Chapter 45
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
GABE
“Let’s get you home,” I said as I put the truck in drive.
Jasmine had been discharged from the hospital, and we’d returned to find that some of the other competitors and their families had already started loading up our trailer even though the competition wasn’t over.
They’d fed and taken care of Juniper and were leading her to the trailer as we drove up.
She whinnied loudly when Jasmine hopped out of the truck.
Jasmine went straight to Juniper, who’d nearly dragged the man holding her lead to get to her.
Juniper sniffed Jasmine, pressing her nose into her belly and chest before nuzzling her hair.
“I’m okay, girl,” Jasmine cooed, petting her nose and cheeks before wrapping her arms around the horse’s neck and scratching her withers. Juniper’s gaze locked on me, and I could almost swear there was a new level of respect shining in her dark eyes.
On the way home, I frequently checked in with Jasmine, asking if she felt okay and insisting she report her blood sugar levels. Finally, after a couple hours of me asking every fifteen minutes, she told me to fuck off. That was when I knew she was back to normal.
We stopped to eat, and I made sure she consumed enough carbs and had some snacks for the road just in case.
Despite her improved condition and assurances she’d tell me if she started feeling bad again, I was tense the entire drive home.
Some of the tension eased when we hit Poplar Ridge.
I felt like I could breathe again when our tires met the gravel driveway leading up to the ranch.
I pulled up to the house and parked, going around to the passenger side to help Jasmine out of the truck. I wanted to get her inside so she could rest before I unloaded the trailer. The second Jasmine’s feet hit the ground the front door flew open, and I took a step away from her.
Woody burst through the door, and instead of looking relieved to see us, he looked furious.
“You son of a bitch,” he growled. “Get the fuck away from my daughter.” The blood froze in my veins.
He knew.
Somehow my best friend had found out that I’d been with his daughter. My subconscious urged me to run. It recognized the immediate threat of danger that was the hulking man charging toward me. But that would get me nowhere. I wasn’t about to flee or hide like a coward. I would face him like a man.
I rounded the hood of the truck and held up my hands. He was like a raging bull, blinded by his need to pummel something red, and his sights were set on me.
“Woody, I can expl—”
CRACK.
His fist connected with my face, and pain exploded in my cheek and jaw. The force of it spun me around, and I landed against the hood of the truck.
“Gabe!” Jasmine shrieked and ran toward me.
“I trusted you!” Woody bellowed.
“Dad,” came a deep, masculine voice. I straightened and turned to find both Rowan and Jacek holding him back. Rubbing at my jaw, I glanced over his shoulder at where RaeAnne stood on the porch, her hand covering her mouth.
Jasmine cupped my face, her wide eyes filled with worry. Her fingers fluttered over my skin, and I winced.
“Don’t you touch her,” Woody spat.
“Dad, stop,” Rowan said, a hand planted firmly in the middle of his father’s chest.
“You can’t let your blood pressure get too high. You’ll have another stroke,” Jacek warned. That finally got through to him, and he stopped struggling against their hold.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Jasmine demanded.
“We saw the video,” Rowan announced as Woody panted for breath.
“What video?” she asked, confused.
“From your race. We saw you fall,” Jacek explained.
“Okay,” Jasmine drew out, her gaze bouncing back and forth between the three of them uncertainly. “So you saw Gabe catch me. What’s the problem? He saved my life.”
“That’s not all we saw,” Woody gritted out as he stared daggers at me, his eyes filled with rage and betrayal. Suddenly it all clicked into place.
“We saw him holding you and kissing your forehead. We heard him tell you he loved you,” Jacek added, confirming my suspicions. Someone had caught the whole thing on video. Jasmine slowly turned toward me, her eyes swimming with emotion.
“You love me?” she asked and reached for me.
She was roughly jerked back, just out of my reach. I glared at Rowan, my eyes dropping to where his meaty hand was curled around her bicep.
“Get your fucking hands off her,” I growled menacingly, taking a step in his direction. I didn’t care how much bigger or stronger he was than me—nobody put their hands on her. Nobody hurt her, not even her own flesh and blood.
His gaze flicked to his father, a mix of confusion and apprehension flashing in his eyes. He released his hold on Jasmine but pushed her behind him out of my sight.
“If there’s even a mark on her skin,” I began, my tone laced with warning. “I’ll—”
“Enough,” Woody demanded. “You don’t get to threaten my son, you disgusting piece of shit.
Not after you preyed on my little girl. Not after you manipulated her into a relationship with you.
” I drew back, shocked not only at his use of profanity, but also the venom with which he hurled those accusations at me.
“That’s not what happened,” I replied, desperate to make him see.
“You’ve been seeing her behind my back for God only knows how long,” he continued as though I hadn’t spoken. “Have you been,” he paused to swallow, his features twisting with anguish, “sleeping with my daughter?”
