Page 28 of Wild and Unruly (Three Rivers Trevors Ranch #3)

stetson

Three fucking days.

Shit.

I was absolutely screwed.

Bonnie was gone for three days back in Denver to handle things at the office. She had to work on some other projects she had going on, and while she called every day and we texted throughout our time apart, I missed the hell out of her.

Which is why, when her shiny truck pulls up to The Lodge, I’m already there waiting for her.

Her face stretches into a wide grin, and she abandons her truck, leaving her driver’s side door open as she takes some running steps to me. I’m there, ready to catch her when her arms wrap around my shoulders, and I’ve got her by the waist.

Fucking hell, this was it. This was the home I’ve always wanted. With her in my arms, I finally felt like I could take a breath, and it was nice to see that the feeling was reciprocated.

“I missed you, girl,” I say against her ear .

Her arms tighten around me, and I just hold her for a moment before I tilt her head back and press my lips against hers, officially letting myself sink into her embrace.

After a few moments, we pull away, and I head to her truck, helping myself to her bag and shutting her door. She stands by watching with a smile on her lips, and we turn, walking hand in hand to The Lodge.

Amelia isn’t at the front, so there’s no stopping our momentum as we make our way down to her room. I set her bag on the little couch that’s against the wall and turn back to her, watching as she tiredly strips from her city clothes.

“I’m glad you came home early,” I say the words before I can think them through, and Bonnie looks at me in surprise.

But then, her next words are a balm to my soul as she whispers, “It feels good to be home.”

I grin at her and step into her nearly naked form, rubbing my hands over her shoulders and back, not in a sexual way but as a way to comfort her. “You doing okay? Did you get to see your family?”

She shakes her head sadly. “Not my mom.”

“I’m sorry, honey.” I kiss the side of her head, brushing aside her hair, and hook my finger under her chin. “But your brother?”

Her look to me nearly guts me, but when I see her chin tremble, I want to find whoever caused it and gut him. “It didn’t go well.”

“What did he do?” The voice that comes out isn’t one I use very often. I reserve it for when I’m ready to kick someone’s ass on the behalf of someone I love.

“Just…” She sighs and rubs a hand over her face, smearing the mascara that is on her lashes.

I don’t say anything, wanting to hear what the hell he did, and frankly, she still looks fucking beautiful.

“He got upset. I pushed for him to come with me, to check out the ranch and meet everyone.” Shaking her head, she says, “But he got so upset that he chucked a mug at the wall. I’ve never seen him that mad. ”

I raise a brow, my heart jamming in my throat as I fight to stay calm. “Were you near that wall?”

She sighs and steps back. “It doesn’t matter. I pushed, and I got burned. I shouldn’t have tried to do that. I should have just had a nice visit and let it be.”

I grit my teeth, my anger overriding rational thought, and I have to remind myself that it isn’t my place. I don’t know her brother, only know the story of what he’s been through, and I can’t place judgment.

Then again, was it my place? She was mine. Whether we’ve said that out loud or not, Bonnie Helix was mine, which meant the way she was treated mattered to me.

Hell, even if she wasn’t mine, I wouldn’t allow her to be treated like shit.

“I felt awful leaving that mess for my mom, but I had to get out of there.” She sinks into my arms, and I hold her to me, not letting her go until she pulls away.

“What did your mom say?”

Bonnie lets out an exhausted breath and starts unpacking her bag. “She was mad. Pissed that he would do that. But she’s at just as much of a loss as I am on how to help him.”

“You can’t help someone who doesn’t want the help.”

She shakes her head. “I understand that. I do. The problem is his misery is still hanging over my head, hanging over my mom’s. She doesn’t feel like she’s allowed to feel joy because her son is still mourning his life. ”

I bite my lip. I had no fucking clue what to do in this situation, none. “Maybe just…enjoy your lives.” Bonnie pauses and looks up at me. “If he sees you two working through your grief, having lives, enjoying your life, then maybe it’ll push him to do the same.”

She doesn’t respond. Her gaze lands on the balcony door and the mountains beyond it, and I give her a minute to think it through.

“What else happened in Denver?” I ask, taking a seat on the bed as she redressed. “Did you have fun?”

“I don’t think fun is the word. I was at the office a bit, had some meetings. Talked to my boss,” she says, then her gaze comes up to mine. “She gave me a deadline.”

My breath hitches in my chest but I remain calm on the outside. “Yeah?”

She nods, her watery eyes hitting mine, and I know whatever she’s about to tell me, I won’t like it. “I have one more week.”

Fuck.

