Page 31 of Ace of Spades (Hidden Creek Ranch #1)

“Well, let’s hear it then,” she says, resting her elbows on the table as she rests her chin in her hands, as if waiting for a bedtime story.

“One of the little pricks in Dakota’s grade followed her into the bathroom and groped her as a dare from one of his shithead friends.

I knew something was wrong when I drove her home from school that day, and when I wouldn’t stop begging for her to talk to me, she finally told me everything and even gave me the kid’s name.

The next day, I hunted him down at school, walked right into his class, and dragged him by his hair to Dakota’s classroom to make him apologize.

He cried the entire time, and even after he had apologized, I still beat the shit out of the punk.

He ended up in the hospital for two days and his parents tried to sue, but they dropped it once the school agreed to send me to the juvenile detention center instead.

Completely worth it, if you ask me. Nobody ever messed with her again after that. ”

“Oh my gosh,” she says. “I don’t blame you one bit, I would have done the same thing if I had a little sister, especially one as sweet as Dakota.”

“Don’t let Kota fool you, she can be quite the little troublemaker when she wants to be,” I tell her, grabbing my truck keys from where they hang on the wall. “Come on, let’s go feed. I’ll drive.”

“Dakota, a troublemaker? I’ll believe that when I see it,” she laughs, following behind as she shoves her bare feet into her boots.

I whistle for the dogs, the duo following us out the door and running right to my truck, Hailey letting them into the back seat.

Something about seeing her in nothing but my t-shirt and cowboy boots, no makeup, and her black hair in a messy bun on the top of her head, has me feeling some type of way.

I’ve always found Hailey to be beautiful—with the long glossy hair that I constantly think about wrapping my fist around when she’s giving me that little attitude of hers, her long dark lashes, and the pillowy lips that I think about more than I care to admit.

She wears the glitz and glam at rodeos like a true cowgirl, but this, the sleepy Hailey that needs her coffee, the carefree version of her that I only see here at the ranch—I think that’s becoming my favorite.

“You gonna drive, cowboy?”

Shit, I hadn’t realized that I’d zoned out in the driver’s seat. I start the truck, driving us down the dirt road to the stables, the sun ascending into the sky as the ranch hands mill about.

“So, what about you? What was it like growing up without any siblings?”

She’s pensive for a moment .

“Lonely,” she admits, a far-off look in her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her truthfully.

“Don’t be. I had my friends, the horses, and two parents who loved me.

I can hardly complain, I always had it fairly easy.

I think it just made it hard for me to connect with people on a deeper level sometimes, you know?

I never really knew what it was like to be that close with someone, to have somebody that I felt blind loyalty to.

I guess I still don’t really know what that’s like. ”

I look over at her— really look at her. I’d never really thought about it that way, but it made sense.

From what I’d gathered, she wasn’t necessarily very close with her parents.

And she had friends, but considering she hadn’t really talked about any of them or even asked to invite them to the ranch in the couple of weeks since moving here, I doubted she was really close with them either.

A part of me wondered if that was why she was the way she was. A bit closed off, and not easily trusting, she didn’t seem to open up easily.

We step out of the truck, running into Beau on his way out of the stables.

“Hey,” he says, looking between me and Hailey. “Hailey, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Whatever it is you have to say to her, you can say it in front of me, too,” I say, taking a defensive stance at her back.

He looks at her remorsefully, shoving his hands in his pockets .

“I just wanted to apologize. I was out of line. I was taken by surprise and I took it out on you, and I truly am sorry. You didn’t deserve that.”

“It’s okay,” she says. “I shouldn’t have kept it from you guys for so long. I’m sorry too.”

“Please, don’t be.I shouldn’t have reacted like that.

I just love this town and the people in it more than anything.

I didn’t have much growing up, but I had the memories made at the trailer park.

That place, and the people that live there—they’re important to me.

I know that doesn’t excuse anything, I just figured I would explain.

But I hope you know you’re welcome to stay here as long as you want. ”

“Thank you,” Hailey tells him, pulling him in for a hug. Beau has always been like a brother to me, but watching Sorrels wrap her arms around him at this very moment has me wanting to slam him up against a wall.

“We good?” he asks me, the two of them finally stepping away from each other.

Now that you’re done hugging Hailey, yes.

“Yeah,” I tell him, clasping his hand.

We make our way to the feed room, Hailey pulling out her laughable amount of supplements to mix in with her grain.

