Breaking Fences (The Breaking Series) (10 page)

She sat beside me on her bed. “I wanted to meet the real Bia. Let her out. Just for tonight.”

I shook my head. “I can’t. You know what would happen. I would go with you, have a few drinks, have a great time, but the next day, everyone would be talking about how I left the bar with not one, but two guys. I can’t risk that.”

“Well, the real Bia wouldn’t care about all that shit. At least that’s what you keep telling me.”

“Touché.” I sighed. “It’s not that easy this time. I’m here for the next two years. More, if I get into vet school.” Though I was starting to think it would be better if I went somewhere else. “I’m not sure I can’t
not
care about what people say for so long. And I don’t want to run away either. I just need to lie low for now.”

“For how long?”

“I don’t know. One month? One semester? The interest in me and where I am from has to die down at some point. Especially if I behave and don’t give them anything to talk about.”

Phoebe laughed. “Because throwing your drink over Audrey’s head yesterday is lying low.”

I buried my head in my hands, but a loud laugh escaped through my lips anyway. “
Meu Deus
, that felt so good. But yeah. It only made things worse. Now she’s out to get me.”

“As if she wasn’t before.”

“Right.”

I walked with Phoebe to the bar. Like everything, it was just off campus and lots of students went there practically every evening. On Fridays, they had a live band and Phoebe said Kevin knew the lead singer.

“How about you come in? I bet Kevin can introduce you to the singer. All singers are cute, right?”

I chuckled. “No, thanks. I’m sworn off men for now.”

“That’s silly.”

Well, that was my life.

I halted on the sidewalk, eyeing the bar on the other side of the street. “Here we are.”

“Thanks for walking me.”

“My pleasure. It was a good excuse to get out of my dorm for a little while.”

“Text me when you’re in your room. I’ll be worried about you until you do.”

“Sure.”

I stayed in place until she crossed the street and entered the bar. I turned to leave as an old truck with peeling dark blue paint parked in the spot by my side.

Not thinking anything of it, I kept on walking.

“Bia.”

I halted. My heart sped up a little.

Garrett walked up to me. “Hey.”

I turned to him, keeping my face blank. “Hi.” As usual, he had his brown boots and hat on. This time he wore dark jeans and a fitted dark green button up shirt that brought out the green speckles in his hazel eyes.

He pointed to the bar across the street. “Aren’t you going in?”

I shook my head. “I just walked Phoebe. She has a date.”

“You should come.”

I frowned. “I shouldn’t.”

He cocked his head to the side.
Meu Deus
, what I wouldn’t give to know what was going on inside that pretty head.

“You haven’t been at the ranch,” he said. “I thought you would come back last Saturday or Sunday. I thought you liked riding.”

“I love riding. It’s the only good thing in my life—” I slapped my hand over my mouth and my eyes went wide.
Droga
, I said too much.

His eyes narrowed. “Audrey still giving you a bad time?”

Of course he would have heard the rumors. “You can say that.”

“One more reason to come back to the ranch and do what you like.”

What was this sudden interest in me going back to the ranch? “I’ll think about it.”

One corner of his mouth curved up. “Good.”

He tipped his hat before turning on his heels and walking across the street to the bar.

I watched his backside, taking in how edible he looked. I didn’t understand him. He worked at the ranch—his father’s ranch—had already graduated college, and yet was always here, especially at The Bat. He seemed to be friends with his half-brother, and he trained his half-sister for show jumping.

Garrett was a mystery—one second he was hot, the next he was cold—and I felt compelled to unravel it.

Chapter Nine

That bold feeling was gone Saturday morning.

I had bad dreams all night about my father telling me he was disappointed in me, about Molly throwing my stuff out the window, about Audrey spreading more lies that everyone believed, and about Garrett and Jonah laughing at me.

I tossed and turned until I finally gave up and shot from my bed at 5:30 a.m. Molly was passed out on her bed. I heard her coming in around two in the morning. Apparently, her nights were fun. Meanwhile, I stayed in and moped.

As quiet as I could, I showered, got dressed, and drove off campus.

I stopped by a Starbucks drive-thru, got a cappuccino, a butter croissant, and then drove the thirty minutes to the ranch while eating. It wasn’t 6:30 a.m. when I parked my car beside the stable, but Tom was already there.

The best part of all? It was too early, and since Garrett had partied last night, I was sure he wasn’t here yet.

With a smile, I walked in the stable. Tom was filling a couple of buckets with grain.

“Morning, Tom.”

Tom stopped working and looked up at me. “Morning, Miss Fernandes. Isn’t it a bit early for you?”

“Not really.” I picked up two of the filled buckets. “Which stalls should I put these in?” He squinted at me, probably wondering what I was doing. I chuckled. “Come on, old man. I’m used to working hard on a ranch. Let me do something, please.”

He considered it for a second more, and then said, “You can put those inside Mandy’s and Sugar Ray’s stalls.”

I glanced around, looking for the right names on the plates over the stall doors. I quickly found them and deposited the buckets inside their stalls. The horses nickered in thanks and dunked their muzzle in the buckets without a second thought. On the way back to Tom, I glanced over Midnight’s stall. He was standing in the back, his head low.

I approached the door. “Hey, big boy, you seem a little sad. What happened?” His ear flicked up and he turned his face to me. His big black eyes met mine and I smiled, encouraging him. “You can tell me.” Slowly, he walked to me. I extended my hand, and he buried his muzzle in my palm. “What happened, big boy?”

He snorted and poked my forearm. With a smile, I ran my hand over his chin and scratched his neck.

“I think he’s tired,” Tom said. “Delilah overworked him yesterday.” There was a hint of reproach in Tom’s tone.

“Has she been jumping for long?”

