Page 8

MATT

“ Y ou’ll never guess, Matt,” Chloe squealed as she flung her arms around my neck from behind. I’d just finished the morning feedings and had taken a break on a pile of shavings bags. It was time to clean some stalls, but I needed a few minutes.

“What, Greene?” I chuckled, grabbing her forearms to keep her around me. I pressed my lips to her skin and breathed in her delicious scent. It was a combination of her favorite vanilla lotion and a smell that was uniquely hers. I wanted to lick her whole body all day long.

Chloe giggled and tried to back away as my whiskers tickled her cheek. I hadn’t felt like shaving this morning. I had to force myself to shower after waking up alone. It made my heart ache. I was getting used to Chloe sleeping with me every night, but for the past two nights—ever since Hunter and Kyle came into the picture—she hadn’t slept with me. Was she sleeping with them already?

“They love the location and the ideas I presented.”

I laughed as she shook my shoulders. Her excitement was infectious, and I felt myself grinning too.

“That’s fantastic. I knew you could do it. One more thing off your list.”

Chloe let out a deep sigh. “Thank goodness. If we didn’t find someplace soon, they’d be getting married in the jumping arena.”

I barked out a laugh. High-profile people marching around the arena in expensive dresses and suits. “I might have paid to see that.”

“It’s a free show, since you’re invited.” She rocked forward against my back. I gripped her arms tighter around my neck and relaxed into her touch. I loved the feel of her against me. It was like she was made to be wrapped around me.

“Can you guys get the mower over there to clear the tall grass?” Chloe leaned her head against mine.

“Of course. We just started the mowing in the front pastures, but we’ll pop over to do it before we move to the back ones. Is that okay?”

“Sure. Just as long as it can get in the rotation. I won’t be able to get started until it’s been cleared out.”

“Anything for you.” I kissed the inside of her wrist. Chloe snuggled into my neck, kissing her way along any exposed skin. Her lips on my skin sent my nerves into overdrive, and my cock twitched.

“Please tell me you’ll be in my bed tonight.” I turned my head to the side so I could see her.

She chewed on her bottom lip.

“What?” I asked, not at all thrilled she didn’t immediately agree.

“I have a dinner date with Hunter and Kyle tonight.” She pushed off my shoulders, and I turned to face her.

“Again?” My fingernails dug into the palms of my hands. Didn’t she just have dinner with them last night? Why did they get to monopolize her nights?

“Hunter and I connected when I was in New York. I’ve regretted not giving him my phone number every day. I still like him. I want to see where things can go.”

“But you have me.” The bags squeaked underneath me as I shifted. “Isn’t that enough?”

“I don’t really have you, Matt. We’re friends… with benefits… sometimes.”

“What if we were more than just friends?” The words slipped from my mouth, and I didn’t regret them. The time to fight for her, to make my intentions toward her clear, was now. She was mine, and I wasn’t going to give up without her knowing exactly how I felt.

“What do you mean?” Her forehead scrunched, and I fought the urge to take her into my arms.

“I mean, I want to be in an exclusive relationship. I want you to be mine. My woman.” I palmed the back of my neck. “This isn’t coming out right.”

“No, not at all.” Chloe was smiling, but I could tell she was working hard not to laugh at my blubbering.

I grabbed her hands and stared directly into her chocolatey brown eyes. “I want you to be my girlfriend.” I heard the sharp inhale through her teeth. “I know we’ve been casual, but when we’re apart, it feels like we’re a long-distance couple. And I want to give it a go.”

Chloe’s eyes widened, and she resembled a deer in the headlights.

It was my turn to suck in a breath. “Please say something.”

I hated that she stood there, staring at me like I was a stranger. My stomach knotted, and I knew I’d gone about this the wrong way. I should have told her my feelings when I first realized them.

After what felt like minutes, Chloe blinked and shook herself out of it. “You ask me this now?” she said slowly. “After what we’ve had over the last few years, and now you decide you want more. Why? Because you see someone else is interested in me? Or that I might be interested in them?” She waved her arms wildly at me as she spoke.