“Is all of that really necessary?”

“Yes,” she says, throwing a glare my way.

“Don’t you think it’s a little bit excessive?”

She looks at me like I just grew a second head.

“No. They’re professional athletes, they need to be fed as such.”

“Suit yourself,” I tell her .

“Shit,” she mutters to herself, scooping up the last little bit of electrolytes in the container.

“Don’t panic, we’ll pass the feed store on the way out of town.”

She throws the empty container in the trash, a worried look on her face as she looks anywhere but at me.

“Sorrels, what’s going on?”

“I just—I can’t really… afford that right now. It’ll have to wait until I get my first paycheck.”

Guilt coils in my gut as I remember that she’s not the spoiled brat with daddy’s money anymore. She gave all of that up after finding out just how much of a crook he was.

“I’ll just text Chance and have him mark it as a ranch expense,” I tell her. “I’m pretty sure Mike and Rhonda are running to town for their weekly lunch at Sonny’s diner, I’ll let them know to grab some on the way back.”

“You don’t have to do that, really,” she tells me. “They’re not ranch horses, I don’t want you guys spending extra money on them. Their supplements get pretty expensive.”

“Will you just let me worry about it?”

“Weston—”

“Already done,” I tell her, shooting a text to Mike with a list of the supplements I’ve noticed that she uses, telling him to put it on the company card before sending a second text to Chance, telling him to pull it out of my paycheck.

“You’re a Hidden Creek Ranch employee, just consider it a perk of the job. ”

“Thank you,” she tells me as I slip my phone back into my pocket, the two of us making our way to our respective stalls.

“Weston? ”

“Yeah?”

“I was thinking—it’s a long drive to South Dakota, so it feels kinda pointless to be taking more vehicles than we need.

I just figured maybe we could save on gas and all ride in my truck?

I know Rafe and Beau are riding together, so I was thinking maybe you, Dakota, and Chance can ride with me.

The living quarters in my trailer have the couch that you slept on that one night, and then a recliner.

Dakota and I could take the bed and you and Chance could take those?

And there’s enough room for Odessa, too. ”

My lip tugs into a smirk.

“I love that you think I can sleep in that close of proximity to you and manage to keep my hands to myself, Sorrels.”

I can practically feel her blushing on the other side of the stall divider. She’s so much more fun to mess with in the light of day, where she likes to pretend that we didn’t drive each other to mind-shattering climaxes a few hours ago.

“Is that a no, then?” she finally asks.

“I think I can confidently speak for the both of us when I say count us in.”

A scream erupts from the stall next to mine, startling Lark as I bolt upright.

“Hailey!” I yell, panic racing through me as I hop over the stall door and race to her. “What happened? Are you okay?”

I find her crouched in front of Vegas’s hay, staring at something inside.

“There’s a baby raccoon,” she tells me.

“Jesus, woman! You scared the living shit out of me.”

“Sorry, it startled me,” she says, reaching into the hay .

“Are you crazy! It could be rabid. I’ll call one of the ranch hands to come move it.”

“It’s just a baby, Weston,” she scoffs, getting closer to the potentially feral beast.

“Hailey, I’m not messing around. Leave it alone.”

“You’re so dramatic,” she says, rolling her eyes as she continues to reach into the hay, pulling out a tiny raccoon that can’t be bigger than the size of my palm.

“Hey little guy, what are you doing in there?” she asks, tucking it into her chest as if it were some fluffy kitten.

“For goodness sake, put the damn raccoon down, and let me at least go grab some gloves.”

“Is he bothering you?” she asks the tiny creature. “Don’t mind him,he’s just being a big wuss.”

It’s my turn to roll my eyes now as I pull my t-shirt over my head, handing it over to her.

“Here, wrap him up in this. I don’t want you touching that thing with your bare hands, you don’t know if it has fleas or—”

She kisses the damn raccoon.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I exhale.

“What should I name him?” she asks, completely disregarding everything I’ve been saying as the little thing steals all of her attention.

“You can’t be serious?”

“I’m thinking maybe bandit, or rascal? No, not rascal, he seems too sweet for that. Oh, what about Poncho!”

“Poncho?”

“I don’t know, it’s kinda cute. What do you think, little guy? Are you a Poncho? ”

I shake my head in exasperation.

“I guess welcome to the Hidden Creek Ranch, Poncho.”