Chapter 24
Wilder
The level of excitement around the stables was coming off the ground in waves. Every ranch hand was hanging around, finding jobs to do so they could be there when the new stallion arrived. It was like the second coming. I’d never seen everyone so damn giddy.
“How far off is he?” I asked Gunner.
I was speaking to my brother, but my attention was elsewhere. Specifically with the redhead talking to Glenn over by the paddock.
“They should be here any minute.” He was bouncing on the balls of his feet looking toward the driveway. “He’s fucking magnificent, Wild.”
“Yeah, you said.” I tried desperately not to sigh, but I just couldn’t get excited about a horse with a huge dick and a pedigree as long as my arm.
Tally was amused at something that Glenn the dickweed said, her soft laugh cutting through the crisp morning air like an alarm bell. Instinctively my hands clenched at my sides.
“Glenn,” I yelled. “You want to get some work done instead of trying to get a date with Tally.”
His frown pissed me off. He fucking pissed me off.
“Gunner asked me to help out with the stallion,” he protested.
“Gunner’s not your boss, I am. And,” I snarled, “the damn horse isn’t here yet.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Gunner muttered. After a beat he chuckled. “Oh, I see. Tallulah Brown.”
I whipped back around to face my brother. “Do you want to shut your face or not?”
He walked away laughing loudly, making my spine stiffen even more.
When I turned back around Tally was glaring at me.
When Glenn moved to walk away she grabbed his forearm and pulled him back.
White hot anger pumped through my veins, my pulse drumming in my ears like boot heels on concrete, as I watched her give him her full attention.
Well, fuck that. I wasn’t staying around to watch that play out. Not when every single second felt like a needle stabbing. Pricks of jealousy and hurt that I couldn’t do that with her. That I was too damn scared to show what she was starting to mean to me.
What she already meant to me.
The air felt too thick, suffocating, heavy with the sharp tang of hay, morning dew clinging to the grass and excited anticipation. I walked away, not looking back.
When I got into town I got the feeling I’d pissed someone of high authority off, because the streets were just as busy with excited, happy people as the ranch.
It was the run-up to Thanksgiving, so I should have realized.
We weren’t a town that went big on decorations for it, but a few of the stores had pumpkins in the windows or fall wreaths on the door.
Nothing too fancy, preferring to wait for Christmas to go crazy with the lights and the Santas.
The warm aroma of the pumpkin pie and sharp, sweet, spiced coffee drifted out of Missy May’s and almost dragged me inside.
When I saw Davis Quinton there eating a huge sandwich, I changed my mind.
As much as we needed to speak to him about the land he was going to give back to us, I didn’t have the energy.
Or the inclination. I wanted some peace and quiet to think about… Brownie. Always damn Brownie.
It was too cold to go and sit in the park, so the only place was Downtown Bar she was too sexy, too beautiful not to be noticed.
“Not quite,” I finally admitted. “I’m the one who wants more, just not sure she does.” I dropped my head back and blew out a frustrated breath. “Fuck, I don’t even know if that’s what I want either.”
“You like her, though?”
The door to the kitchen swung open and Frank the short order chef popped his head out. “Sorry, Wild, it’s gonna be a few more minutes. You kinda caught me on the hop.”
I waved him away, suddenly not hungry. “No problem, Frank.”
When he disappeared, Delaney turned his gaze back on me. He wasn’t going to let me off the hook, it was obvious from the expectant rise of his eyebrow. The banging of pots in the kitchen, followed by a curse, caught my attention.
“Does Frank need some help?”
Delaney shook his head and reached over the bar for a half-drunk bottle of water. “He’s fine. So? Do you like her?”
What was the point in denying it to him? Wasn’t it tradition to tell your barman or your barber your inner truths.
“Yeah,” I breathed out feeling the pressure release, like someone had lifted a concrete block off my chest. “More than I ever wanted to.”
“And the problem is?”
“What if it isn’t what she wants?”
He shrugged. “You won’t know if you don’t ask.
” His large hand squeezed my shoulder as his gray eyes blinked slowly.
“Don’t lose something that could be great, before you’ve even given it a try.
You’re no coward, Wild. Never have been.
You and your brothers fronted up the town when your dad did what he did, you carried on and proved to everyone that the Miller brothers were not a product of their upbringing.
Damn it, who was the one who streaked across the field during that championship football game in tenth grade? ”
“Hey,” I warned, “nothing to be scared of there, buddy.”
Delaney laughed and gave my shoulder another squeeze.
“Maybe, but let’s see that ego that’s as big as the dick you claim to have.
Eat your fries, drink your beer and then go and tell that girl how you feel.
” He winked at me. “Because I have to be honest with you, if you don’t, I might just throw my own hat in the ring. ”
He was lucky that Frank appeared at that moment with my fries, because he was most definitely coasting close to the edge of a punch to the nuts. While they smelled good, my appetite had already packed up and left.
Whether I ate them or not, one thing Delaney was right about, I wasn’t a coward, and I should tell Brownie how I felt. And if she didn’t want more than sex then maybe I’d have to walk away, just to save my own soul before it drowned completely.