Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
GABE
If I thought I was screwed before, now I was well and truly fucked.
I couldn’t stay away from Jasmine. My feelings for her had only grown deeper since kissing her and watching her fall apart in my lap.
Even though I’d had to look my best friend in the eye days later and pretend I didn’t know what his daughter looked like naked, it hadn’t stopped me from wanting to be with her again.
Then she went and told my daughter she loved her.
And I believed it. She’d learned how to knit just so she could make Rory a replica of her beloved chinchilla.
My heart had nearly burst from my chest the moment I realized what she had done.
That was when I knew this was the real deal.
This pressure in my chest was her burrowing her way into my heart.
I’d convinced myself that this desperate yearning was fueled by lust, that I was only drawn to her because she was young and beautiful and so damn vibrant it nearly hurt to look at her.
But this went far beyond attraction and sexual desire.
I liked Jasmine. I enjoyed her company. I adored her quick wit and sense of humor.
I relished her sharp tongue and tenacity.
She was a force to be reckoned with. She was unstoppable and fearless.
She challenged me and didn’t hesitate to put me in my place. And I fucking loved it.
The problem was nobody would believe that I genuinely cared for her.
Everyone would think I was just after one thing.
All they would see was a thirty-seven year old man taking advantage of a much younger woman, a woman whose care he’d been entrusted with.
A woman he’d known since she was a child and had held a position of authority over.
They would think I was a scumbag. They wouldn’t realize I’d tried like hell to keep my distance and maintain firm professional boundaries.
They wouldn’t know how I’d agonized over these feelings I tried to ignore, the ones I thought were wrong.
And her family would be our harshest critics.
Their trust in me would be decimated. Her dad would never forgive me.
Her mom would turn away in disgust. Her brothers would be arguing over who had to dig the hole for my lifeless body.
Except for maybe Nash. He hadn’t seemed fond of the idea of Jasmine and me being together, but was more concerned with someone else finding out.
He and Rose might be our only allies should we choose to pursue a relationship.
I desperately wanted to take that leap. I wanted to say, “fuck it” and jump in with both feet. Every stolen moment I’d shared with Jasmine, every clandestine encounter we’d had solidified my need for her. I wanted so badly to show the world that what we had was real.
But at what cost?
Other than Rory, I had no family here since my parents had retired to Florida a few years ago, and my siblings all lived out of state.
Elwood and RaeAnne had become like my second family, and getting involved with their daughter felt like the ultimate betrayal of trust. He’d tasked me with keeping her safe, and I’d gone behind his back and kissed her.
I’d entertained the idea of entering into a secret, forbidden romance with her.
He would never accept or understand that she was the very thing my soul yearned for.
He wouldn’t care that we were two consenting adults.
All he would see was his best friend defiling his little girl.
And that was the only thing keeping me from diving in headfirst.
Every time I looked at Jasmine, my chest splintered with indecision. It was getting harder to prioritize my friendship with Elwood when my feelings for Jasmine were so strong I could barely breathe when she wasn’t near.
That would make spending the next three days with her nearly unbearable.
This was her last multi-day event for a while, and it would be her biggest one yet.
It was another all-in-one competition that featured barrel racing, pole bending, all rodeo events, etc.
We had to leave the ranch after completing our morning chores on Thursday to make the nearly nine hour drive to Florida’s Gulf Coast in preparation for her first qualifier on Friday morning.
It was late when we finally arrived at the venue. Jasmine and I were both dog tired, but I wasn’t the one who had to race in the morning, so I took care of settling Juniper into her stall while Jasmine got ready for bed. She needed the rest to perform at peak level tomorrow.
“How’s your sugar? Does your pump have enough insulin?” I asked before sending her off. After what happened last time, I was nervous about her blood sugar levels or running out of supplies. She rolled her eyes, but the corners of her lips twitched.
“They’re all good,” she assured me before turning to drag her exhausted body back to the trailer.
I was securing the latch when I caught the side profile of a man who looked vaguely familiar.
When he turned to walk toward me, recognition snapped into place.
