by Cindi Madsen
“Who was the guy you were talking about with Chloe the other day while Aiden and I were discussing bikes?”
It took Harlow a couple of seconds to connect the dots. After their last training session, Aiden and Maddox had launched into a discussion on motorcycles, and Chloe had looped her arm through Harlow’s and led her over to the porch.
As they’d settled on the middle step, Chloe asked about team roping. Harlow replied that her partner, Bianca, recently dumped her, bulldozing her out of her favorite event in the process. Not to mention ruining a shot at the All-Around Cowgirl title she’d had her sights set on since middle school.
Tears had welled, and Chloe shocked a laugh out of Harlow by asking, “Where can I find this bitch?”
No one had ever threatened anyone on Harlow’s behalf, and while she should be above it, it felt nice. So Harlow told her Bianca had also accused her of flirting with her boyfriend, even though she didn’t know how to flirt and sure as heck wouldn’t pick him since he was a cheater and a jerk.
“Well, she sucks, and so does he,” Chloe had replied, and Harlow had raised an imaginary glass to toast to that. Since the boys had finished up their conversation and were drifting closer, they’d heard Chloe when she stood and added, “Oh, and, Harlow? Stick to that no-jerks thing. Trust me, I’ve dated a jerk, and you don’t want a guy like that.”
Maddox had asked, “What guy?” and Harlow had kept her response vague, telling him it’d just been a misunderstanding.
In the here and now, those same amber eyes prodded her, causing all the heart palpitations. “Nobody, really.”
Maddox made the buzzer noise again, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. “That’s not how this game goes, Harlow. Do you want me to give non-answers when it’s your turn to ask the questions?”
“No, but—” At his darted glare, she gave in. “My former roping partner, Bianca, told me I was flirting with her boyfriend. Which is ridiculous, because he’s a cheating jerkface and therefore is a nobody in my eyes.”
Maddox grinned at her. Grinned! Why was this guy giving her tummy flutters and tingles again?
She scowled at him. “How is that something to grin about?”
“Jerkface,” he said with a soft laugh. “You also used ‘therefore’ in a totally unironic way. I just like how you talk, especially when it comes to avoiding swear words.”
She laughed and shoved his shoulder. “So happy you like it, because I do it just for you, Mikos.”
“I’m so flattered and not a jerkface at all.”
For the next thirty minutes, Maddox stuck to basics, and she managed to label the auto parts right, along with their functions. What could she say? Maddox was a good teacher and she an apt student.
After she’d named the wrong belt—seriously, shouldn’t the fact that she got the belt part right count?—Maddox tossed the wrench in the direction of the toolbox and rolled to fully face her. “Why do you spend so much time here? Don’t you have parties to go to and friends to hang out with in town?” Harlow felt her face fall, echoing the dull ache that’d throbbed to life in her chest, and Maddox placed a soothing hand on her arm. “Not that I’m not glad you’re around. I’m bored on the days you’re not. I was just curious.”
Even though she tried to inhale, her lungs remained flat and heavy. “I’ve always struggled to make friends. And don’t say that shocks you in that sarcastic way you do, because…” Her voice cracked, and why was she getting all sappy sad about this? It wasn’t a new sensation, feeling like she didn’t have any true, close friends.
Maddox’s fingertips skated down her arm and drifted over the back of her hand, sending a few stray butterflies to mingle with the self-pity churning through her. “Hey, I’m sorry. And I am shocked, no sarcasm. Who wouldn’t want to hang out with you?”
“Right?” she asked, but a half sob slipped out, too. She focused on the comic-book sound-effect tattoo on his forearm with the yellow word POW! in the middle. It was one of the few spots of color among all his ink. “I thought Bianca was my friend, but I guess she wasn’t. At school, we ran in different circles—as in I had a circle of one and she was super popular—and I told myself she wasn’t meaning to ignore me, but…” Harlow pressed her lips into a tight line until she regained control of her emotions. “Deep down, I knew.”
