19. CT
19
ct
“Are you about ready?” I ask from outside the curtain where Dani is getting ready in the tack room.
Lady waits patiently tied in the alleyway for her owner, her saddle sitting primly on her back, ready to show.
Dani shows this morning, and I can tell she’s nervous about being back in the arena.
“Yeah, I need some help, though.” I enter through the curtain and see her trying to zip her chaps, the leather covering her legs for protection and for show.
“Ah, okay, here.” I reach over and grab the little step ladder I brought for hanging the curtains and have her step up on it so her chaps aren’t dragging on the ground.
“The zipper keeps getting stuck.”
I nod. “It’s the angle you’re at.”
I reach up and steady my breath, realizing—or better yet, remembering—how personal this is. I’ve helped her into her chaps before, many times. But I was her boyfriend then, not her ex.
The zipper connects at the top of her inner thigh and then zips down, so I have to touch her intimately, and I have to not take that any further like I might have once.
Or twice.
“It’s okay,” she whispers into the quiet room. “I trust you.”
You shouldn’t , whispers through my brain, but I shake my head and grasp the zipper, my fingers stroking the inside of her leg. I feel her muscles tense up, and I try to quickly get the zipper done.
Once I’m done with one leg, I move to the other, where I resist the manly urge to rip my hat off, strip her down to her knees and take her right then and there.
Calm the fuck down, CT.
I finish getting them on and roll the bottoms up so she doesn’t step on them, then help her down off the step stool. She turns and looks at me, and I smile at the sight. She’s wearing a pink button-down, her felt hat and her chaps are black.
I’ve never seen anything sexier in my life .
“How do I look?” she asks, cocking a hip in a silly way, and I laugh at the action.
“You look like you’re ready to take down your entire class.”
She winks. “Bet your ass I am.” She steps around me, and I curl my hands into fists at my side.
I think back to last night when it had been unbelievably hard to keep my hands to myself all night long.
We’d gone out with our friends, we drank and ate, and when I asked her to dance with me, she didn’t even hesitate to say yes.
It was the best night I’ve had in a long time. I allowed myself a bit of hope that this week would be a turning point for Dani and me. I knew I didn’t deserve her forgiveness. I didn’t deserve another chance with her, but if she deemed me worthy, if she told me that her feelings were still there, that she was willing to give me another chance, I wouldn’t take that chance for granted.
If the only thing I accomplish this week is getting Dani to trust me again, then I’ll call it a win.
She undoes Lady’s halter and places her bridle and bit over her head, making sure the fit isn’t too tight or uncomfortable before she takes her into the middle of the alleyway to get on. This barn was made for this. The ceilings are about forty feet high, so there’s no concern for riding down the walkways here on horseback and getting hurt.
Dani hauls herself up and over her saddle, getting settled. I walk over and unroll her chaps, placing them to make them look good, then doing the same on the other leg. I step back and look up at her, pride in my chest at the sight of her. She always looked fucking amazing when she was in show mode.
I let my mind wander back to the first time I saw her dressed for a show. She was shorter in height then, her face that of a fifteen-year-old girl who never stopped smiling, and while she had been nervous, she was the one who calmed me down when I was thinking of backing out.
She always had faith in me.
I clear my throat against the onslaught of emotions and nod at her. “You ready?”
“Ready.”
We make our way to the warm-up arena, dodging people coming and going to and from the arena. She enters slowly, getting Lady used to the surroundings. Lady does excellent and doesn’t seem to have a problem with the arena, with the busyness going on around her.
There are several other riders in the same arena, making for a tight fit, but everyone—usually—does their best to keep to themselves and not bulldoze each other.
I lean against the outside railing and sigh. It doesn’t always happen, but I often have to get on people’s case for riding carelessly.
There was a time when we were younger. It wasn’t a showing time, so both the show arena and the warm-up arena were open to exercise our horses in. Dani had been walking in the warm-up pen with Patriot, cooling down when some punk had galloped full speed from the show arena to the warm-up, nearly colliding with her.
She’d given him an earful after that, he apologized, and I had to fight the urge to go knock some sense into him.
I shake my head at the memory and keep my eyes on her and the other riders, making sure no one is going to fuck around out there.
Hank and the girls wander over toward me and watch Dani warm up. I missed these guys, missed the comradery that came with being friends with people with the same interests.
I think of back home and wonder if, now that the Cash brothers were working with me, I would feel happier working again. It can be a lonely profession.
“Well.” I stiffen at a voice I know all too well coming from my left. “I’m surprised to see Dani West and CT Trevors back in action.”
I turn, my body tensing in the presence of Tommy Smith. His cocky, shit-eating grin has me wishing we weren’t in a public setting.
Hank stands at my side. He knows as well as I do what a piece of shit Smith is and is probably primed and ready to take this asshole out.
“Smith,” I reply.
“She riding with you now, Trevors? I thought you were out of the game.”
I casually—or as casually as I can—tuck my thumbs into my pockets and glance over to make sure Dani isn’t paying attention, but her focus is on her horse.
Good girl.
“Nah,” I reply, giving him an easy grin I don’t feel. “Just took a little break, but we’re back now.”
He hums, and I can tell he’s annoyed. He’s basically controlled the training in our northern Colorado area for the last six years. And by that, I mean he hired young, good trainers to do his work so he could take credit as the best performance barn in northern Colorado, but I wasn’t going to let him do that anymore.
Our ranch may be more isolated, but it was a good place, a safe place, and I wasn’t about to roll over and let this shithead ruin everyone’s horses.
“Well, you have a lot to catch up on. If Dani needs a little extra help ,”—he looks over and winks—“just let me know.”
I take a slow, calculated step toward him, my tall frame looming over him, and I give him an easy yet menacing grin. “Let me tell you something.” He stands as tall as he can, but he can’t touch my height. “You don’t go anywhere near her. You don’t talk to her. You don’t think about her. Hell, you don’t talk about her.”
“Are you trying to threaten me, Trevors?” he asks, trying to keep that air of confidence, but I see the actual concern and fear swimming in his eyes.
He doesn’t know what to think about me, doesn’t know how far I’ll go to protect what’s mine.
Good.
I smile at him, and his eyes narrow at my expression. “Smith, I don’t have to waste my time with threats. You crossed a line.” I lower my voice. “Just know that I have no problem doing the same.”
He doesn’t say anything, but judging by his expression, I can tell my words hit their mark. He takes a step back and makes his way to the other side of the arena, to the farthest point away from me, and I hear Hank let out a little laugh.
“Damn,” Joanna says, waving a hand at her face. “I didn’t know you had that in you, CT.”
I don’t respond when she and Amy start talking about what a douche Tommy is and keep my eyes trained on Dani, keeping Tommy in my periphery.
I’m not joking around when I say I’ll protect her. I’ll do whatever it takes.
Nothing and no one will hurt Dani again.
Including myself.