Page 99 of Rival

He reaches up thoughtfully to pet the kitten on his shoulder. Jaxon’s just as interested in the story as I am. “What’s that one’s name?” he asks, lifting his chin to indicate the kitten on Mason’s shoulder.

“Bonnie. She’s attached.” Mason clears his throat. “Especially since Edith’s been gone. That one you got there is Buck. He was the first to show up.”

I didn’t even realize Jaxon had the other one in his hand and a bubble of laughter erupts out of me.

“Fuckin’ hell. We’re a bunch of pussies,” I say, swiping at my eye.

Growling, Mason storms off and wrenches the door to another barn open. “Wait out here!” he hollers, then disappears.

Eventually, he comes back out with a beautiful white gelding, who I assume is Austin. Mason has a decent sized ball connected to a rope hanging from his other hand as well.

“That’s from my place,” Jaxon informs us. His eyes are locked on the ball and Mason pauses, looking down at it, then sighs loudly.

“She brought it for Austin. Said she got it from a friend teachin’ her to ride. Is it safe to assume that was you?” He seems almost resigned to the fact we’ve all had these little connections to each other unknowingly. All because of her.

Nodding sharply, Jaxon doesn’t comment further on it. “Rake near the stall?”

“Yup. I’m takin’ him to the corral. Griff, feel free to play with the kittens to keep yourself busy. Don’t touch anythin’.”

What a prick.

Choosing to follow Jaxon, I look around and find a barrel to wheel over so Jaxon can shovel shit. He hands his kitten, Buck, over to me and I lean my shoulder against the frame of the stall as he gets to work.

“So,” I say slowly. “You were teachin’ our girl to ride?”

I smirk when he straightens, shocked by my use ofour. Swallowing hard, he turns his back to me. “She’d never been on a horse before and had always wanted to learn. I’ve got a stable full of them over at my parents’ place, so I started showing her the ropes.”

Nodding to myself, I ask, “Seems like you two were pretty good friends. She told me about workin’ with you.”

Again, my words bring him up short.

“She told me about you both as well. Notwhoyou were, but she confided what happened between you. Asked for advice. Sheismy friend. Was. Fuck, I don’t know. Obviously, things became more.”

I’m surprised he’s talking so much, but I want to know everything. Partly out of curiosity, but I like hearing about different sides of her. “We were friends too, in a sense. She cooked me dinner a few times and—”

“And read books.”

“Book.” I correct him because I want it tobebooks. Lying with her was peaceful, and I loved every second of it. My chest swells with a small pain, so I rub it away. Billy meows his dislike that I removed my hand from his head.

Jaxon continues to work quietly as I think back to all the times I got her alone. She lit up when she wasn’t being crushed under Clayborn’s hard stare, which builds my ire once again. It happens every time I think of him.

After some time, Jaxon hits me with a hard question. “Why’d you leave? That morning, I mean. She was real tore up about it.”

Maybe he’s giving me some courtesy to sit with my shame in private, but I deserve to be laid out for it. “I hadn’t planned on it. I was actually gonna talk to my brother, Corb, and get his advice on whether Clay would give me shit for seein’ his daughter.”

My throat feels dry, and I know Jaxon is eyeing me as I spill my fuck up to him.

“That mornin’, he was supposed to be hours away with Corb on a job, but the truck got fucked up, so they came home early. Edith panicked. I knownowwhy she pushed me away, but at the time, I didn’t know how bad it was. I thought her dad was just a dick sometimes. Figured she wasn’t as interested as I thought with her freakin’ out so badly.”

“So, you left her.”

“I tried to make it easy on her,” I defend. “I thought I was doin’ her a favor so she wouldn’t have to worry about an embarrassin’ situation by sayin’ it was a one-time thing.”

Mason’s voice cuts in. “You’re a fuckin’ idiot.”

“Yeah, I know,” I snap at him, annoyed he was eavesdropping. “I talked to her about it a bit, buthewas around. I misread the situation and I’m hopin’ she’ll understand it wasn’t intentional to hurt her like that. Because itwasn’t.”

I glare at Jaxon when I say my last statement and see him wince. The conversation ends there, and Mason helps finish up in the stall before we’re all heading over to Austin.