Page 5 of Something Tangled Something True (Rosa Ranch #1)

“You need to get your freaking driver's license soon, Ry!” I yelled in frustration as my muscles fatigued, sweat dripping down my brows, burning my eyes.

“I promise, I will! We’ve almost got him, Lols. They’ve gotta slow down at the turn ahead. There’s no way we’ll miss him!” he assured me, and I let his confidence swaddle me, giving me the strength to push forward.

“What’s the plan?!” My voice was shrill over the crunch of gravel from the truck ahead.

“I’ll use my momentum to jump onto the back edge, unlatch the trailer, and then you’ll have to grab the reins and hope like hell he has the same will to save himself as we do!”

My tongue raked across my dry lips as I beat back the fear this could all go so terribly wrong. I squeaked out a less-than-assured, “Great, what could go wrong?”

Ryder’s playful grin and twinkling eyes met my twisted expression, sending a fluttering of warmth low in my belly.

“I’ll count down from five, Lols. Got it?” he asked.

“Sure!”

“Five. Four. Three,” Each descending number pressed more firmly on the heavy weight over my chest. “Two. One!”

The white trailer rig tilted slightly to the left, kicking up clouds of dust that concealed us from the truck’s side mirrors as it made the wide turn.

Ryder sprinted ahead, pushing off the balls of his feet and catapulting himself high enough to grab hold of the door, steadying his lanky body on the metal lip of the trailer.

My pulse roared against my eardrums as I continued sprinting, waiting for a signal.

He unlatched the door, yanking it open and grabbing for the reins, tugging firmly to urge the hulking horse to make the jump.

He shot me a thumbs-up when the horse cleared the trailer and got to work grappling for the door.

I reached out for the end of the rope, my heart soaring when I grabbed it on my first try, and the Friesian made the leap out of the trailer.

The trailer buckled from the fourteen-hundred-pound loss.

The rear right tire hit a rut, jostling the trailer with Ryder still on it.

With wide eyes and a still, beatless heart, I led the horse in the direction we came as the metal doors swung back, slamming into Ryder’s face before he fell off the back into a heap on the dirt road.

“Ryder!” I screamed, the sound deafening.

“I’m fine, Lola! Just keep going!” he shouted back, rolling over and pushing himself up before following me. My heart rate calmed, and a wide smile stretched my lips as he sprinted to catch up with us.

I turned my attention to our new friend, gesturing for him to slow as I ran my hands over his sleek coat. “Good boy,” I cooed. “See? I told you we’d get you in time.”

Ryder let out a huff as he sidled up to us, bending forward, his hands on his knees as he panted, catching his breath. Sweat trickled down his temples, his high cheekbones flushed, dark waves curly at the sweat-dampened ends.

God, he’s beautiful.

He straightened, meeting me with a heart-stopping smile that left the organ clenching painfully in my chest. “I can’t believe we did it,” he said with a deep chuckle, his voice no longer cracking as he settled into his post-puberty voice.

I smacked his shoulder, shaking my head and rolling my eyes. “Seriously, Ry? You seemed so confident!”

He shrugs. “I didn’t want you to lose hope! See how far it got us?”

We continued walking for a few more minutes, peering behind us several times to make sure they weren’t coming back. Ryder took the reins from me, pulling the horse to a stop along the shoulder of the empty clay road.

“What should we name him?” Ryder mused, stroking a hand down the nameless horse's back.

“I’m not sure, but I wish we’d known what his name was before. Imagine living almost three years of your life under one identity, only to be taken to auction all because you can’t be used to reproduce,” I huffed out, crossing my arms over my chest.

“It’s a shame. He’s beautiful and well-mannered. Great temperament. It’s unfortunate he wouldn’t survive in the wild. I think he’d have been happiest grazing, running of his own will.”

“We’ll give him a good life,” I said with conviction, nodding for good measure.

“What about ‘Asier’? It means ‘new beginnings’ in Basque,” he suggested.

I shot him a side eye. “And how do you know that? Have you suddenly become worldly or learned a new language outside of English and a tragic attempt at Spanish?”

