At noon, my mother called me for lunch. Thankfully, my father was at a business meeting and couldn’t be with us. Fine by me. I loved him, but right now, I needed to avoid his criticism.
“Any plans for the afternoon?” my mother asked as we took the plates back to the kitchen. Maria shot me a glare, telling me she could do that, but I ignored her and continued helping.
“Not really. Just to spend some time with Tostado.”
“That’s good, honey.” She smiled at me. “Come back for a snack by three, please. Maria made another one of your favorites.”
I rolled my eyes. If I didn’t go back to working out soon, Maria would fatten me up really quick.
I waved them bye and left for the stables.
Tostado was in his stall. Joaquim, a stable boy, was opening his stall, a brush in his hand.
“Gabi,” he said, surprised.
In Portuguese, I told him to give me the brush and go do some other chore. He seemed glad to do so.
“Hey, pretty boy,” I said, entering Tostado’s stall. He neighed and met me halfway, pressing his muzzle on my side. I chuckled and embraced him. “I missed you too.” I dropped my head over him and sighed. “How about I brush you really good, then we go for a slow ride? Just to get the rust off my bones, hm?”
He snorted, as if saying yes, and I chuckled again. Only horses could make me smile and feel better when in truth all I wanted was to crawl in my bed, curl into myself, and cry.
In the tack room, I grabbed reins, a saddle, a thick blanket, and stirrups. I was placing everything carefully over Tostado’s stall wall when I heard.
“Oi.”
With a gasp, I dropped the saddle on the ground. I turned toward the voice. “Mateus. What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.”
“But how …” I stopped myself. I knew how. “Pri told you.”
“Not her exactly. She told Adriana, who told Jorge, who told me.”
I groaned on the inside and picked up the saddle. “Don’t you have classes too?”
“I do, but I thought seeing you was more important than my classes.”
Too cheesy. “Mateus, I appreciate the visit, but I’m not really in the mood to talk.”
“Then I won’t talk. We can just go for a quiet ride.” He smiled at me. “It has been a long time since we rode together, huh?”
I did all I could not to glare at him. “I really don’t want to be rude, but I want you to leave, Mateus.”
He took three steps toward me. My instinct told me to retreat but I held my ground. “Por favor, Gabi, give me a chance. Even if it’s only to be your friend for now.” He reached for my hand. “I miss you.”
“I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”
The new voice in stables made me freeze. For about two seconds. Then, my heart kicked into overdrive and I glanced over Mateus’ shoulder, to the open gates, where Tyler stood.
“Tyler,” I whispered in awe. Meu Deus, it was Tyler. He was here. In Brazil, at my family’s stable. I rushed to him, but stopped after four steps, too afraid of getting burned again. “You’re here.”
He glared from Mateus to me. “Yeah, but I’m starting to regret it.”
59
Tyler
I had come with one small duffel bag and my passport. Nothing else. At the airport, I rented a car and followed the GPS directions to the Fernandeses ranch.
With a look of surprise, Regina received me at the house’s front porch and then told me Gabi was in the stable. She told me which path to follow to get there and I practically ran all the way.
Just to find Mateus and Gabi together.
I narrowed my eyes at the punk making a pass at my wife. “Yeah, but I’m starting to regret it.”
Gabi stared at me, dumbfounded. “What?”
“So, what is this? We didn’t even break up properly and you’re already with this guy?”
“No, it’s not—”
“There’s nothing for you here, pal,” Mateus said, interrupting Gabi. “Go back to the hole you came from.”
Shit. My anger escalated and I gritted my teeth. It was the only thing I could do not to jump on the punk and land my fist on his pampered face.
“Mateus, stop it,” Gabi said.
“If she wanted something with you, she wouldn’t have left. But she’s here now and I’m here now.” The guy placed his arm around Gabi’s shoulders and she stepped to the side.
“Stop it,” she repeated.
He turned to her. “But Gabi, you did come back for me.” He grabbed her wrists and she jerked back, but he didn’t let go. “You know we belong together.”
Oh, that was it. Red covered my eyesight. I lunged for the punk. He saw me coming and finally let go of Gabi.
“No!” she yelled right before I clipped his face and landed a pretty nasty punch on his cheek.
He stumbled back and whimpered, his hand over his face.
My fingers hurt, but I welcomed the pain. It grounded me.
“What the hell, Tyler?” Gabi asked, her eyes wide.
Shit.
I had tried to defend her and ended up acting like an ape.
Gabi turned to Mateus. “Are you okay?”
And now she would take care of him.
Damn it.
I just couldn’t win.
Defeated and feeling like my anger would explode out of me at any moment, I marched out of the stable. I was halfway back to the rental car when I heard footsteps and then her voice.