“One week?” It’s not a question. I can hear perfectly fine. I’m just hoping I suddenly have water in my ears or forgot English.

“Yeah, one more. Then I have to get her the article and head to Kentucky for another story.”

My heart falls and my stomach feels like it’s trying to wrestle my other organs. “Kentucky?”

She shrugs and nods. “That’s the job. I go all over the country. Denver is just home base.”

I reach up and remove my hat, needing to run my hand through my hair at this bit of news. Not only was she leaving but she was going a thousand miles away.

“You know what I’d love to do, if you’re up for it?

” she asks, walking toward me where I sit on the bed.

I widen my knees, and she settles her legs between mine.

Hat discarded, I run my hands over her thighs and up to her perfect ass and pull her closer, letting go of all the fears that were currently plaguing me.

“What’s that?”

She ducks, placing a sweet kiss on the side of my face, right near my eye. “I want to practice. Get on a horse and ride.”

Giving her ass one more squeeze and then pulling her down for a sweet but lingering kiss, I tap her and say, “You got it.”

I’ll worry about her leaving later, but for now, she was here, and I was going to savor every minute of our time together.

Bonnie was in the arena, already warming up her horse. It was one that CT bought to give over to The Lodge for the dude ranch they had set up, but the more I saw Bonnie bond with him, the more ideas churned in my head over buying him for her.

It would be impulsive, assuming she would want a horse way out here when we didn’t know the next time she would even be able to visit. But I want to do it all the same.

“Hey.” Jax and Logan approach where I’m tightening the cinch on my horse, and I nod at them, my gaze flicking back to where Bonnie is trotting her horse around again.

“You guys practicing for this weekend?” Logan asks, leaning against a wall and looking over my horse. He was unable to stop himself from horse inspecting whenever he was near one.

“Yeah, I guess so. Bonnie just wanted to ride.” This weekend we were signed up to compete in a rodeo that was two towns over.

It would be our last one together .

My gut churned at that information, wishing that I could fix all of this and she could stay. What did I have to offer her, though? A crappy little apartment? What was she going to do? Quit her job? She worked too hard to get where she was for me to consider that a possibility.

“I’m surprised she’s still here. Hasn’t she seen enough?” Jax asks, leaving the filter out, as per usual.

Logan gives him a look but it’s nothing compared to my withering glare that makes Jax raise his brow and shrug. “What?”

“She can be here as long as she needs to be,” I say, disregarding that he was probably right. Logic wasn’t something I was leaning on in this scenario.

“I’m not saying—you know what?” Jax waves his good hand, his other still in a sling. “Never mind.”

“Good call,” Logan says to him, but then, like always, his big brother gaze returns to mine, and he says, “In all seriousness, what’s going to happen with you two? You guys seem pretty attached.”

“Yeah, Mom is obsessed. Won’t stop talking about you two.” Jax’s comment makes it seem like he’s annoyed, but I don’t really care.

“I don’t know. We have another week before we have to make plans.”

Logan nods, hooking a thumb into his front jeans pocket. “And are you going to? Make plans, I mean?”

“Yes, we’re going to make plans.” My tone comes off defensively, and I know why. I was terrified about what those plans were because we hadn’t actually discussed them before. Not really.

“Would that mean you’d move to the city to be with her? ”

The thought, just the mere mention of living in the city, makes me cringe. But then I think about only seeing her on the weekends, or making her drive the long drive all the fucking time, or barely seeing her at all because we were both too busy.

Could I live in the city? Of course, I could . The question was more: Was I willing to do that to be with Bonnie?

“Yeah, I would.” I shrug. “But we haven’t made any plans like that yet. It’s still new.” Though it didn’t feel new. “Plus, she’s heading to Kentucky right after this, so I won’t be apartment hunting just yet.”

My brothers nod, and I unhook my horse, sliding the bridle over his head and slipping the bit into his mouth. “We’re gonna go ride.”

“Hey, if you move, can I have your apartment? Mom’s driving me nuts,” Jax says, half joking.

Logan looks over at him, then he puts his finger against our brother’s shoulder and pushes, making Jax yelp and nearly fall, given that his foot is still in a boot. I nod a thanks at Logan, who shakes his head at our brother and starts dragging him away, talking about adoption.

I get into the arena and step on my horse, watching the woman I was madly in love with do what she did best. I can’t imagine not seeing her every day. That was going to be a hard fucking adjustment, and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do about it.

The way she looks to me for comfort, the way she melts into my arms when she needs me, tells me that these feelings were mutual. She wants me as badly as I want her.

The problem we had to face now was distance.

I was willing to find a solution because I was not letting the woman I love slip away.