His shoulders shook with laughter before he pushed himself up and over Asier’s back.

Once settled on top, his legs straddling the wide birth of the giant horse’s sides, he leaned down, extending a hand for me to take.

Ryder’s face was mere inches from mine, my breath catching in my throat, the world growing fuzzy around us as his musky, sweat-tinged scent enveloped me in a heady warmth.

My eyes dilated, landing on his lips before his next words shook me from the fog.

“I learned it yesterday in History.” A drop of blood pooled at the edge of his lips, my eyes growing wide as he swiped his tongue over it, licking at the fresh wound.

“You’re bleeding! Are you okay?” I gripped his cheeks, inspecting the shallow gash.

“I’m fine. Just a little cut,” he assured me, and I bristled, his warm breath skating over my lips, sending a tendril of something I shouldn’t be feeling zipping up my spine.

I rocked on my heels, meeting his gaze. I took his large hand in mine, his fingers wrapping around my palm, eating up any space left between us.

I cleared my throat, averting my gaze before we could make a huge mistake that could cost us our friendship. “I didn’t know the football coaches teaching history actually taught anything,” I muttered.

“They don’t,” he said, tugging me up, his free hand slipping around my waist to ease me onto Asier’s back behind him. “We had a substitute.”

“Oh, right,” I answered, dizzy from the press of his skin against mine.

“Hold on tight, Lols,” he whispered, looking ahead as he steered Asier onto the main road.

I wrapped my arms around his trim waist, pressing my cheek between his shoulder blades, and relaxed against him.

I listened to the steady beat of his heart and the gentle sigh of his lungs as we headed back to the ranch, where we had to explain how we’d just stolen a horse worth fifty grand.

“Lola?”

I shift, blinking rapidly at the sound of my name coming from a much older man than the one I’d just experienced in my memories. “Lola, you alright?”

I shake myself out, my eyes locking on Ryder’s. They’re crinkled at the edges, his brow furrowed as he assesses me. “Where’d you go, darlin’?”

“I was just thinking about when we rescued Asier,” I admit, fully returning to the present.

His smile is broad and gleams in the last remnants of the setting sun, my heart taking flight with the small movement. “That’s one of my favorite memories from high school,” he tells me.

I quirk a brow, knowing I shouldn’t ask but unable to help myself. “And what’s your favorite?”

He gives me a knowing smirk, and I feel as gone for this man now as I was then. It knocks me off kilter, and as I fight to regain my balance, he finishes me off with a simple sentence that shouldn’t mean so much .

“The night you convinced Mayte to help us sneak out to the fair,” he drawls.

My pulse picks up speed, but I do my best not to seem as affected by his words as I am. Steeling my spine, I tear my gaze from his. “That was a pretty fun night,” I allow myself to say.

Tension-filled seconds pass in silence, unable to resist the press of his searing gaze against my overheated flesh.

I peer up at him, his eyes searching mine.

There’s a faint tremor in his voice as he asks, “Are you here for good, Lols?” His gaze lingers, as if my answer could change everything, the quiet hope in his expression trembling like a delicate thread between us.

“At least for the foreseeable future,” I say, giving him a non-answer to avoid breaking his heart if I wind up being pulled somewhere else.

His eyes widen, and the edges of his lips twitch, but he quickly schools his expression, nodding his cool understanding.

He’s careful not to show the hope I see brewing in that gorgeous head of his, his lips parting slightly, bright eyes holding mine.

I’m thankful for him because if he were to show half as much of the hope I fear he’s clutching, I might allow myself to fall face first into it.

We continue down the path to the stables, catching ourselves staring as if we’re in high school all over again.

Maybe life would be less complicated if we were.

“Is it alright that I’m here?” I ask him, my voice quieter than I’d intended. “I realize I never asked you, and I hear you’ve officially taken over as the ranch manager for your dad.”

Ryder’s bright-blue eyes hold my brown ones.

I could swim away in those pools of cerulean.

But that’s the thing about Ryder Lockhart, isn’t it?

He made me feel fearless, like I could take on the entire world with him by my side, but in recent years, I’ve realized we aren’t living in a fairytale.

