Page 18 of Braving the Storm

Right now I feel just as sore and mentally exhausted as in the height of my pro days.

And as much as I keep cursing myself for it, the reality I can’t ignore, is that I’m distracted as fuck.

Kayce goddamn Wilder, and his pretty boy charm has been all over Briar like a rash since we arrived. She offered to help out with shoeing, without knowing a single thing of what the process involves, but I didn’t feel particularly well equipped to handle being in close quarters all day long.

Not after grinding my teeth all night, getting exactly zero sleep, with a half-hard cock I couldn’t will to go away, knowing she was in my bed on the other side of the fucking wall.

While I don’t want to think about it more than I have to, Kayce is the perfect guy to teach her how to handle herself on a horse.

He’s a professional. Up and coming on the bareback bronc circuit. Kid’s been riding horses and around the rodeo scene since he could barely walk.

So, then, why am I fighting the urge to go out there and be the one to show my pretty little niece a thing or two?

Why did the sight of his hand on her yesterday make my fists ball up and have my molars almost crack with how hard my jaw was clenched?

Why can’t I find it in myself to put Briar Lane out of my mind and back in the box labeledfamilywhere she fucking belongs?

I rubmy damp brow with my sleeve, then tug my hat back down. It takes everything to stifle the groan that wants to burst out of me as I roll my shoulders and straighten up.

The sound of clopping hooves draws my attention, and coming in through the doors at the far end of the barn is Kayce. He’s alltoothy grin, bright blue eyes, and twenty-something swagger leading one of the trail horses.

Ollie is a gentle soul. One of the most chilled-out mares here. Nothing makes her bat an eyelid.

The perfect horse for Briar to learn the basics on.

And when my eyes lift to the girl seated on her back, I’m left forgetting what the fuck I was even doing.

Her cheeks are pink with the cold and the thrill of riding. That mane of long, dark hair is pulled back, with stray curls falling loose around her jaw. But it’s her energy that really grabs me in a pincer hold and refuses to let go. Excitement, satisfaction, and thrill radiate off her, vibrating like a tuning fork. You can’t help but be in the vicinity of someone who has done something for the very first time and loved every moment and not feel that same level of emotion.

That shit is addicting.

I want to drag my eyes off her, I really fucking do, and I know I shouldn’t be watching her so openly. But goddamn.

I’ve seen a thousand women on the back of a horse before. Professional riders, racers, amateurs, you name it.

Never have I been so captivated by the sight of someone like Briar, the way she glows in the saddle. I’m glad I’ve been busy in here all day. Yet, I’m also pissed off as all hell that Kayce has been the one to catch all her smiles and laughter.

She already seems to have changed; one day out here on the ranch will do that to a person. It’s like injecting pure bliss, a concoction of fresh air and vast skies, shot straight into your bloodstream.

Either way, I’m fucked. Because I want to see her looking like this all the time, and yet I have absolutely no right to be the man wanting to help bring that side out of her.

No right at all.

Other than being her goddamn uncle.

So maybe that’s what has me walking toward them, closing the distance, despite everything I know I should be doing to thecontrary.

Before Kayce can get his hands all over her again, I step up beside Ollie’s shoulder and give her long neck a pat. Gliding my palm over her glossy cremello coat.

“Look at you. One day on the ranch and you’re riding in like you own the place.”

Briar looks down at me and wrestles her grin into an effort at a playful scowl. Dammit, why does this girl have to be cuteandhot as fuck?

For the sake of my crumbling sanity, couldn’t she have at least been boring and stuffy and entirely uninteresting.

“Kayce is an incredible teacher.” She turns to look at him standing on the other side of the horse, all blonde messy hair and perfect white teeth, reminding me of my own reflection a lifetime ago. “God, you were so unbelievably patient with me, thank you.”

“She’s a natural, Storm. City girl here nailed everything the first time.”