Chapter 17
Chapter seventeen
Fearless
Cheyenne
By the time we got me some more clothes and unloaded Country Road at the ranch, it was late afternoon.
Maverick drove us in silence past the barn and down a paved road that split in a V.
He took the right-hand road, which was lined with blooming jacaranda trees on either side.
A gorgeous little house came into view a moment later.
It was slightly smaller than Charlie and Ryder’s, but I loved the look of it—very log cabin-y.
A large garage sat directly to the right of it, and parked before it was a gorgeous classic truck.
I could just imagine him out there, working on it whenever he had a chance.
My nerves wound tight as I got out of the truck, Brandy at my side while Maverick grabbed the bags of clothes and household items we’d bought while we’d been out. I don’t know why I was so nervous. It was just temporary. Just until I got on my feet again.
I followed behind Maverick as he unlocked and opened the door. Everything was immaculate. I don’t think a single fleck of dust was out of place. It made me bite back a smile.
So very Mav-like.
Everything was grey or black. Again, unsurprising.
Black leather couches sat before a grey-washed wooden coffee table, atop a black, and white geometric patterned rug.
But despite the monochromatic color scheme, the house wasn’t devoid of life.
It still possessed a welcoming air. It was just…
well, it was just so unapologetically him.
The house had a very open floor plan to it. The kitchen, dining, and living room all taking up technically one large space.
“This is really nice,” I murmured, admiring the only decoration in the room—a gorgeous antler chandelier hanging above the dining room table.
He nodded in thanks and put my bags down near the door, motioning me to follow him toward the hall on the right.
A guided tour, then. I trailed behind him as he showed me the spare bathroom—simple, plain, and again monochromatic—and then the spare bedroom.
It was a decent size, with a queen size bed taking up most of the wall opposite the window.
Sunlight spilled in, bathing the dark polished concrete floor in light.
He nodded to the room. So, this was mine? All in all, it was almost as big as my trailer. Crazy. But despite the spacious size, it felt cold, lonely, not cozy and roomy.
Stop being picky. You’re homeless, remember.
I smiled softly. “And is your room across the hall?”
He nodded and waved me on to follow once more. There was a small hallway off to the left of the dining area, which had a laundry room hidden behind little folding doors and then a door to the right. He opened it and led me in.
It still held that dark color scheme, but there was something elegant and masculine about this room.
Maybe because it was actually decorated—if you could call it that.
The massive bed was made of black polished wood, and had a black and white gingham-style comforter on it with matching pillows.
A large cow skull hung centered above the bed on the wall.
Two dark wooden sconces accompanied the piece on either side.
An armchair sat near the large window looking out on a small pond about a hundred or so yards away.
An impressively large cowhide rug took up the space before the bed.
But the glint of silver and gold caught my eye.
Buckles lined these really cool shelves that looked to be made of old barn wood on the wall opposite the bed above the flagstone fireplace.
There had to be at least forty or so of them.
“You won all these?” I asked, moving further into the room to admire the wall. A little pang went through me. Most of my buckles were lost in the fire…but my collection had been tiny compared to his.
He rubbed the back of his neck and nodded, looking bashful.
I smiled, glancing around the room, finding two more doors. One hung slightly ajar to what I assumed was a bathroom. I voiced the thought aloud, looking back at him to confirm. He nodded toward it, silent permission to take a look.
My jaw just about dropped. A massive—I mean massive—claw foot tub sat before glass French doors that led onto a private back porch.
Off to the right, was a walk-in shower with three—not one, but three—shower heads.
Not to mention, this room alone could easily fit the living quarters of my trailer into it.
“Holy shit,” I murmured, turning to look at where he lingered in the doorway. “This is really fuckin’ nice.”
He nodded, appreciation written plainly on his face.
Moving to him, I grabbed one of his hands, tracing patterns over his callouses and the lines along his palm.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d stayed in such a nice place.
My trailer had been old when my dad had given it to me for my eighteenth birthday. It’d been seven years since then.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” I said, whisper-soft. A lump lodged in my throat.
His warm hands cupped my cheeks as he tilted my face up to meet his stare. Warmth and desire and other emotions I couldn’t quite put my finger on swirled in the light depths. He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.
And as I melted into him, as I breathed in what was becoming the familiar scent of him—tobacco and leather—I thought that maybe having a roommate might not be so bad.
The spray of hot water did little to ease the growing knot in my chest. It was easy to ignore when I was with Maverick and the others, but since we’d gotten back to the house for the night, it grew and grew and grew.
A lump lodged in my throat.
I had no home. Only a few things to my name, even.
For so long, I’d never needed to rely on anyone for anything.
I’d taken care of myself. But now…now I was completely reliant on everyone else.
Especially Maverick. Which I was super grateful to him for, but it wasn’t exactly how I’d imagined a relationship with him starting.
Were we even in a relationship? Did he even want to be in a relationship? Did I?
A pulsing headache settled just over my left eye socket—ugh, please not another migraine. They’d been coming so often lately. I couldn’t even blame it on the smoke inhalation either. It’d been this way for the past week, at least.
Maybe sleep would help. A solid eight hours could do me some good.
I finished up in the shower, then dried off and padded to the spare room. I’d bought a couple throw pillows while we’d been out to liven up the place a bit. But the you are my sunshine pillow just seemed sad in the room.
And I don’t know what it was about it, or if it really had anything to do with it at all, but I lost it. Completely and totally lost it.
Big, fat tears rolled down my cheeks, a weight settling around my shoulders like a ton of cement blocks.
The knot in my chest constricted so tight that I couldn’t breathe.
Wrapped in nothing but a towel, hair dripping wet still, I sunk to the floor, sobs wracking me so thoroughly I thought I might die of the pain.
Brandy nudged me, raining kisses on my face, but I ignored them.
I appreciated the love, but couldn’t accept it. Not right now.
You see, when you’re seen as all sunshine and wildflowers and everything light and happy, everyone just expects you to be strong and keep your cool in hard situations.
And for the most part, I strived to uphold that belief.
But sometimes that optimistic, golden girl just couldn’t fight the darkness.
I’d been so worried about taking care of Maverick, of making sure he was okay, that I’d used it as a Band-Aid to not worry about myself.
But seeing that sunshine pillow against a mound of grey and black pillows was the saddest, most accurate depiction of my life right now.
Only problem…I didn’t have many happy thoughts to keep me shining. Okay, that was a bit dramatic, but a girl could feel, right?
I’d woken up yesterday unknowing of just how much my world would be flipped upside down in a day. At least Brandy was okay, at least I still had my truck and Country Road, but now I’d ventured into unknown territory.
A home made of brick and mortar, no wheels to just up and leave.
The need to get a job—yet another thing tying me down to this place…
Not that Mercenary Ranch wasn’t nice or that I was ungrateful for Maverick, Charlie, Ryder, and Cash’s kindness and hospitality. But it was all so new and foreign and…
Brandy started barking. Barking. Barking.
“Brandy!” I sobbed, but she just kept barking at the door, and I was too much of a mess to stop her.
A knock came a few moments later.
“I’m fine!” I called, biting back a torrent of emotion and tears as I tried to get myself up off the floor. I’d barely stood when the door slowly opened inward, Maverick’s tall frame taking up the entirety of the doorway.
Maverick’s eyes, swirling with worry, landed on me, a silent question lingering there—What happened?