I shove my cap back and scratch uneasily through my curls. It’s unlike me to forget something. I normally have every schedule memorized. Every time. Every match.
But this morning, something feels like it’s fallen out of my brain.
“Miles,” Billy says carefully, “are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes. I’m fine. I just mixed the times up.” I glance around. Juan and Diego are still out on the practice pitch, stick-and-balling, but the rest of us came back in. “Where’s Ruby?”
“She’s with Piglet,” Jack says. “Checking her over.”
Right. God, I’m distracted this morning. I barely slept, and I still can’t shake the feeling that something’s coming, and I’m unprepared.
I stand, pulling my baseball cap on. “I’m going to the steward’s office?—”
“Why?”
“Because I want to double-check the schedule. I know I had one o’clock in my head.”
I don’t know if Billy and Jack mean to hide the look they exchange, but I catch it anyway.
“It’s not a big deal,” I insist even though I can fully admit I’m acting like a weirdo. “I’ll be back in half an hour.”
But before I step outside, I make a stop at Piglet’s stable and lean against the doorway. Ruby’s inside, carefully plaitingribbons into her mane. Technically, it isn’t her job, because that’s what the grooms are for, but old habits die hard.
I stand there quietly, wrestling between disturbing her and watching her, because I do enjoy watching her. I love the expression she makes when she’s with the ponies, the way her eyes light up, the tiny dimple that creases her left cheek that I bet she doesn’t even know about, and the way she puckers her lips to kiss their velvety muzzles.
And I especially love the way she sneaks them all carrots and thinks I don’t know.
She drops the spool of ribbon, and my gaze follows. Those jodhpurs should honestly be illegal for what they’re doing to her arse. I can still picture the fingerprints I left on them last night, but what’s really going to give me a full boner is the shirt she’s wearing—my colors withmyname stitched across the back.
Almost like this marriage of ours is real. Because, despite the time limit hanging over us, it somehow feels more real than anything I’ve ever known.
I should probably leave before she notices me. Instead, I knock lightly against the stable door. “Hey.”
She turns instantly, smiling brightly, and even though we just spent two hours in practice, seeing her again eases the pressure in my chest. Like I’ve been underwater for too long and can finally take a breath.
“Hey.”
“How’s she looking?” I nod toward Piglet.
“Good,” she replies, patting her hind quarters. “You should ride her first.”
My grin widens. “That’s what I was thinking.”
Which is exactly part of the problem. Ruby and I are so similar in our approach, and I feel like I’ll just get used to having her counsel and then she’ll be gone. I might play for a team, but I also own it. I pay the salaries of the players, and at the endof the day, that’s always in the back of their minds. Therefore, there’s an invisible line that is never crossed, but it’s not there with Ruby.
She gives it to me straight and isn’t afraid of hurting my feelings. Maybe because she knows this deal is finite.
“Great minds.” She chuckles.
Looking at Piglet’s finished braids, there’s nothing more for Ruby to do in here that the grooms can’t take over.
“What do you say to walking to the steward’s office with me? And afterward, I can show you around the grounds if we have a little time.”
As predicted, her eyes light up. “I’d love to.”
Picking up the comb and ribbon, she pats Piglet affectionately and drops a kiss on her face. Annoyingly, even after last night, jealousy flickers in my stomach.
I hold the stable door open for her, but as she passes, I trap her gently against the wall and surround her mouth with mine. My fingers curl around her nape, our tongues slip together, warm and soft, carrying too much emotional weight. But only when she moans quietly do I pull away.