The subject of friends amplified her worries about her social life during her upcoming senior year as well. “There’s this party next weekend. It’s the biggest party of the summer, and most of my classmates are going to be there. I’m trying to get up the courage to go alone, but I’ll probably just spend that night talking to my horse or having dinner with my family.”
“You have to go to the party, Harlow,” Maddox said, his voice quiet but steady. His fingers curled around her palm. “Just to show What’s-Her-Face that she was wrong about you and that she doesn’t get to decide what you do.”
Heavy footsteps invaded the intimate bubble they’d created, and Harlow pulled her hand free from Maddox’s right as Brady peeked under the hood. “Time for roping practice.”
“Actually,” Harlow said, “I was thinking we need to up Maddox’s horseback-riding game and move to roping from a saddle.”
Maddox’s posture tensed, every inch of him screaming no. After he’d used her limited knowledge about cars to his full advantage in their game of questions, her smug sense of satisfaction over it being her turn seemed perfectly justifiable.
* * *
To keep an eye on him and make sure Maddox couldn’t be alone with Harlow too much, Brady had assigned Aiden and Chloe to go along with them. So much for thinking I’ve earned some leeway by fixing the car.
While Maddox did his best to remember his one and only horse-riding lesson, Harlow walked her horse out of the stables to get some water and air. The entire time he saddled a black horse named Licorice, he wished she had two wheels instead of four legs. After he was done, Aiden double-checked the cinches.
“I mean…” Chloe paused to watch and twirled a strand of blond hair around her finger. “Look at my smokin’-hot cowboy.”
“Not a cowboy,” Aiden said, the grin on his face widening. He drew her close and kissed her cheek, and a whorl of jealousy cramped Maddox’s gut.
Not because he liked Chloe but because of her and Aiden’s relationship. It clearly went deeper than attraction. While he’d had plenty of girlfriends, they’d never done a lot of talking. Maddox wasn’t sure he’d ever had a connection like that. The closest he’d come was with Harlow, and maybe that was where the jealousy came from. Because he couldn’t be that way with her.
“Sorry,” Aiden said, shaking himself out of his goofy, I-love-my-girlfriend trance.
I’m jealous of sappiness. All of three weeks, and this place is already turning me into a softy who’ll get his ass kicked when he goes back home. Or what constituted home, since that word had never held the same meaning for him as most people.
“You’re good to go,” Aiden declared, patting the black horse’s neck and handing over the reins. “We’ll lead the horses out of the stables, and then we’ll ride to the creek.”
“You’ll love it,” Chloe said, grabbing the bridle of a saddled buckskin horse named Rowdy. “It’s one of my favorite places on the ranch.” She stopped next to Maddox and gave him a meaningful look. “I even liked it back when I thought this place was my own personal hell.”
Right. She’d come to the ranch after getting in trouble with the law, too. It was hard for Maddox to imagine Chloe and Aiden had once been in his same place. At first, he thought they must’ve been brainwashed. After the time he’d spent here, he realized that wasn’t true, but he’d never end up like them, either.
Happy to get out of the stuffy, hot stables, he led his black horse outside.
And froze in place at the sight in front of him.
Harlow sat, legs crossed, on the grassy g
round. Her tan horse nuzzled her neck, and she giggled and cooed as she scratched his opposite cheek. The horse ate it up, too, Maddox could tell. Another mushy sensation unfurled itself in his chest, one aimed at the girl with the honey-colored hair and easy smile. Less than a month ago, he would’ve thought she was weird, talking and snuggling with a horse like that. Now he found it cute as hell.
The horse trailed its long nose up Harlow’s cheek and knocked her hat to the ground.
“Maximus. What did I say about my hat?” She scooped it up and tugged it back on her head. Then she spotted Maddox and their babysitters. She stood and wiped the seat of her pants, and her horse nuzzled her again.
Shit. Now I’m jealous of a horse.
Maddox doused the feelings the best he could and strode over, his black horse in tow. “Maximus? Like the supervillain from the comic books?”