Life is hard. Shit happens. And Ry can’t change that fact.

“Rosa Ranch will always be your home, darlin’. Of course you’re welcome here.”

A small smile works across my lips. “Thanks, Ry,” I tell him, slipping into our old, comfortable bubble. Even if I have no right to.

“Anything for you, darlin’,” I hear him say quietly.

After we’ve put the horses back in the stables for the night, I rush to my childhood home, desperate for a full breath of air after riding beside the man I’d spent more years loving than not, dredging up feelings from the past.

It isn’t until hours later that my parents return home from dinner at the main house. It’s not a surprise, seeing as Bee and Harlan have always treated my family as their own.

There’s a light knock at the door before Mami pushes it open and strides inside, taking a seat at the end of the bed.

“We missed you at dinner tonight, mijita. ” She reaches out to nudge my shoulder, silent laughter dancing in her eyes. She wears a relaxed smile that warms my chest, and I’m thankful to be here to see it.

“I’m sorry, Mami . I just wasn’t feeling up to it yet. I’ll be there for family dinner this weekend, I promise.”

She nods slowly, averting her gaze to the papers littered around me. She lets out a sigh and sinks further into the mattress. “ Ajá, so you did remember.” Her smile shifts to a knowing smirk that has me rolling my eyes. “?Lo sabia! ”

“Of course I remembered.”

“I bet he would’ve liked it if you’d been there tonight . Pero, judging by the way he ran out as soon as his plate was clean, I imagine you already know that.”

My cheeks heat, and I refuse to meet her gaze, studying the paper in my lap as I meticulously fold the edges and roll the papers. “He didn’t say as much, but I got the picture,” I answer.

“ Tá bien . I’ll leave you to it. Keys are by the front door in case you decide to drive those over to him tonight.

” She stands, but before she makes it to the door, she bends down and cups my chin, lifting my gaze to hers.

“I’m proud of you, Lola. Tan orgullosa .

I just wanted to remind you in case I haven’t said it enough. ”

“You have, Mami. I promise. You say it plenty,” I assure her, my voice cracking on the next words, “and thank you.”

“ Duerme bien, hija ,” she says, kissing my cheek.

“ Buenas noches, Mami .”

Once she’s gone, I finish the bouquet of origami flowers, my hands shaking by the time I’m done. My joints hurt, and I’m aching for a bubble bath, some painkillers, and ice for my hands, but I persist, tying a blood-red ribbon around the paper stems to hold them all together.

I hoist myself up, grab the keys from the hook by the door, and sprint through the sprinkling rain to Dad’s truck. I make the quick drive to Ryder’s cottage, and as my heart pounds faster, I’m starting to think this might have been a bad idea.

When I broke up with Ryder, we had both messed up.

He had been grieving the loss of his best friend after a tragic accident and had kept me at a distance in an effort to protect me from his overwhelming grief and worsening depression.

Meanwhile, I had been working my ass off to maintain my spot at the dance program I'd had to work twice as hard to get into as a woman of color.

I was learning my craft from some of the most talented dancers in the country, and I'd more than earned my place there.

Ryder hadn’t wanted to burden me, knowing I’d have given it all up to return to him and be his rock when he needed me, and I think I was too afraid to do just that, so I never pushed for answers because he was right.

By the time he’d gotten the help he needed and we’d matured enough to have that conversation, it’d been too many years too late. He was already engaged to Lemmon, and I was in a committed relationship with Russ.

We let time and space create a divide that never felt natural when he was always the other half of my heart, my partner in crime, sometimes literally. So how could it be wrong to show him I still care? With Ryder, it’s never been that simple, though maybe he’s changed.

He chased you down on horseback today, Lola. Nothing has changed!

I huff out a breath, throw the truck in park, and run to his door, banging on the thick wood before looking for some place to put the flowers where they won’t get soaked.

I set them on the small glass table beside the rocking chair and haul ass down the short porch steps, effectively ding-dong-ditching a grown man.

I’ve been here for only four days, and it’s already glaring that my roots run deeper than I remembered.