Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
It was weird, right?
That moment between him and Faith.
When he’d told his mom that he’d see Faith off, he’d planned on telling Faith that she had to be more careful. He’d planned on putting her in her place and warning her that a lot of bad stuff could happen to him if his mother found out his real plans. That was why his circle was so small.
Not even Tripp knew the full extent of his plans. The only people aware were Faith’s family.
But as he’d gone over that interaction at the car a few days ago, one thing stuck out to him.
There was something about Faith that had him losing track of what he’d planned to say. She’d been so meek and apologetic he’d felt bad for getting mad. It had been a mistake. And she’d owned up to it.
Heck, she’d given him a logical alibi. He hadn’t even needed to come up with an excuse to give his mom and she had no reason not to trust Faith.
And that wasn’t even the half of what he’d continued to go over in his head.
He’d caught that scent of cinnamon on her breath when he’d leaned in to speak to her. It was quickly becoming a smell that he couldn’t get enough of. How was Faith not already taken?
Oh, right.
The Dennison twins.
He chuckled to himself. Tate and Jason were a stone wall when it came to their sisters. No one would ever be good enough for them.
But that didn’t mean Faith felt the same.
Brent couldn’t help but smile. It was nice to be wanted, but he wasn’t about to mess around with Tate’s sister.
The guy had a knack for making him nervous.
It would probably be a good idea to make sure Faith understood that nothing could happen between them.
Not just because of her siblings but because of his plans for his future.
He arrived at the Dennison property and immediately noticed Faith seated on the front porch with yet another book in her lap. Out of all the Dennison siblings, she had to be the smartest. Who in their right mind preferred to read textbooks over fiction?
Brent cut a glance in the direction of the corral, but it looked like Tate and Jason were busy with a kid. He did a double take.
A kid? He couldn’t be much older than ten. Twelve, maybe? Sheesh, if only he’d managed to get started that young. Maybe his folks would be more flexible in their opinions on the rodeo.
He strode toward the house without calling to the guys in the corral. With Faith in his sights, he took the steps two at a time. Faith startled, her head snapping up when she heard him. “Hey, Ace,” he said smoothly. “More medical studies?”
She dipped her gaze to her textbook and gave a short nod. “Yeah.”
Closing the distance, he settled on a chair across from her. “How are you doing?”
Faith blinked at him. “I’m… good…” she drawled.
Was she nervous? Entirely possible. Faith wasn’t usually the girl in her family who went out of her way to flirt with the guys.
That was why their near kiss had been so surprising.
Faith was the quiet type. The one who smiled sweetly and kept to herself.
Maybe she was embarrassed.
It was cute if she was. He’d have to make sure she didn’t feel awkward about the way things had gone. He gripped the back of his neck and waited for her to look up at him again. When she didn’t, he dropped his hand and cleared his throat.
Slowly, her eyes lifted to meet his. “Is there something you needed?”
He flashed her his most charming smile and crouched down in front of her. She was completely unreadable. Not bothered at all.
Wait, had he imagined it?
No, that’s not possible.
Brent had been there. He’d smelled the cinnamon on her breath. He’d heard that slight hitch in the shudder of her voice. She had definitely been attracted to him and she’d brought him cookies. Girls didn’t just do that. “I wanted to talk to you about—”
“Hey! Brent! You coming or what?”
Faith’s head snapped up and she looked over his shoulder toward the corral. “You should probably get going.” Her voice was quiet and she didn’t return her attention to him. Instead, she dipped her gaze to the book and continued to read.
“We need to talk.”
Was she fighting a smile? Or was that a grimace?
“You came here to train, Brent.” Faith tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You should get to it. Maybe we can talk later.”
He frowned, rising. Tate stood in the corral with his arms folded, eyes narrowed. Yeah, it wasn’t a good idea to stick around Faith when Brent was expected to be somewhere else. He didn’t want Tate getting any ideas.