No idea why he’d spared giving her a weird look for talking to her horse when she had no problem giving him one for asking a simple question. “What? No. I don’t know who that is, you nerd.” That was the first time he’d ever been called that, for the record, but Harlow softened the light jab with a smile. “It’s from Tangled. That was Flynn Rider’s horse’s name, and it seemed fitting for this big guy. Didn’t it, my big, strong horse?”
The more she coddled the beast, the harder it was to ignore her magnetic pull. “Why am I not surprised you got the name from a Disney movie? You practically are a Disney movie.”
Her fiery side drifted to the surface, tempting him closer to the blaze. “Let me guess. You’re an R-rated action movie.”
“Damn straight.”
Harlow laughed, and man, she had a nice laugh. Not a titter, as if she worked at sounding sexy. But a full, unbridled laugh that filled the air and buried itself inside his chest.
“Okay, you big action star, you. Get on your horse, and let’s get this party on the trail.” Harlow gripped her saddle horn and swung onto her horse with ease, like she’d done it hundreds of times, which she undoubtedly had. Chloe and Aiden had already mounted their horses as well.
A grunt escaped as Maddox heaved himself up, but he’d miscalculated how high to swing his leg. As if that weren’t embarrassing enough, Licorice trotted a couple of paces, upping the difficulty level considerably. Sheer determination was the only thing that’d kept him from falling.
The other three stared from astride their steeds, waiting for him to get his act together.
“You okay?” Harlow asked, and Maddox managed to maneuver into the saddle and nod. They fanned out, and once the cabin disappeared from view, Aiden and Chloe picked up their pace, giving Maddox and Harlow a bit of space.
The saddle felt too wide, and he yearned for handles to grip instead of a nub of a horn and some puny reins. “I prefer my motorcycle. I’ve got my grippy handlebars, and I can control the speed.”
“A good horseman controls the speed of their horse,” Harlow said.
Maddox cast her an unamused expression.
“What? I’m just saying once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to control the speed. You should get on that ASAP, too, because we’ve only got a few weeks until the rodeo.”
“Wait,” Maddox said. “There’s a rodeo?”
She whipped toward him, her posture relaxing slightly as she realized he’d obviously been joking. He laughed and nudged his horse along a bit faster so he was right next to her and Maximus.
Harlow glanced at him, her curls swishing over her shoulders. He liked the curls, but he also liked when she styled it straight or in a braid or ponytail. Basically, he couldn’t stop thinking about what her hair would feel like slipping through his fingers. “Okay, so what kind of horse are you riding?” she asked.
“A black one.”
She made a buzzer sound and gleefully rubbed her palms together. “My turn to ask a question.”
“That only applies to roping.”
Harlow made the buzzer noise again. “Wrong. You made it all car stuff, so I’m applying our game to all cowboy stuff. Fair warning, I’m going to get some of the big questions out of the way first.”
Tension claimed every muscle in his body, and he gripped the reins tighter. Since the horse read that as a cue to stop, he had to loosen his hold and nudge the horse on again.
After glancing at Chloe and Aiden, who were out of hearing distance and about to melt into the tree line, Harlow looked at him. “You haven’t mentioned your family once.”
Maddox kept his gaze glued on the grassy path ahead. “I think you forgot the definition of a question.” He’d attempted to mask his inner turmoil, but the subject was too raw.
“Seriously?” Harlow ducked to avoid some low-hanging branches. “Fine. What’s up with your family?”
The scent of pine surrounded them, and Maddox attempted to focus on that as he gave his reply. “I don’t have a family.”
“Come on, Maddox. I told you about my friend situation, and that wasn’t easy for me.”
She was right, of course, in that annoying way that she usually was. He exhaled a weighted breath and charged on with it. “My mom was the only family I ever knew. She liked to get high a little too much and, as I got older, a little too often. We’d have these great periods where we’d take these fun, last-minute adventures. Camping or movies or hopping in the car and driving to the carnival the next town over.”