“Tyler, wait.” Like she had done the other day, she planted herself in my way, forcing me to stop.
“Not now,” I growled.
She put my hands on my waist. “Not now? You came all the way from the U.S., took three flights to get here, and now you’re telling me no? The hell with it. We’re gonna talk. Right now.”
“Not sure right now is a good time.” I huffed, my hands closed in fists.
“Talk to me. That’s the only thing you need to do.” Her face … her expression … I couldn’t read it. It was a mix of surprise and happiness and hope. But that was probably my hope and anger talking. Slowly, she reached for me. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
The image of her staying behind to check on Mateus filled my mind and I took a step back. “I’m an idiot. I thought …” I shook my head. “I should have known he would be waiting for you. And now you probably think even worse of me for hitting him.”
“I’m certainly surprised by that punch, but I’m even more surprised that you came to Brazil.” One corner of her lips tugged up. “And, the only explanation I can come up with is that you came because of me.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, and then I caught you with him.”
She glared at me. “Stop being an idiot. He found out I was here and came alone. I didn’t invite him here and I didn’t want him here. And I just told him to get the hell out of this place.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. Again, my chest was a tangle of emotions I didn’t know how to deal with. I thought … I thought I just had to come here, tell her I loved her, and ask her to come back home with me.
But then I saw that jerk with her and … ugh, the anger was still strong.
I took a long breath, trying to expel the anger from my system. “I was hurt,” I started. We needed to clear the air from our previous argument before starting another. “I had just lost my father and I suddenly realized my new biggest fear was losing you. And then I learned about Florida and I realized I really could lose you. At any moment. After all, you had gone to the U.S. to play polo, not to find a husband. And one day, you would walk away and go play polo. Maybe it would be tomorrow, maybe it would be once the two years were up, I didn’t know. I just knew that the fear of losing you was too great and I let it take over me. I kept myself away before you pushed me away. But I wasn’t handling the situation right. I was just avoiding it.”
“I should have told you the moment I got the offer,” she said. “I should have told you
about it and also told you I wasn’t going to accept it.”
“I know, you couldn’t accept it because you would lose your green card.”
“No, you idiot. I wasn’t going to accept it because I knew you wouldn’t come with me and I didn’t want to leave you. It was you, Tyler. I didn’t want to go because of you.”
I stared at her. I really stared at her. At the beautiful woman in front of me. At the girl who had stolen my heart without even trying. At the girl who had left because she thought it was the best for me. At the girl who gave up on our deal, but wanted to pay all my debts anyway. At the girl who was the most kind, the gentlest, the most deserving woman I had met. At the wife I loved more than anything in the entire world.
“Yeah, I’m an idiot,” I said. She chuckled. “But this idiot knows what he wants and he wants his wife back.”
She took a step closer and cupped my face with her hand. “I love you, you idiot. And I’m so happy you came for me.” Her eyes filled with tears.
I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her to me. Looking into her eyes, I said, “I love you too.”
Then I kissed her.
I molded my mouth to hers, moving my lips in a desperate way, trying to show her how much I needed her, how much I wanted her, how much she meant to me.
I was breathless when I finally pulled back and said, “I love you and I would do anything for you. If you want to move to Florida to play polo, let’s do it. I bet they have plenty of vet clinics and vet schools around there.”
Her smile was the most beautiful thing. It lit up her entire face and made me want to kiss her away. “We can talk more about it later, but I just want to let you know that I love you for considering it.”
Then, she pressed her lips on mine and I forgot about the rest of the world.
Six Months Later
Gabi
I rolled my shoulders, the nerves getting to me.
“Relax,” Kelsey said from my side.
I glanced at her and scoffed. “Look who is talking.” Her entire body was visibly tense.
She offered me a shy smile. “Well, when the captain is nervous, I get nervous too, so relax, and I’ll relax too.”
I rolled my eyes at her.
My eyes on the field in front of us, I caught my foot on my hand and stretched my quad. I tried focusing on the empty field, but I couldn’t help noticing the crowd around it.
It seemed everyone was here. Across the field, I could see Tyler standing with Gui, Leo, Ri, Pedro, tio João Pedro, and my father. To the side, Bia, Hannah, Hil, tia Agnes, and my mother were seated and chatting. Even Priscila was here—she had come with my parents to see me.
To see my first official game as the captain of the newly formed team, New Reign, the first all-women team of the Santa Barbara club. We had chosen this name because we were women, delicate and strong, just like a rose and its thorns. It was appropriate.
After Tyler and I had made up in Brazil, we had come back and moved to Florida so I could accept the offer from the club there. In the end, Melissa had moved there too and we started playing together.
