Page 49 of Burned & Bound
“I never said you weren’t.”But I was planning on buying him more clothes, even if I had to throw them in his room when he wasn’t looking.
“I don’t have guests often,” I admitted as I switched out the sheets.Fuck, I was pretty sure the last person who stayed in my house was my mom.And that was over five years ago.
West stood in the doorway with his hands in his pockets and his bag at his feet. He looked as wildly uncomfortable as I felt inside. This whole dynamic was unexpected.
“Tess listens well,” I rambled, feeling a weird need to fill the silence. “If you let her, she’ll sleep with you, but she’s a bed hog. Snores too.”
“I can sleep on the fucking couch if that’s easier,” West offered.
“It’s fine,” I said as I struggled with the fitted sheet.Why the fuck were they even a goddamn thing when they were so difficult to get on?“It’s not much, but it’ll do.”
The guest bedroom was simple with a bed, a side table, a dresser, and a chair. Thanks to my mom there were about half a dozen yellow throw pillows tossed around the room. Why? I didn’t have a clue. Who the fuck used throw pillows?Whatwas a throw pillow?
“There’s extra blankets in the hall closet,” I continued. “The bathroom is just outside the door. I think you’ll have to grab towels from the closet too. Maybe? I don’t fucking know. I don’t use it.”
“It’s fine,” he whispered. Could he look any more uncomfortable?
“I get up at five-thirty, but I usually sleep heavy, so just do what you need to in the morning. Help yourself to whatever’s in the kitchen. The coffee is on a timer—”
“I said I’m fine,” West snapped. “Just the room is fine.”
“Okay.” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “Well, help yourself. I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”
“I won’t.”
“I know. Good night, West.”
“Night,” he mumbled so softly I barely heard him as he let me pass.
I was halfway down the hall with Tess on my heels when the door shut quietly. I paused to stare at it, some part of me still in disbelief that West had taken me up on my offer. It took everything I had to not walk right back, knock, and ask. If he wanted me to know, he would’ve said something.
Tess whined, and I glanced down at her. Ears back and big-eyed, she looked as confused as I felt.
“Don’t look at me,” I whispered to my girl. “I’m as surprised as you are.”
CHAPTER 34
west
The idea of leavingthe stables and living with Jackson didn’t sit well with me, but I understood why I needed to fucking do it.Didn’t make it suck any less.
It took me all of three minutes to shove my shit into my bag but it took me a good hour to say goodbye to the horses—mostly Bailey. I spent a little extra time settling Thunder Jack in his new stall away from the others. He was on edge, which was almost enough to make me say fuck it and stay. This whole trying to do better thing was exhausting and difficult.
The lights were still on at Jackson’s house when I showed up. That made me feel a little better. At least I wasn’t about to wake him the fuck up. The last thing I needed was to piss him off by doing that.
I knocked and nothing.I couldn’t blame him for that.Who answered their door this late at night? Fuck, I should’ve done this earlier or said something to him.
But I kept knocking until the door flew open to Jackson wearing nothing but a pair of gray sweatpants.Fuck.Something pulled in my chest at the sight of him like this—something uncomfortable and familiar. Sure,I’d know he was in shape, but it was different seeing the miles of toned muscle right in front of me.
Thankfully, the expression on his face was more than enough to distract me from whatever weird fucking thoughts were trying to form in my head. He looked confused.Then annoyed.I couldn’t blame him. I’d be fucking annoyed if he showed up on my doorstep unannounced.
“Did something happen to the horses?” Jackson demanded.
“What?” I frowned. “No. They’re fine.”
“Don’t tell me something happened with the cows.”
“No, they’re fine.”What the hell did I know about his cows?Besides the fact that he liked cuddling the one. “At least, I think they’re fine. I don’t fucking know.”