My jaw cracked as I gritted my teeth together.
It was the cowboy who’d been flirting with Jasmine at the last race.
He passed by me, offering a friendly nod and smile.
I tipped my head ever so slightly in acknowledgment as jealousy burned in my veins.
I didn’t like that he was here. I suspected he and Jasmine had history judging by the familiarity I’d witnessed between them, but he obviously hadn’t wanted to leave it in the past. I’d have to keep my eye on him and make sure he didn’t try anything.
I hadn’t been in a fist fight in over a decade, but I’d brush the dust off these knuckles to keep this asshole away from my girl.
My girl.
Damn, I liked the way that sounded, maybe a little too much. Thinking of her that way was going to get me into trouble.
I pushed those thoughts from my mind and headed back to the trailer.
Jasmine was already fast asleep, starfished on her stomach atop the duvet.
I tried to ignore the soft globes of her round ass that were barely concealed by another pair of those damn sleep shorts.
I wanted nothing more than to run my hands up the backs of her thighs and under the hem so I could palm those decadent curves.
I’d only gotten a brief feel of them that night at the Honeysuckle Festival, and I wanted more.
Instead, I grabbed a spare blanket from the closet and spread it over her, dropping a kiss to the back of her head before retreating and turning in for the night.
“Yes, baby. Go, go, go!” I cheered exuberantly, rooting Jasmine on.
She soared around the barrels on Juniper’s back, every turn tight and precise.
Her heels were down, and her posture was impeccable.
She was going to take the lead in this round, I was sure of it.
When she passed back through the gate, I held my breath as I waited for the announcer to call out her time.
When he did, I pumped my fist into the air, smiling so big it made my cheeks ache.
I went in search of Jasmine, and when I caught sight of her, she was grinning triumphantly.
As I approached, she launched herself at me, and I caught her in a crushing hug, lifting her feet off the ground.
Without thinking, I twirled her around, but she still had a hold of Juniper’s lead.
It wound around us, trapping her in my hold.
I glanced down at her, and my heart stuttered to a halt before picking back up again, beating double time as I stared into her eyes.
The entire world around us fell away for the briefest moment.
My gaze dropped to her full, pouty lips, and I let the memory of how they felt on mine consume me.
Before I could do something reckless, like kiss her in front of all these people, Juniper nudged my shoulder and huffed in annoyance.
I spun Jasmine in the opposite direction and placed her back on her feet.
Clearing my throat, I straightened my shirt and stepped back to put a professional distance between us.
“You did it,” I proclaimed, and she released a giggle that had my dick stirring in my pants.
“The round’s not over yet,” she reminded me.
“Nobody is going to beat that time,” I assured her.
“We’ll see,” she replied skeptically, but there was a hopeful gleam in her eyes.
It turned out I was right. We stuck around for the rest of the racers to complete, and nobody beat Jasmine’s time.
“This calls for a celebration,” Jasmine announced as we returned Juniper to her stall.
“What did you have in mind?”
“You’ll see,” she offered with a wicked grin, and my blood heated. If she did the same thing to me that she did the last time we were on the road together, I would fold like a cheap suit. I wasn’t strong enough to resist her again.
What she did was only slightly better.
When she emerged from the bathroom in a bikini, my mouth went dry and every muscle in my body went taut.
Delicate ruffles framed her perky breasts, and the soft yellow fabric dotted with pink flowers highlighted her golden skin.
Her stomach and thighs were toned, and the muscles of her back and shoulders were sculpted from years of horseback riding.
The crease where her ass met her legs peeked out from beneath her boy shorts.
There was just enough cheek visible to drive me crazy.
She sauntered past me and bent to pull a pair of cut-off shorts and a tank top from her bag.
I nearly groaned when her bottoms rode up and stretched over her intimate parts.
It flooded my mind with memories of her doing that in front of me naked.
I had to turn away so she wouldn’t catch me ogling her and see the bulge in my pants.
Mercifully, she pulled the clothes on, covering her body while I fought to compose myself.