Page 13 of Thaw My Heart

No, I did not.

“He can’t even say good morning or goodnight to me, like a normal person,” she continues.

“Then maybe you should stop saying it,” I fire back.

“Where’s the fun in that, Cowboy?” she smirks, and fuck me and the heat that decides to bloom in my cheeks.

Ryker glances between us, realizing the fire he ignited. He smiles with intention, opening his goddamn big mouth. “So, anyway, Kit says you’re a real handful. Which I’m just fine with. I like a handful,” he winks.

Is he… flirting with her? The man has no boundaries.

Sadie laughs. Blake smiles at me, laughing under his breath, and I debate on grabbing Ryker by the collar of his jean jacket and hauling him out back to kick his ass.

“Oh, I am,” she levels her eyes at me.

Well, at least she’s aware she’s a pain in the ass.

Ryker looks at Blake. “Well, is it true? Is she a handful?”

Blake lifts his hands in surrender, shaking his head. “I’m not getting in the middle of this.”

Ryker opens his mouth once more, but before he can speak, I interject. “We’ve got work to do.” I shove him towards the direction of the main barn.

Ryker turns around, pushing against my hold. “And what about you? What are you doing later, Sadie?”

I curse at him under my breath.

“Why do you ask?” she smiles.

“Meet us at the bar tonight and find out.” Ryker shows off dimples in the corner of his mouth.

He’s a dead man.

“What about you, Cowboy? What do you think about all of this?” Sadie asks me, to my surprise.

I stop in my tracks, turning around with my hands tucked into my jeans. Sadie eyes me down in a challenge, testing me with her wicked smirk. Ryker grins at me like a schoolboy, and Blake looks like he’d rather be anywhere else.

I sigh. “Yeah, fine. Whatever.”

She huffs a laugh. “Whatever?”

“If you want to come, I can’t stop you.” Even if I wanted to. And she probably wouldn’t listen anyway. She can’t even call me by my real name, no matter how many goddamn times I ask her.

Sadie grins, seeming happy with that. “That’s right, you can’t. I’ll see you boys later then,” she grins and takes off on her horse, leaving dust behind her as she goes.

Blake laughs, taking off after her.

As soon as Ryker steps into the grand timber barn, I threaten to break his neck, shoving him against a stall door. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

“She likes you,” Ryker grins.

My grip loosens. “She does not. She hates me. And this was not a part of the plan.”

“You can thank me later, bro,” he taps my chest, walking away to retrieve his horse from the barn.

So much for a quick beer and an easy night.

Two hours later, I return home astride Smoke. Hanging up his saddle and bridle on the old wooden fence before releasing him into the pasture. The golden grass is almost dead, wilting from the cold that’s settled in as the sun falls behind the mountains.