Tom brought over a bucket and handed it to me. “Since she was twelve, but she hasn’t won many competitions.” He put another bucket in the next stall, and I put the one he gave me inside Midnight’s stall. “She’s signed up for several competitions in the next couple of months. She’s seventeen, and Mr. Hudson said that if she doesn’t make it before her eighteenth birthday, she has to stop fooling around and get serious about college and working for him.”

The horse didn’t even look at it. Although, when I tried to take my hand away from him, he snorted. I smiled. “Cattle business, right?” I asked.

“Right,” Tom said. “As you can imagine, she doesn’t want anything to do with cattle.”

Hilary came to mind. She was Hannah’s younger sister, also almost eighteen, and she was wary of horses. Lately, she was better in that department, but she still didn’t want anything to do with her father’s horse business.

“So she has been overworking Midnight because she feels pressured to win.”

“Yes.” Tom tsked. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be telling you all this.”

“It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone.” I winked and he shook his head.

The sounds of hooves stomping rapidly on the ground approached the stalls, and I looked at the door leading to the arena.

Garrett stopped a beautiful light gray mare outside. He jumped off and entered the stables, pulling the mare with him. He paused when he saw me, his eyes wide. His lips curved slightly. “Good morning,” he said, tipping his hat.

I kept on stroking Midnight’s soft coat. “Morning.”

What was he doing here at this hour? He was supposed to be in bed with a hangover until noon.

His gaze shifted from my eyes to my hand on Midnight. Surprise flicked in his eyes. Or was it wariness? I couldn’t tell. Feeling self-conscious, I lowered my hand from the horse, but he nickered and poked my arm. Frowning, Garrett averted his gaze and guided the mare to the wash stall.

I turned to Tom. “What else can I do?”

Tom looked around. “You could take Autumn Storm for a quick exercise?”

“Sure.”

Garrett was walking the mare, Felicity, to her stall when I pulled Autumn out of the stable, already tacked and ready to go.

After twenty minutes of riding with Autumn through the pasture, I brought him over to the stable through the arena. Garrett was there, standing outside. I slowed Autumn’s steps and Garrett walked toward us. He grabbed Autumn’s reins as I brought him to a stop.

“You came,” he said.

“I did. Weren’t you supposed to be in bed with a hangover?”

“I didn’t drink too much, and I didn’t stay up late. There was nothing interesting in that bar.” He fixed his serious gaze on me, and my cheeks heated.

I didn’t want to read between the lines, because I was afraid of misinterpreting what was there.

“Bummer,” I muttered, stroking Autumn’s mane.

“I don’t understand.” Garrett tilted his head to the side, watching me as I jumped off the horse. “Tom isn’t nice, nor is Midnight Dream. How the hell did you get on their good side?”

I smiled. “Honestly, I don’t know.” He patted Autumn’s neck and stared at me. This time, I held his gaze, wishing I knew what was going through his mind. Maybe I wanted to find out what was written between the lines. Boldness surged in me. “I guess it’s just my charm,” I teased.

His hazel eyes darkened, and I instantly regretted saying that. I averted my gaze and grabbed Autumn’s reins from Garrett.

“Excuse me,” I said, walking past him.

What was I thinking? He definitely knew about all the shit Audrey had been saying about me, and he probably believed it. Flirting with him would only fan the flame and make everything worse.

I took Autumn to his stall, and then looked for Tom to see what I could do next. I scanned the area, thinking there was a bunch of stuff to be done, but I didn’t want to put my paws all over the place. Tom must have his way of doing things, and I didn’t want to upset him enough that he would kick me out of here.

Midnight stuck his head over the stall’s door and snorted.

That stallion-wannabe looking at me that way? I smiled and went to him.

“What is it, big boy?” I scratched his ear. He shook his head, showing me he liked that. I leaned into him and embraced his neck. His heavy head rested on my shoulder, and I ran my fingers through his silky mane. He nipped at my hair, tickling me. “You’re telling me you like me? Well, you’re the only one in this entire state.”

“Midnight is a tough guy.” Garrett’s voice came from the back entrance. “If you won him, I bet you can win over more people.”

I turned my face, resting my cheek on Midnight’s cheek, and looked at him. Garrett was walking toward us. “Have you seen Tom? I want to ask him what else I can do.”

He halted beside me, crossing his arms. “Why are you helping? Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“Do you have a problem with me helping? I thought you would be glad since that would mean you have less stuff to do.”

Again, one corner of his lips curled up. Didn’t he smile? Ever?

“Oh, believe me, I don’t mind you helping. One—” He raised his index finger. “—yes, I have less stuff to do then. Two—” He raised his middle finger. “—there’s something nice to look at besides my dear horses.” I stopped breathing. Something nice to look at? Was he saying he thought I was pretty? But he wasn’t finished. He raised his ring finger and continued, “And three, Midnight likes you. That’s a great feat, and I’m wondering if that would help with his training.”

“What are you saying?”

He took a halter from a hook on the wall. “I’m saying you should take him for a quick run to get him warmed up. Delilah should be here in an hour, and if he’s ready, we can get right into training.”

He offered the halter to me, and I felt like the kid who got candy after dinner for having cleared her plate. I suppressed a happy squeal and snatched the halter from him.

“Do you hear that, big boy? You and I are going for a ride.” I planted a kiss on Midnight’s forehead.

“Kissing a horse?” Garrett scrunched his nose. “That’s damn waste of a good kiss.”

I spied him with the corner of my eyes and I found his lips curled a tiny more than usual. I didn’t know why, but making him show me a full smile felt like a mission I couldn’t fail.

***

Midnight and I galloped around the arena.

He was perfect. Strong, fast, confident. I felt like I was flying. I wondered how cool it would be to jump with him. Delilah was lucky to have a horse like Midnight to compete with her. Although, I still thought he was too young for it.