The clouds have started to roll in, and the wind has picked up, but it hasn’t started raining yet. Hopefully, it stays that way, at least until we’re home. By the time we park at the ranch, the sky is even darker than it was before, and at this point, it’s pretty clear it’s going to start raining soon. The only thing I can hope now is that the thunder and lightning holds off. Before we get out, I reach into the back and grab the spare hat I’ve got back there.
“Here.” I hand it to Grady. “It’s a hundred percent going to rain, so wear this.”
He hesitates for a second before he takes it and places it on his head. “Thanks.”
Climbing out of the truck, I try not to focus on how fucking good Grady looks inmyhat, but it doesn’t work. We run into the barn and grab a couple of horses before we’re off. I was right, and not even ten minutes later, the rain starts. The bulls are stubborn as hell, but eventually, we get them all corralled into the pasture. A handful of them are still in the one with the busted fence, since they apparently didn’t notice their buddies escaping, but we end up moving them over too.
“Is that all of them?” Grady shouts over the sound of the downpour. The white t-shirt he’s wearing is completely soaked and see-through now. I can see his hardened nipples through the material, and it’s distracting.
“I think so. Let’s head back.”
Just then, thunder sounds in the distance. It’s not too loud yet, just a rumble, but I’m sure it’s working its way here. The mare Grady is on snorts and takes a few steps back—a warning that she’s probably going to spook if it gets any louder. Grady has been around horses since he was a kid, and has his fair share of experience riding them, but even the most experienced cowboys sometimes have a hard time handling a horse when they spook, especially if they’re on horseback. I give myself a few moments of thinking before I make a judgement call.
Holding out my hand, I say, “Hand me the reins and climb on behind me.”
He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “What?”
“Your horse is acting like she’s going to spook, and if she does, she could buck you off and you could get seriously hurt, G,” I explain. “So, hand me the damn reins and climb on behind menow.”
Hesitating for only a beat longer, he hands me the reins with a sigh, and when I move her closer, he slides on behind me. It’s a tight fit, his hard, wet body clinging to mine as he wraps his arms around my middle. I don’t have time to relish the electricity passing through us where we’re touching, because we need to get back before the storm gets worse. Keeping the other horse beside mine, I start toward the barn, keeping a steady pace.
Grady’s hands spread and flex against my abdomen, and I can feel the heat of him through my shirt. He’s holding me tightly, but every once in a while, when the ride gets extra bumpy, his hand will drop a little lower, and it sends a spark straight to my core every time. The blood is whooshing in myears the longer we’re connected like this, my body lighting up with our proximity. Goosebumps cover me, and I’m chilled from the rain coming down and drenching us, but I’m burning up from the inside out because ofhim.
Thankfully, we’re able to make it back to the barn and get the horses put back in their stalls before the storm gets worse, but just barely. As if on cue, a bolt of electricity zig-zags across the darkened sky moments before a deafening clap of thunder makes us jolt. The rain comes down in sheets, so heavily, I can barely see the truck parked out front.
“Shit,” Grady breathes, coming to stand beside me as we both look out into the yard.
I pull out my phone, texting Conrad to let him know it’s done. He responds immediately.
Conrad: Okay, thanks. I’m still about an hour and a half away, parked at a rest stop to wait out the storm. Feel free to do the same if you don’t feel comfortable driving in this. The house is locked, but you can wait it out in the barn.
Glancing over at Grady, I shove the phone back into my pocket. “You okay waiting this out in here before we go home?”
His jaw clenches and he swallows, my eyes tracking the way his Adam’s apple rolls in his throat. My mouth waters, and the urge to lean in and rake my teeth over it hits me hard. “Yeah, that’s fine,” he finally mutters.
The inside of Conrad’s barn is massive. It’s broken up into four sections; the first is where the stalls are, then on the other side of the wall is where he keeps all the hay and the supplies needed to take care of the horses, then beside that is an office that houses a desk, a filing cabinet, and a couple of chairs, and then there’s a staircase that leads up to the loft apartment that Sterling occupies when he’s not staying with Shooter. I tip my head toward the office in question, and Grady nods. As soon aswe enter, another round of thunder hits, and a second later, the power goes out.
“Well, this is great,” I mutter as I take a seat on the corner of the desk.
Grady sits in the chair behind the desk. “Wonder how long it’ll last.”
We gaze at one another for a moment as the sound of the storm surrounds us. The rain pattering, the thunder roaring, and every few minutes, the sky lights up with another bolt. The very last thing we need to be doing together is be stuck in a place where we have nothing to do but wait. To kill time.
“Thanks for helping with this today,” I tell him, blowing out a breath.
“No problem.”
“It would’ve taken a hell of a lot longer had you not been here.”
“Happy to help,” he replies with a nod, a small, unsure smile tilting his lips.
This small talk is excruciating. The longer we sit here, the more tense it becomes. It feels like I’m suffocating in the silence between us. It never used to be like this with me and him.
“Grady…” His dark gaze darts to mine. “Is this as awkward for you as it is for me?”
Huffing out a sardonic laugh, he says, “Well, let’s see, I’m wearing soaking wet clothing with nothing to change into, my teeth won’t stop chattering because I’m so cold, and I’m stuck in a barn with no power with my sister’s ex-husband, and I can’t stop thinking about him and all the ways we could warm up together if only the situation was a little different. So, yeah, I’d say they’re just as awkward for me.”
After he gets all of that out, in what seems to be only one long breath, he snaps his lips shut, smashing them together as he winces, like maybe he didn’t mean to sayallof that out loud.
