4. Jack
Chapter four
Jack
I shoved the fifteenth hay bale from inside my trailer and tossed it next to the pile on the ground. My arms burned from the weekly workout, but I only had a few left.
The horses whinnied from their stalls, knowing this would be part of their breakfast. I went to pick up a palette of hay yesterday and pushed off putting it away.
Other ideas occupied my mind. Ideas involving a dark-haired, green-eyed beauty that had been taking my breath away since the first time I saw her.
Working with Maggie wasn’t anything like I thought it would be.
In fact, I enjoyed our time together. When my dad came to me with the proposition of my longtime neighbor working for me, I wasn’t sure how to take it.
We were close growing up, becoming distant as we entered our teenage years, but our one-time fling at sixteen years old turned into a lasting, no-strings-attached friendship for a while before we left for college.
I didn’t know how we rekindled our friends-with-benefits situation after we returned from school to play with our fathers, but I was excited that she was as up for it as I was.
And what do you know, my dad came to me twenty minutes after our mind-blowing, secret car sex and offered Maggie as my new groom.
It made sense, seeing as my family had the resources she needed to work her way up in the polo world.
She was a fantastic player with great potential, and my dad saw that.
I was happy to help her out of the hellhole she lived in with her dad.
He was best friends with my father, but I didn’t respect the man a bit.
When his wife left him thirteen years ago, it wasn’t a puzzle to figure out that it had to do with his alcoholism and infidelity.
Maggie and I were only nine years old, and we weren’t necessarily best friends, but I remember seeing her walk one of her dad’s horses around and around in the pasture, crying her eyes out after her mom left.
I didn’t have a sweet spot for many people, but seeing that turned me off Richard Rynne forever.
Even more so when my father confirmed that Richard’s night of betrayal was the reason Maggie’s mother was no longer in the picture.
Maggie and I's workdays together made my job a little more fun. She was witty, and she wasn’t afraid to call me out on anything.
And the sex…man, Maggie knew what she was doing.
I’d let her take me wherever she wanted, but her rule of no sex while she worked for me made it that much harder to resist her.
I never saw myself indulging in an actual relationship, but Maggie and I would never be anything.
We were too different. Had different values. But no-strings sex? Sign me up.
Except now, we were becoming better friends.
Flirting and acting like we could get along as more.
I hoped she wouldn’t look too far into it, because I wasn’t interested in anything involving commitment.
But how could I help but assume she would develop feelings for me when it happened to every other woman I had sexual relations with?
I was always the bad guy, telling them I wasn’t interested in more than a physical relationship.
But last night…
Last night, something strange sparked in me—a sense of protection washed over my body when I saw her with Marco.
The need to defend her surprised me when he made that nasty comment about her dad.
I couldn’t help but shoulder check him when I walked past him.
I had met the man before, and he was a cocky pain in the ass whose family paid for his rating.
Which was why I was surprised by my instant reaction to help Maggie deal with her alcoholic father. I didn’t even think. Just followed her and helped Jared, the bartender, pick up the broken pieces of a Corona bottle.
Richard was a piece of work. And for his daughter to have to lead him out like he was a drunk college kid? Humiliation enveloped her, and I saw red.
I tried to do everything I could to aid putting the motherfucker to bed. Even tried to hug Maggie when we returned to the clubhouse.
I expected Maggie to fall into my arms and cry to me, to thank me for helping her get control of her excuse for a father.
But I should have known better because that wasn’t Maggie.
Even if I hadn’t stepped in, she would have handled it all on her own.
She didn’t say thank you, didn’t let me help without protesting, and fuck me, but she didn’t even hug me back.
She simply tugged me into the closest dark, private space and let me fuck her against a wall…
without protection. The moment was deeper and more intimate than one that would ever occur in a no-strings-attached friendship.
I came inside her for god’s sake.
That scared the shit out of me.
And I still had to see her this morning.
Maggie was never late. She always arrived promptly at 5:30, even when I told her not to arrive earlier than 5:45 so I could have my coffee in peace. The sun slowly began to rise as I sat on the bench outside the barn, left wondering where the hell she could be.
