Page 10 of Something Tangled Something True (Rosa Ranch #1)
VIVE UN POCO
The morning sun streams in through the light-blue lace curtains above my bed, but that isn’t what woke me.
There’s someone pounding at the front door, practically rattling it off its hinges.
“ ?Qué pinga está pasando? ” I grumble, rolling out of bed and padding across the worn-out wooden floors. My parents aren’t out here, so they must’ve already started their day.
When I wrench open the door, the sun is blinding behind Ryder’s head. He stares down at me, his jaw hanging as I squint up at him. All my annoyance from our encounter last night has vanished, replaced with hints of desire that shouldn’t even be in the same room with us.
A shiver races through me as a light gust of wind travels into the house and past my legs.
My bare legs.
“Oh shit,” I say, slamming the door in his face before sprinting to my room to grab shorts or anything to cover my naked lower half, barely covered by panties and an oversized t-shirt.
I hear a light knock on my bedroom door, and of course, it’s still Ryder. This time, though, he doesn’t wait for me to let him in before he tentatively opens it, the old hinges creaking.
“Darlin’, we’ve gotta talk about this pain you’ve been havin’,” he says, as if he’s already decided on this as a fact.
If he wasn’t coming into my personal space, acting as if my problems are his to bear, I’d find the way he’s standing in my room with his hand smacked over his eyes both adorable and hysterical.
One thing he clearly doesn’t remember about me is that I don’t like being told what to do or having my decisions made for me. That’s at the top of the extraordinarily long list of reasons things didn’t work out with my ex-fiancé.
“No. No, we do not. I have it handled, and it’s none of your business,” I tell him, my voice growing louder with each word.
It’s possible I’m overly sensitive to this kind of thing because of Russ, but the words had already left my mouth before I could stop them.
“And the coast is clear. I have shorts on now.”
He drops his hand to his side, and his expression quickly shifts to one filled with sadness. “Darlin’, I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m just worried, is all.”
I huff out an annoyed breath, but I work to calm my frustration.
This is Ryder we’re talking about. Sweet, loving Ryder, who cares about your health.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you.” I apologize, my shoulders sagging.
“It’s alright. If you aren’t ready to talk about it, the good news is, your pain isn’t the only reason I dropped by.”
I arch a brow at him. “It isn’t?”
“Nope,” he says, popping the p . “I came to invite you to the county fair with me tonight. I have to judge the annual chili contest.” He groans.
Gross. Sounds gassy.
“And I thought you might have fun. Call it your first major outing since being home. Plus, Mayte and Isabela could come.” Home .
I guess this is my home again. Who am I kidding? Rosa Ranch is the only place I have ever truly felt at home.
“Alright.” I nod. “I guess that sounds like fun.”
Who am I kidding? I love the fair.
Ryder knows that, too, judging by the smirk he gives me. “I’ll pick you up at four, and I’ll drop by Mayte’s to invite her before I work on repairing the fence.”
“Okay, see you tonight,” I say, walking him out. The moment he’s gone, my whole body flutters with nerves.
I haven’t seen most of these people since I was in undergrad, and now, I’m here after years of just dropping by with no intention of sticking around.
But there’s a part of me that’s also excited, and when the voice in the recesses of my mind tries to remind me why I’m excited, I squash it, busying myself with cleaning.
My sneakers squished through the mud as we slunk along the perimeter of the property, careful not to be seen.
“Loooola, this is a bad idea,” Mayte whined for the tenth time in fifteen minutes. “They’re grounded, and we’ll be next if we do this.”
I rolled my eyes, waving her off, crouching to run past the kitchen window at the main house, where Bee and Harlan sat at the table, playing a card game.
“ Vive un poco, aseré ,” I whispered to her as we approached Ezekiel’s bedroom window. I tapped against the glass, waiting for any sign of life, but when he didn’t magically appear, I knocked more aggressively, praying he heard and no one else.
His dark-blue curtains shimmied, a scowling face greeting me as he unlatched the window and lifted the lip. “Lola, in case you couldn’t tell, you came to the wrong window for whatever mess you’re about to get yourself into.”
“Oh, stop being such a Negative Nelly! You and your brother need to hug it out and make up because I’m tired of you both moping around. And there’ll be no mess because we aren’t going to get caught,” I told him. “Now, get up and get changed while we grab Ryder.”