The memories he’d worked hard to bury burrowed to the surface. “I missed school a lot, because like her job at the time, she thought going was optional. I thought it was great—after all, what kid wants to go to school? But it also meant I was always behind my classmates.”
Leaves shivered in the breeze, and the world around them seemed too quiet and too loud. “Eventually, she lost her job. I began to realize our adventures were mostly ways for her to avoid people she owed money to. Then her drug problem got worse and worse. She stopped going to meet the sketchy people and brought them home with her.”
Almost done. He just had to spit the last part out. “One night, she got into a screaming match with one of them, the cops were called, and then they found out that I hadn’t been fed or dropped off at school in a week or so. I tried to lie, but I wasn’t very good at it, and I was so, so hungry.”
Harlow gaped at him in horror.
He attempted a shrug, but his shoulders were too heavy with the past weighing them down. Pathetic after all the time he’d had to get over it.
“How old were you?” she asked, her voice quiet.
“Eight.”
Her gasp carried over to him.
“It’s not a big deal, Harlow. It happened forever ago. Basically, the state gave her a lot of chances to get her shit together so she could regain custody, and she chose drugs, so I was put into foster care. I was shuffled around for most of my life, and right now, I’m”—he made air quotes—“‘living’ with my last foster family. The truth is, I sleep on a cot in the office of the mechanic shop where I work more often than not, and we both prefer it that way.”
His current foster parents hadn’t come to bail him out of jail or shown up at the courtroom. Not that he’d expected them to. It just confirmed what he’d already known. Maddox lifted his right hand, showing off the bird tattoo that flew toward the knuckle of his pinkie. “I got this as a symbol of freedom. Three more months, and then I’ll turn eighteen and be truly free.”
“I like that,” Harlow said in a quiet voice. “I’m super sorry about your family, though.”
“Like I said, not a big deal. I’m obviously well-adjusted and all that shit.”
She cracked a smile with a hint of pity, which was something he didn’t want her to feel. Not for him.
“I think I’ve got the hang of this riding thing, and we’re getting behind,” he said. “Let’s gallop and catch up.”
Harlow slid the bead on the strings of her hat up, securing it u
nder her chin, and nodded. Then they were galloping across the meadow toward the creek in the distance. And Maddox was thinking that these get-to-know-you questions and the opening up he’d promised Nick that he’d do in exchange for Harlow working on the car with him were all a big mistake.
One he’d have to take back ASAP.
* * *
While Harlow assumed Maddox had it rough growing up, she didn’t expect him to say he didn’t have a family. She missed her father and how he’d balanced out her mom, who was strict and often overzealous, but he’d always made it clear he cared. Even though she and her mama didn’t see eye to eye and the smothering got to her from time to time, Harlow couldn’t imagine a scenario where Mama wouldn’t show up. Wouldn’t fight for her.
Everything in her wanted to pry, but she’d seen the tightness in Maddox’s features and heard the open wound in his scratchy voice. She was going to have to spread out the hard questions.
They dismounted, and she turned to him. “Do you know the breed of my horse?”
He winced. “Um, a mustang?”
She made the buzzer noise, and trepidation filled his expression. “When it comes to rodeo horses, you can pretty much always say quarter horse and be right, even though that’s the bare minimum. So there’s your tip for the day, and as for my next question… If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?”
His face softened, the hint of a smile quirking his lips. “Greece. Not that I know any of my ancestors, but it’s where my roots are.” One of his tattoos formed a tree with long, tangled roots that climbed up his left arm. Was that a coincidence or, like the bird, did it have meaning? Funny how each of his answers only brought more questions. “I’ve also wanted to see the ocean, and they have lots of it.”
“I’d like to go there someday, too. While I travel quite a bit for rodeos, it’s just mostly around Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Kansas. When I was younger, I used to beg my parents to go to Disneyland—”
“See? And you acted all offended when I called you a Disney movie.”