Had I taken it too far?
Last night was a fluke—a one-time thing. Nothing should have been different. So why wasn’t Maggie here?
At 6:20, I finally called her. It rang twice before she answered. “Hello?”
“Hey, Maggie…” I started, unsure of where to go with this. She was my friend, but she also worked for me. I didn’t imagine having to act like a boss with her.
“Hi, Jack. Can I help you with anything?” Her voice was perfectly normal. It didn’t sound like she was affected by anything at all.
“Yeah, uh…aren’t you supposed to be here right now? Like, you know, working for me.”
“What? No. I told you last night that my dad gave me his horses to play for the practice this morning, remember?”
Shit. To be honest, I wasn’t thinking clearly after our gift shop escapade. I saw her lips moving, but no words came out. My brain was wracked making up worst-case scenarios after what happened with us. It drove me crazy, and I wasn’t sure how much more of her I could take.
“Fuck, you’re right,” I replied before taking a deep breath. “You’re playing in the practice today? Who’s on your team?”
“I swore I told you this last night…” Her words drifted as if the same thoughts running through my head were running through hers. “But, I think I’m playing with you, Marie, and Marco.”
Oh, fuck me.
Marco was playing on our team.
He might not have even meant to embarrass Maggie with his comment last night, but I was pissed about it, nonetheless.
“Maggie–” I started, but she cut me off.
“I know, I know what you’re going to say, but don’t worry about me,” she replied with more confidence than I expected.
I wasn’t worried about her. She could take care of herself. The only person I was worried about was Richard Rynne and the look he put on his daughter.
“Jack? You there?”
I cleared my throat and broke out of my thoughts. “Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I’ll let you get ready for practice. I’ll just groom for myself today.”
“Yeah. Sorry for the mix-up.”
“No problem. I’ll see you there.”
My dad approached as I hung up the phone. His usually slight limp looked a little worse today. He’d had knee problems for the last few years, hinting that his retirement from fast polo might be approaching, but he pushed through it like a soldier.
“Where’s Maggie?” he asked, concerned. “It’s past six, and the horses still aren’t fed. Don’t you have practice today?”
Even while I managed my operation, he still loved to ‘dad’ me. I shook my head and stood, walking into the barn as he trailed behind me. “No, there was a little confusion about that. She told me that she was playing practice in place of her dad this morning, and it slipped my mind.”
“Oh, is she now? I’m glad Richard is giving his girl a chance. She’s such an impressive player.” He smiled. I nodded my head as we walked into the feed room together.
I’d been around horses for my entire life, but the smell of walking into the feed room always comforted me. The grain, beetroot, and hay always reminded me that I was where I belonged. I reached for a couple of grain scoops and handed one to my dad.
He was tough on me growing up. To be fair, I wasn’t the most well-behaved kid.
I was always sneaking out, going to parties, and coming home drunk at four o’clock in the morning.
I was grounded and banished to the barn to do barn chores more weeks than not, but not once did my father miss the chance to tell me he was proud of me after completing my punishment.
He was a good man, heart and soul, and he didn’t deserve to be as lonely as he was.
Sure, he was the most popular man in our polo club.
Everyone gushed about how kind and helpful and handsome he was, but he had few real friends.
Even my mother disregarded him. My dad fell in love with a wild child.
Someone who flew to Australia on a whim just because she felt like it.
Someone who found exploring the world more fulfilling than spending time with family.
She was nearly always overseas, traveling the globe, using my father’s paychecks.
I saw her maybe every four months, and usually, I was the one she was coming back to see.
A framed photo above the grain bin caught my eye.
It was taken over fifteen years ago, the happiest day of my childhood.
My mom and dad stood proudly on either side of me while I held up a trophy from my first kids’ tournament.
I was wearing my family’s team jersey that was six sizes too big, and my white pants were stained brown from my leather knee pads, but I had a huge smile on my face.
Partially because of my victory, but mainly because both of my parents were standing next to me.