Zeke grumbled something I couldn’t hear, slamming the window in my face. I pressed my forehead to the glass, peering inside, and when he met my gaze, I mouthed, “Go change!” flicking my hand to shoo him off.
He stomped away, but when he made a pit stop at his closet to grab clothes, I knew he was too intrigued not to comply.
“Lola, you’re gonna have that type-A boy losing his mind when he figures out where we’re going,” Mayte said with a chuckle, as if she wasn't also losing her mind.
“You two need to loosen up. We’re just going to the fair. It’s not a big deal,” I told her as we made our way to the back of the house, where Ryder’s bedroom was located.
I rapped my knuckles against the window, and all too quickly, Ryder was peering out at me, eyes wide, hair a disheveled mess, as he pushed the window open with a screech that had me biting the inside of my cheek.
“Are we doing what I think we are?” he asked with a boyish grin that left me tingling with excitement.
“We absolutely are! Get ready and meet us out here in five,” I told him. Mayte was still groaning behind me about our social lives going down the toilet after being grounded until we’re forty.
It didn’t take long for Ryder to slip out of his window, falling gracefully to his feet before we rounded the house to where Zeke was nervously picking at lint on his burgundy long sleeve.
“Why did you invite him?” Ryder asked with a groan, tipping his head back in frustration.
I rolled my eyes. “Because he’s your brother, and you were arguing over something dumb ? —”
“You don’t know what we were arguing about!” Ryder said, cutting me off, but I swatted at him.
“I don’t need to know the details to be absolutely certain it was something dumb. Because it is always something stupid with you two. You’re hormonal teenagers, you aren’t that hard to figure out. Now, quit wasting our precious time ? —”
“Yeah, because this might be the last moment of freedom we ever have,” Mayte offered unhelpfully.
“ Jesus Cristo , let’s go.” I trudged toward the ATVs parked beside the old barn, counting my stars that they wouldn’t run out of gas before we got home.
“Wait, what about Logan?” Ryder asked, never one to leave his best friend behind.
“I called the house, and his mom answered, so I hung up. I’m sorry, Ry. I did all I could do,” I told him. I liked Logan. He had always been sweet to me, but he didn’t live on the ranch with us, so I didn’t have any way to clue him in on this plan, save for a carrier pigeon.
“It’s alright, Lols. You tried,” he said with a resigned shrug.
Ryder climbed on one of the ATVs, Zeke on the other, a silent understanding passing between the four of us when Mayte hopped on Zeke’s and I straddled the seat behind Ryder. The thrill of what we were doing buzzed in my veins, though there was also the edge of nervousness.
The cool night air hit my face, my heart racing not just from the ride but from the thrill of sneaking out to the fair.
We were supposed to be asleep, tucked away in our beds, but there we were, barreling toward freedom.
The thought made my stomach flutter, and a grin tugged at the corners of my mouth.
It wasn’t more than a half-hour ride before the faint glow of neon lights began to flicker through the trees, signaling the fairground was just ahead.
The sounds of the fair hit us even before we pulled in: the distant whirr of carnival rides, the low hum of voices blending with the screams of people flying through the air, the intoxicating smell of funnel cake and fried Oreos swirling in the night breeze.
“We don’t have a lot of time,” Mayte called over the roar of our engines, urgency creeping into her voice. “So let’s make a plan. How about we each pick a ride and knock those out first in case the lines are long?”
Ryder, Zeke, and I nodded, agreeing with a sense of shared excitement, the kind that you only got from being young, when everything felt a little more dangerous. We decided on the Gravitron, Swing Ride, Scrambler, and Ferris wheel. It was the perfect lineup.
By the time we’d ridden the first three, my stomach was filled with a sticky, sweet mess of fried dough and lemonade, my cheeks aching from the smile stretching my lips.
“Glad we saved the Ferris wheel for last,” Ryder said with a laugh, pressing a warm hand to the small of my back as he steered me toward the ride. “The Gravitron would have me puking by now.”
“As usual,” Mayte joked, rolling her eyes, “I’ll skip this one. No need to get the whole town’s view while I’m losing my lunch.”
“I’ll stay with you,” Zeke added with a casual shrug, drawing an exaggerated sigh from Mayte.