Page 117 of Chasing Home

My laugh is loud and free as we take off, the steady thump of Frost’s hooves in the earth creating a beat that I feel deep inside of me. The wind flows through the ends of my hair, and I clap a hand down on Johnny’s hat to keep it from flying away.

Frost knows the way back to the stable better than I do in the dark, and she takes us there without hesitation. Joker runs after us, a whinny sounding when I glance over my shoulder and see them catching up.

I can’t tear my eyes away from Johnny, not once he gets close enough I can make him out in the dark. His body sways in the saddle, but he moves with the horse in a way that I’m still trying to replicate. It’s like they’ve moulded together, and that connection must play a part in how quickly they catch up to us.

Frost returns the whinny, and Johnny comes up beside me, leaning over to swat at my thigh.

“Got you.”

“You’re a cheater.”

“I’m not a cheater. You’re just not as good as me.”

I hum, shaking my head despite my smile. “Sure.”

The solar lights spread throughout the ranch illuminate the gravel road as we grow closer to the stable. We pass the guest house with the lights on and Poppy’s red car parked out front. The fact Garrison still lets her drive that shit box is hard to believe.

Johnny slows Joker to a trot, and Frost follows suit. Her training is extensive, far more than I can comprehend. Maybe one day, I’ll understand how much goes into training a horse.

“We’ll tie ’em up outside for now,” he says, leading us around the back side of the stable instead of to the big sliding door in the front.

“Alright.”

Crickets chirp in the fields, and the lack of other noise settles something in me. A final piece slotting itself into a puzzle I hadn’t known was unfinished until I arrived in Cherry Peak.

Johnny slips off Joker’s back and loops her reins around a post before taking Frost’s from me and doing the same. Once he’s finished, he offers me his hand, and I take it, dropping to the ground beside him. My dismount is still shaky, but I catch myself easily this time around, no longer swaying as I adjust to the sudden change.

“You have a habit of leaving these two outside together. They’re going to think you don’t like them anymore,” I say.

He chuckles low in his throat. The sound makes me break out in goosebumps, the hairs lifting on my arms.

“They’ll survive. I’ll tuck ’em in after.”

“After?”

He’s in my space in an instant, the close proximity making it hard to breathe with the all-consuming attraction I feel for him. I’m already wet between my legs from earlier, somehow never having come down from that state of arousal, even as my head filled with too many other things.

I tip my head back and curse this damn hat for blocking my view of him again. He smirks at my frustration and reaches behind me to push the back down, lifting the front. Without it in the way, he snares my eyes, and my stomach tumbles at the blatant need in his stare. The overwhelming possession and desire. It’s hard to suck in full breaths.

“Do I need to spell it out for you?” he asks, his drawl thickening.

“I wouldn’t mind the clarification.”

“Mm, right.” Every step he takes toward me, I take one back. His smirk widens. “It would be easier to show you what I want.”

My chest rises and falls rapidly in time with my breaths. “Show me, then.”

We’ve wound up behind the stable, with nothing around us but endless miles of grass and the stars above us. Johnny pins me beneath his gaze, and I go still. He sets a hot palm on my waist and turns me, pressing my back against the stable wall. The siding is rough against my arms, and I arch into his chest on instinct.

“I told myself I was going to wait. That I’d take us back to my place and have you ride me proper, my hat on your head and nothin’ else. But fuck me, darlin’. I can’t wait. I’m too goddamn hot for you,” he rasps, shaking his head like he’s angry.

If he’s angry about wanting me this badly, then I’m furious.

“Poppy told me that men love sundress season,” I whisper, tipping my head back to kiss the underside of his jaw. “Is that true?”

“I love every season when it comes to you.”

I smile, curling my fingers around his bicep. “That’s not what I asked.”