During our first tournament in Europe, we met Caroline, who was an American living in London. She was from California and had made it clear she would love to come back to the U.S. someday.
It didn’t take long for my team to win several tournaments and gather the attention of not only the Santa Barbara club, but several others. We ended up receiving about six offers in total. Plus the counteroffer of the Florida club, who didn’t want to lose Melissa and me.
The offer from the Santa Barbara club hadn’t been the best, but it was where Melissa and I wanted to move. And it was where Kelsey was living, and where Caroline wanted to be.
So we formed a new team and accepted the offer.
Then Tyler and I moved back to Santa Barbara.
I glanced at him across the field. As if feeling it, he looked at me, his eyes locked on mine. Even from here, the intensity of his gaze scorched my skin.
“They're at it again,” Melissa said from somewhere behind me. She was checking on the horses again, as she did three hundred times before any game.
“I know, I can see,” Caroline said from my left. She was stretching too.
I groaned. “Can you guys stop?”
“You have to stop,” Melissa said with a laugh. “Every time he comes to watch our practice, it’s almost like you guys are undressing each other with your eyes. You don’t need that right before an important game!” she teased.
Warmth spread over my cheeks. She was right, though. Tyler’s gaze was intense, and our passion hadn’t lessened yet, even after almost six months together, and I didn’t think it would, even if we spent another six, sixteen, or sixty years together.
After the outburst at my brother’s apartment, and everyone finding out we were already married, we came clean with the rest of the family. As expected, my father and mother didn’t take it well at first. I didn’t think they accepted it fully yet, but Tyler and I would prove to them that we were meant to be.
That he made me happy and I made him happy.
Even though we were six months into our marriage, my green card had been finally issued, and I had paid all of his debt. He had complained, saying that wasn’t the agreement, but I reminded him we were married for real now, so the deal didn’t matter anymore.
I knew the topic of money bothered him a little—the effects of having so little and struggling for so long. But we were a couple now. My money was his money, end of story.
Though, he had insisted on working, even if part time, so he could pay for tuition and finish vet school. Garrett, Bia, and he talked about opening a vet clinic specializing in horses—including physical therapy. And if the horses needed some help with their psychological side, they would call on Hannah and Leo.
It was actually pretty amazing and I truly hoped it worked out for them.
Across the field, Tyler said something to the guys, then stepped away from them. I followed him with my eyes and when he turned a left at the corner of the field, I realized he was coming this way.
“Oh, here he comes,” Kelsey teased. “I knew this would happen someday. He'll come, push you down to the ground, and you'll have sex right here.” She gestured to the grass in between us. “In front of everyone.”
I scrunched my nose. “Just shut up.”
The other girls laughed, but they retreated a few steps when Tyler approached us. He had already greeted them earlier, but he waved at them again. Turning to me, he stepped right into my personal space and placed a heavy hand on my waist.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his hazel eyes locked on mine.
“Sim, porquê?”
“I don’t know.” He ran his other hand through his hair. “I guess I would be really nervous right now, so I wanted to check on you.”
“I am nervous, but I’m also excited.” I smiled at him. “This is all I ever wanted. I’m here in the United States with my family. I’m playing polo with the best team in the world, and I even got a bonus out of all that.”
He cocked one eyebrow. “Oh, and what is that?” The curve of his lips told me he knew exactly what I was talking about.
I rose on tiptoes and whispered, “You, silly.” I pressed my lips on his. I began lowering the balls of my feet, but he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him. He pressed his mouth to mine again and moved his lips with such softness that took my breath away.
He pulled just one inch back and look into my eyes. “No, I’m the one who got all the bonuses.” He squeezed me a little more. “Go out there and show them what you’re made of.”
“That’s what I’m planning.”
He gave me another peck. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I said, before kissing him again.
Around us, the girls groaned.
“Get a room,” one of them whispered, probably so the rest of the club wouldn’t hear it.
Tyler and I chuckled. He
dropped his arms from around me, stepped back, kissed my hand, and turned to go back to the other side of the field. And I stared at him, wondering how the hell I got so lucky.
It didn’t matter how I became so lucky, what mattered was that I would do all I could to keep things the way they were.
I grabbed my helmet from my bag and turned to the girls. “Let’s go kick some ass!”
They cheered and I smiled, never feeling happier in my entire life.
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While USA Today Bestselling Author Juliana Haygert dreams of being Wonder Woman, Buffy, or a blood elf shadow priest, she settles for the less exciting—but equally gratifying—life as a wife, a mother, and an author. She resides in North Carolina and spends her days writing about kick-ass heroines and the heroes who drive them crazy.
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Breaking Down (The Breaking Series Book 4) Page 30