Page 16 of Wilder

Still... it wouldn’t be that bad, right?

It wouldn’t be a full-blown workout. Just a walk. A simple few minutes up to the back paddock and back, enough to stretch her legs and let her breathe in something other than recycled stable air.

Pelly had been stuck inside all day just like the rest of us. If I was antsy, I could only imagine how restless she was.

And Wilder hadn’t explicitly said I couldn’t take her out after we’d packed everyone away for the day...

Before I could step away to head out of her stall and grab her lead, something in my pocket vibrated against my leg. My brows knitted as I fished my phone out, my other hand still absently running along Pelly’s muzzle. She gave a slow blink, unconcerned, as I thumbed the screen to check the caller ID.

Greyson.

My brow arched higher.

That was unexpected.

Noon meant he should still be knee-deep in AIT, stuck in classes or drills, not calling to chat. His breaks didn’t usually come until well after the sun set, much like mine. He and I had that in common these days, schedules filled to the brim with work and built with no time for leisure.

Which meant something was wrong...

A flicker of concern sparked in my chest as I swiped across the screen quickly and pressed the phone to my ear. “Tell me no one’s dying.”

There was a brief pause before his voice came through. “Uh—what?”

“It’s noon, Grey.”

“Okay? Congratulations, you know time zones.”

The tension in my shoulders eased just a fraction at the sarcasm in his voice. If he had enough energy to throw quips right back with no subtle change to his tone or sharp intake of breath that told me he was in the middle of trying not to break down about something, then this wasn’t as serious of a call as I thought.

Relief flooded through me.

“So, what then?” I asked, shifting my weight back when Pelly moved to swing around to her rack again to pull out more hay. I pressed my back into the wall next to the stall door. “You just calling to bug me?”

There was a grin in his voice when he shot back, “Aw, I missed you, too, Ash! Thanks for finally picking up the phone for once. It’s nice to hear you weren’t eaten by alligators.”

“That’s Florida, you idiot. I’m in Texas.”

“Whatever. Same thing.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, smothering my own grin. Honestly, it really was nice to hear my brother’s voice. Too much time had gone by since we last shot the shit. “You gonna tell me what this is actually about or were you just feeling sentimental all of a sudden because you missed me?”

“Funny.” There was a beat of silence. Then, with far too much enthusiasm, he said, “Don’t worry, I definitely have a reason for calling.”

Undeniably up to something, no doubt.

But what did I expect from my brother who was the grandmaster of pranks. “Let me guess, you were struck by a sudden stroke of genius.”

“You know me so well.”

That I did. Probably better than I knew myself.

But wasn’t that how it always worked with twins?

We had the uncanny nature of reading each other like open books. Even through the phone and even after months spent apart. It didn’t matter that we were living in completely different states with lives that we were both strangers to. Greyson buried in the grind of A-school and me here at the ranch, knee-deep in my own version of structured chaos.

Our connection had never once faded.

Which was exactly why I knew he was up to something ridiculous.