My silence was answer enough. Woody’s entire body shook with rage, and his hands fisted at his sides.
“You are fired,” he gritted out. “Don’t ever come back here again. Do not contact my daughter. Don’t even look at her! Forget she ever existed.”
“No!” Jasmine cried and ran to me. Rowan tried to catch her, but she was too fast. She stood in front of me, facing off with her family. Her spine straightened, and she planted her hands on her hips.
“You don’t get to decide who I can and cannot date. I am twenty-one years old,” she reminded them, seething. “I’m old enough to vote. I’m old enough to serve in the military, and I’m old enough to drink. I sure as hell am old enough to choose who I date, and it’s none of your damn business.”
I was so proud of her for sticking up for herself, I wanted to clap, but I didn’t move a muscle.
“I agree with Jasmine,” Nash announced, striding up to us.
All heads snapped in his direction as he came to stand next to Jasmine, facing his dad and brothers.
“They’re both consenting adults. They should be free to do whatever they want,” he offered as he casually put a cigarette to his lips and lit the end.
“Stay out of this, Nash,” Woody warned. Nash shrugged, completely unbothered by his father’s vitriol, and puffed on his cigarette.
Woody turned his focus back to Jasmine. “He’s too old for you. There’s only one thing a man his age wants from a girl like you,” he claimed with a sneer, and my gut twisted. How could my best friend think that about me?
“Woman,” Jasmine corrected. “I am a grown ass woman, and I will sleep with whomever I want.”
“He’s old enough to be your father.” Woody’s voice boomed, and it took everything I had not to deck him for raising his voice at her. “He should’ve known better than to go after someone your age.”
“Not that it should matter, but I’m the one who pursued him. He refused to get involved with me out of respect for you,” she said, jabbing a finger in Woody’s direction.
“He should have kept refusing,” Woody snarled.
“He makes me happy,” Jasmine countered, appealing to the soft spot he had for his only daughter. “He treats me with respect, and he puts me first. That’s more than I can say for anyone else I’ve dated.” Love and hope swelled in my chest, and my throat grew tight at her declaration.
Woody gritted his teeth together, and his nostrils flared. “You’ll find someone else who can make you happy,” he declared, and that hope deflated.
“I don’t want anyone else.”
“You’ll change your mind. You’re still young. You have your whole life ahead of you,” he said, his tone pleading.
“Yeah?” she replied, a hint of challenge in her tone. “And what if I want to spend it with him?” I sucked in a sharp breath as warmth spread through my chest.
“I won’t allow it.”
“It’s not your call!” Jasmine cried, and Woody recoiled at the sharpness in her tone and the volume of her voice.
RaeAnne stepped in between us and held up her hands. “Okay, why don’t we all just take a breath,” she said in a soothing voice, attempting to diffuse the situation. “We can work through this. Let’s just go inside, sit down, and have a civilized conversation.”
“That man isn’t welcome in my home,” Woody said, pointing an accusatory finger at me, and I flinched.
“Elwood.” RaeAnne’s voice was gentle as she tried to calm him down.
“Matter of fact,” he continued, “he’s not welcome here at all.
He no longer works for me, so he’s trespassing.
” He glared at me with hate filling his eyes.
“You’ve got however long it takes for me to get my shotgun from the safe to get off my property.
” My stomach dropped, and I swallowed down the bile rising in my throat.
When I envisioned the worst-case scenario around Jasmine’s family finding out about us, this was what I pictured. It was my nightmare coming true.
“Elwood,” RaeAnne hissed, her voice sharper this time and her expression horrified.
“Daddy, no!” Jasmine cried.
“This is your only warning, Montgomery. I better not catch you anywhere near my daughter or my land again.”
Jasmine whirled on me, her big, hazel eyes pleading and full of fear. I hated Elwood for what he was putting her through. I understood his need to protect his daughter, but that wasn’t what he was doing. He was only hurting her.
“I’m going with you,” Jasmine said, and Woody stiffened.
“The hell you are.” His words were aimed at Jasmine, but his sights were trained on me. RaeAnne gripped his arm to keep him from coming after me again.
“Jasmine,” RaeAnne said and shook her head, her eyes pleading when Jasmine turned to face her. Jasmine wavered, consumed with indecision as she looked back and forth between me and her parents.
“Go,” I urged gently, not wanting to drive the wedge further between them. That one word splintered my heart, but taking her away from them in this moment would only make things worse. Emotions were already running high, and Woody looked like he was about to explode.
Sobbing, Jasmine threw her arms around me, and RaeAnne wrapped her arm around Woody’s middle to keep him from lunging at me.
“I’ll fix this,” Jasmine whispered into my ear. She pulled back and pressed a quick kiss to my lips before crossing to where her parents stood. Woody looked like he was mentally plotting where to bury my body. I left quickly before he decided to use me as target practice.