With a sharp nod he knew Faith didn’t see, he muttered, “Yeah, we can talk later.” He fought the instinct to glance over his shoulder. Was she watching him go? Was she intent on ignoring him? And why was the answer something he desperately wanted to know?
The kid was still in the ring with Tate, and he was seated on a saddle beside another on a post. Brent folded his arms, his eyes darting up to Tate. “What exactly are we doing?”
“You’re getting some practice in with Elliott, here. We’re going to work on technique when spurring. So, take a seat.”
Brent lifted a brow. “You’re not serious.”
“Dead serious.” Tate’s lips twitched and he motioned toward Elliott. “Or are you afraid that the kid has better instincts than you?”
With a harrumph, Brent settled onto the saddle and put his boots in the stirrups.
“Now, hold onto the saddle and lean to the side. Then you’re going to bring your leg back and push it forward.
You need to keep your boots above the horse’s shoulder, and this is going to help with your core.
” Tate continued describing what to do and correcting both Brent and the kid as they went about the motions.
This wasn’t the only exercise. They were each given a braided rope to hold onto while standing on it so they could practice lifting.
By having their arm out in an ‘L’ shape in front of them while holding the rope, they were able to lean back and lift the other arm in the air.
It wasn’t a bad idea to practice this position.
In fact, after all was said and done, Brent could feel the ache in his lower back.
He needed to work on strengthening his core, that was for sure.
“We’ll do some other exercises the next time you come.
For now, we’re going to get on the horse and work on positioning.
You need to be able to get your spurs up in time.
There’s only eight seconds to get this right.
” Tate was talking to Elliott more than Brent.
Or maybe it only felt that way because Brent couldn’t stop looking in Faith’s direction.
She was still out on the porch. Part of him wondered if she’d disappear inside so she didn’t have to talk to him.
But he knew better. Faith didn’t seem like the kind of girl to cower. It was something he liked in a girl.
Fingers snapped in front of his face, and he jolted back to the task at hand. “Dude, where’s your head at? I thought you wanted to get better.”
“I did—do.” Brent cleared his throat, hating the heat that crawled up his neck. He prayed Tate wouldn’t notice. “What’s next?”
They continued to work for the next thirty minutes until Elliott got picked up. Standing beside Tate, watching the truck drive away, Brent chuckled.
His friend tossed him an inscrutable look. “Something funny?”
“I just didn’t know that you taught kids.”
Tate shrugged. “I help a lot of people. I’ve experienced enough that it feels good to show people what they’re capable of. Kids included.”
“Huh.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Brent shrugged. “It’s kinda nice of you.”
This time his friend laughed. “I’m a nice guy.”
“Yeah,” Brent clapped him on the back. “To everyone but the guys who give your sisters the eye.” Brent immediately grimaced. He really shouldn’t have brought Tate’s attention to the fact that he’d been chatting Faith up before his session.
Too late now.
“Like you were with Faith?”
Brent’s sheepish expression likely said more than he wanted. “To be fair, I’m not here to flirt with her or ask her out. I know better than that.”
“Darn straight you do.” Tate’s eyes narrowed. “So, what were you there for?”
Unable to help himself, Brent glanced over to where Faith was still reading on the porch. She had her legs propped up and crossed at the ankles, but her focus remained on her book. “She brought over some cookies the other day. I wanted to thank her.”
Tate didn’t look convinced. It wasn’t a good enough explanation. He lifted a brow and folded his arms as if to say, ‘try again’.
Brent sighed. “She almost told my mom about the rodeo.”
His friend’s eyes widened and he twisted around to look at his sister. “Geez, I’m sorry, man.”
“It’s fine. She helped cover it up. But I wanted to make it clear that we couldn’t let that happen. I just…” Brent roughed a hand over his face and sighed. “I don’t want to hurt her feelings. Any tips? I didn’t exactly get to talk to her.”
Tate frowned. “I don’t think Faith would get hurt by you telling her that she needs to be more careful. She understands what’s at stake. But I can talk to her if you—”
“No, I’m good. I don’t want her to feel like she’s in trouble.
