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She wouldn’t have gone in there, would she? There was no reason to. The place smelled like… well, it smelled like any barn around here. He took a few steps toward the entrance, then paused and glanced over his shoulder at the party. Still no sign of her.
There was only one logical place she would be—and a strange choice for a party guest to stay. Henry’s brows furrowed and he moved more quickly toward the entrance. Into the darkness he ventured, pausing just inside to let his eyes adjust to the dim light.
Letting out a two-toned whistle, he strained to hear any unusual movement. “Miss? You in here?”
2
Athena
Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!
Athena should have known better than to think that the nice-looking cowboy would forget about bringing her a drink. He’d been too curious. No one had spoken to her in over a month, and she’d been unlucky enough to bump into the one guy who was willing to say more than ten words to her even though she hadn’t responded.
Her face felt like it was on fire. Her skin crawled with anticipation of getting caught. The barn had looked like the perfect hiding place to camp out for the next few days, but she’d been wrong.
Maybe there was an exit on the other end of the building. She could wait until he lost interest in looking for her and she could slip out. But going that way meant she’d lose out on grabbing some food to go.
Her stomach growled despite inhaling three platefuls of food.
Athena placed a hand on her stomach and shut her eyes tight. If he heard that, he would find her. Currently, she’d managed to find a stall without a horse in it. There was fresh straw—enough she could curl up and actually get a good night’s sleep. Around here, most of the ranchers filled every stall with one kind of animal or another. This had been the first one that had some room to spare.
The cowboy’s voice loomed closer. “I know you’re in here. There aren’t many places to hide on our property. Maybe you could show yourself so I don’t sound like such an idiot?”
She shut her eyes even tighter this time and shrank down lower, leaning against the stall door. There wasn’t a single doubt in her mind that if he caught her, he’d send her away. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, but she’d already been walking all day. She needed at least one night when she didn’t startle herself awake at the sound of a broken twig.
“Come on. If you think I’m going to just walk out of this barn with two drinks in my hands, you’re kidding yourself. I might not be the smartest one in my family, but I know enough to realize what it would look like to my brothers if I left like that.”
Athena bit down on her lip. He was getting closer. Each footstep he took made her heart beat a little faster. She’d gotten out of tighter situations. Maybe she could reveal herself and then hide around the back of the building when he wasn’t looking. No one was capable of staying interested in her for more than twenty minutes. She’d gotten the awkward silence thing down to a science.
Even as she was about to talk herself into standing up, her racing pulse and her weak legs refused to cooperate. The door behind her gave way and she fell backward with a thud. Hovering overhead, the cowboy stared down at her with what could only be described as curiosity.
Not a hint of amusement could be found in his eyes. There were two cups, one in each of his hands. He’d actually gotten them both drinks.
She blinked a few times, gathering her wits about her, then scrambled to an upright, seated position. Wrapping her arms around her legs, she leaned against the side of the stall. This was it. The moment the cowboy with curious eyes and a strong voice would request she either leave or return to the party.
Blood rushed in her ears and her hands tingled with anticipation.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed an object moving toward her face. Athena gasped, her hand flying out to stop whatever it was. Her hand connected with something cold, and the plastic cup flew through the air and landed in the middle of the concrete floor.
She blinked rapidly and stared at the fallen drink with dismay before lifting her surprised eyes to the cowboy who was now crouched beside her.
He stared at the cup on the floor for what felt like an eternity, and then he chuckled. “Well, that’s one way to invite the ants to the party.”
Athena blinked again, this time with shock. The cowboy swiveled his head toward her, this time lifting the other cup by a fraction of an inch. “I’m going to give this one to you. Please don’t feed any more critters tonight.”
He had to be joking, right? This was all a big prank that he could tell the others later.
Only, he did exactly what he said he would and slowly offered her the cup. When she didn’t reach for it, he pushed it a little closer. “Come on, you’ve got to be thirsty. I swear I have no idea where you stored all that food you ate back there, but I didn’t see you drink a drop.”
Her mouth fell open. He’d been watching her. Shoot! She was getting careless. All it would take was one person noticing that she didn’t belong for her to get picked up by the authorities. She’d spent her fair share of time in lockups, shelters, and other places that the government thought she belonged. It didn’t matter that none of them held her for long, she still hated feeling trapped.
The cowboy groaned, shifting his stance so he was no longer crouching on his heels. “Will you just take the drink already? You asked for it, and I got it.”
Athena cautiously grabbed the drink from his hand, careful not to touch his fingers. She shifted so she could sit cross-legged and held the cup with both hands in her lap.
“See? That wasn’t so hard.” The cowboy adjusted the way he was sitting as well, choosing a similar position on the floor beside her. He nodded to the door. “It gets overwhelming, right? Hudson—my brother—doesn’t like the crowds either. I don’t mind them, but I can get why people try to avoid them. I think more and more people value the quiet these days. Too much going on in the world, so sometimes we just need a quiet place to think.”
Athena stared at this cowboy. He was right about one thing. He definitely talked too much. She shifted her focus to her drink, and her mouth watered. The cowboy had been right about the drink situation, too. Normally, she would have gone to the drink table first. Unfortunately, she knew she couldn’t drink too much because she wasn’t sure where she’d be able to relieve herself next. And filling up on liquid was empty calories. She needed her strength if she ended up having to leave in the middle of the night.