“It’s not like that,” I replied, frustration tinging my voice. “I didn’t want to ruin what we had, but the more time we spent together, the more I realized how much I wished we were permanent. I love everything about you, Chloe, and who we are together.”

There was so much I wanted to say, but I struggled with how to express how deep my feelings were.

The set of her jaw told me I wasn’t getting through the way I needed to.

“No,” Chloe said, crossing her arms and glaring at me.

“Why not?” Anger and frustration warred within my chest.

Her voice gentled. “I’m sorry, Matt. I can’t be exclusive with you. Not anymore. If you’d asked me the last time I’d visited, I wouldn’t have been with Hunter, and it would have been an easy decision. But you waited too long. I like Hunter, and I want to see where things could go with us. And that means Kyle too.”

“So you’re just ending us? Giving up on everything we have?” The anger inside me quickly deflated. A sharp pain settled under my breastbone, and with every heartbeat, it only hurt worse.

She set a hand on my arm. “I didn’t say that. I said I couldn’t be exclusive.”

I jerked away and paced a few steps. Everything was changing, and I didn’t know how to stop it. “I don’t even know what that means.”

“It means that if you want me, you’ll have to share me.” Her hands settled on her hips. “With Hunter and Kyle.”

“You know I don’t want a relationship like that.” I didn’t have anything against it, but I knew I’d be too jealous to share her with someone else.

“I’m not saying that, Matt. I don’t even know what I want. This type of relationship is all new to me too, but if you want a shot with me, you have to date me while I’m dating them.”

She was shredding my heart with every word.

“Chloe…” My voice cracked.

Her eyes were gentle, and the way her hands clenched, I knew she fought against reaching for me. “I want you too, but I also want to see where this goes with Hunter and Kyle. I need to do this.”

“And if I say no, what does it mean for us?” I paced, unable to stay still.

“You have to decide if you’re willing to share me right now. I need you to either be on board with the two of us or give me time to get to know them better and make my decision.”

“Why would I want to share? I don’t want to split my woman’s attention with someone else.” I ran a hand through my hair. “How do you think I’d feel, knowing I wasn’t enough to satisfy you? That you had to have two other men.”

“Do you really think that’s how it works? Isn’t it supposed to be about more people to care for the woman? That when someone isn’t around, there is always another there?” Chloe stepped in my path and I stopped. “Think of it this way… when the two of them are away at the horse shows, you’d have me all to yourself.” She moved closer and hooked her fingers through my beltloops, tugging me closer.

Fuck.

She had me. I would love to be able to hang that over their heads—that I got her all to myself so much.

“Maybe you don’t have to join in. I just want you to keep an open mind. Maybe I won’t like it.”

I took a deep breath. My heart felt like it was being ripped open, but I couldn’t lose Chloe. She was the first woman who I wanted to really be with, and now she was pulling away. If she wanted me to keep an open mind, then I would. She just needed some time to see that Hunter and Kyle weren’t right for her. Then we could be together as a couple without them.

Hunter and Kyle were my friends. I hated this tension between us. When I stopped to think about it, I knew Hunter’s feelings were genuine. These past few months, he hadn’t been able to stop talking about the woman he met and how he regretted not getting her number. I couldn’t even fault Kyle. If Hunter liked her, he’d be willing to give Chloe a chance.

I rubbed at my chest to ease the ache still present there. Never in a million years would I have guessed that we were falling for the same person.

I drew in a deep breath and held her hands within my own. “Okay.”

“What?”

I gave her a tentative smile. “I said, okay. I’ll keep an open mind. I’m not crazy about this idea, but it’s better than you leaving me. I can’t let you go. You mean too much to me.”

Chloe lifted on her toes and planted a sweet kiss on my lips. “Thank you, Matt. I know this isn’t easy for you.”

It wasn’t. But I was realizing Chloe was my world, and I couldn’t just let her go.