah,”
She sighed and smiled. “I can’t talk you into staying, can I?”
Chase hugged her. His decision was harder than I originally thought. His mom wanted him to be happy, but it also upset her to see him go. “I wish I could, but I just can’t.”
“You tried.” She nodded and let him go. “Your father would be proud of you. He knew what he wanted when the rest of us had no clue.”
I smiled at Mrs. Carter as we headed for the stairs. Chase wanted to check his room a final time to make sure he didn’t forget something. I wanted to ask about his father. I’d never heard anyone mention him before today.
In his room, Chase grabbed a backpack and large duffle bag. “Ready?”
I blocked his way back out the door. “Are you okay?”
“I will be when I get home.”
“You know, I don’t know what it’s like to feel so incomplete that I can’t breathe.”
“Yeah,” he hugged me to his side and rested his chin on top of my head. “It will feel good to breathe again…and where the hell did you get a right hook like that? I’m impressed.”
“Grandpa was a boxer, remember?” I led the way outside to the truck, and tried not to cry as his mother hugged him again. Todd shook hands with Chase. His little sister watched shyly from behind him.
I was getting into the truck, when Mrs. Carter stopped me. “You’re not going with him, are you?”
I smiled. “I am.”
Surprise spread over her face, and she glanced at Chase, then back at me. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Chase opened the door wider so I could get in. I held back. “Why?”
She shook her head, a far off look in her eyes. “Oh, about eighteen years ago I got in a truck much like this one, excited, not knowing what to expect. I was in love with a fairytale and soon found out that kind of life wasn’t for me.”
“I don’t put a lot of stock in fairytales, Mrs. Carter, but thank you for your concern.”
I climbed into the truck, not looking back. Chase followed, and we didn’t say anything as he pulled out of the driveway.
I wasn’t thinking about fairytales. I was thinking about adventure, and doing things I’d never done before. Something told me that McCree Ranch was going to be more than I ever imagined, and even better for me than it was for Mrs. Carter.
Chapter 11
Chase
“Is Ash doing okay?” Briar asked, twisting in the seat to look out the window. It was night, and she probably couldn’t see much.
I nodded, glancing in the rearview mirror. “He’ll get a chance to stretch his legs in a bit.”
She turned back and sank into the seat, propping her feet on the dash. She was wearing black hiking boots, ones with pink laces and glitter on the logo. They weren’t like anything I’d ever seen, but they would be comfortable and sturdy, and she looked damn cute in them. “How long till we get there?”
I eyed the upcoming road signs, “Why?”
She shrugged, “Just wondering.”
I glanced at her, “Are you bored?”
“Not really…” she laughed, shoving at my arm when I rolled my eyes. “It’s been three hours since the last rest stop. I just want to get out and walk around.”
I checked the GPS. We were already in Tennessee. Around eleven hours on the road. “It says we’ve got another three hours till we reach the inn.”
“I can wait.”
“Yup.” I smirked, watching her dig through her purse. She pulled out a bag of peppermints and offered me one. She’d bought them at a gas station along with a cherry cola. The cola was gone. Now three mints and half a magazine later she was looking for something else to do.
When it was nearing the end of the first leg of out trip, I slowed, pulling off onto the shoulder of the road. Briar almost leapt from the truck to stretch her legs, she bounced on her toes next to me, while I leaned against the open truck door trying not to laugh.
“Want to drive the rest of the way?”
Chasing McCree Page 8