” This explanation wasn’t terrible. And Tate seemed to believe it well enough.
Thank goodness he’d managed to come up with something resembling the truth because there was no way that Tate would be okay finding out that his sister nearly kissed him.
Brent blew out a breath. “Thanks for the training session. It was… enlightening.”
“You did good. And honestly? You helped a lot with Elliott. You phrased some stuff in a way I hadn’t thought of.” Tate clapped him on the back. “I’m going to get some stuff cleaned up in the barn. Catch you later.”
Brent watched him go then headed for the porch. For some reason his nerves went on high alert. He needed to make sure that Faith was fully aware of what was going to happen between the two of them.
Absolutely nothing.
He didn’t even have a second to pull his thoughts together before he arrived at the porch and Faith stood to cut him off.
“I know what you’re going to say.”
Frowning, Brent froze at the bottom step. “You… do?”
She flushed deeply and looked away. “I shouldn’t…
What happened… Nothing is going to happen between us.
” Faith released a nervous laugh. “I didn’t want you to think that I came to your house to hit on you.
I brought you cookies because I thought you’d like them, but they weren’t a sign that I wanted anything to develop between us.
” She pointed to herself then him. “You’ve got your heart set on something and that’s great.
I might not agree with the way you’re going about it—not telling your family and all that—but I want you to know that I’ll support you. As a friend.”
Wow.
He couldn’t have said it better himself.
And yet he couldn’t deny the ache that settled in his chest at her words. Why did he suddenly feel like he was losing out on something? It was like she closed the door on a possibility that really wasn’t one to begin with, so why was he bothered?
A tightness in his throat forced him to clear it with a nervous cough. “Right, well, good.”
“Good?”
He nodded. “Good. I think it’s important we understand that this friendship is all that it will ever be.”
A smile touched her lips and she reached for her book to hug it to her chest. “Yeah, that’s what I said.”
Brent nodded again, feeling like one of those bobble-head toys that couldn’t stop moving. “Exactly.”
“How were the cookies?”
“The cookies?”
She laughed inching closer. “Yes, you told me you’d let me know what you thought about them.”
“Oh yeah. Of course. They were amazing. Best cookies I’ve ever had.” He frowned. “Actually, that’s not true.”
Disappointment flickered in her eyes and the frown that crossed her lips was adorable. “What?”
“I only got one.”
Now she looked utterly confused.
“I could only enjoy one cookie, so… it was the best cookie I’ve ever had. Singular. You’re definitely going to have to make more.”
Faith blinked several times as if she needed to go over everything he’d just said in detail. Then she laughed. “And why didn’t you get to enjoy more than one?”
He groaned exaggeratedly. “My brother came home, saw them, and turned into the Cookie Monster.”
The laughter that followed warmed him from the inside out and he found himself wanting to do more to hear it again. “You have the best laugh.” Brent hadn’t realized he’d said it out loud until her expression faltered and she stared at him with surprise.
“Oh. Thanks?”
He ducked his head. “You’re welcome.”
Well, this was just great. Now he’d made it awkward. He shuffled his booted toe against the wooden steps. “Anyway, the next time you make me cookies, I’ll be sure to hide them from the monster before he has a chance to sniff them out.”
“That’s a little selfish of you, don’t you think?” Her shy smile returned.
Shrugging, he flashed her another bright smile. Some things are worth being selfish over.” He turned to head away but she stopped him once again.
“This weekend my brothers are having a party. There’s going to be music, dancing, and lots of food. Just a way to start off the season right. Will you be coming? I’ll be sure to make my famous cookies.”
He eyed her with a grin. “Well… if there’s going to be cookies…”
She grinned right back. “Maybe don’t tell Tripp.” Then she laughed at the grimace he made.
“Pretty sure that man is a bloodhound. Not sure I’ll be able to keep him away.”
“Then I’ll make extra.”
“Might be for the best.”