Page 83 of Broken Boundaries

He chuckles. “Aspen, this is my ranch. Who are we gonna get in trouble with?”

“Right. I guess, I mean, won’t Beck worry if he gets here and two horses are missing?”

He smiles at me from over his shoulder as he adjusts the stirrup for me. “I doubt it, but I can leave him a note if it’ll make you feel better.”

“Maybe. Just in case.”

“I’ll do that as soon as I finish up here. You know, I’m glad you care so much about the ranch and the people here.”

I shrug. Without realizing it, this place has started to feel like home. More of a home than I’ve ever had before. “I like it here.”

“I like having you here. We all do.”

I look away so he doesn’t see me blush. This feels too good to be true, but I’m too desperate to have a place to call my own that I can’t see past the here and now. This feeling that I get from him, like he truly cares about me and not just what I can do for him, is addicting. He’s the one who wants to take care of me, and I’ve never had that before. Ever.

I know when the news of our unconventional relationship gets out, things won’t feel as smooth. I don’t even want to think about how Zach is going to react. Hell, he might personally try to run me out of his hometown.

Until that happens, I’m going to embrace this little bubble Brooks and I have created and get as much enjoyment out of it as I can.

“Alright. All set.” He hands me the reins for my horse.

We mount our horses and set off down one of the trails we’ve done before. It’s an easier trail, but it’ll give us a great view of the sunrise.

Brooks and I ride in silence, taking in the morning. The world feels calm and serene as it wakes up around us. A few birds chirp, the leaves rustle in the wind, and the sky is turning a beautiful shade of purple as we trot down the trail.

We come up to a small cliff overlooking a lake just as the sun peeks over the horizon. We tie our horses to a tree and sit down on a nearby boulder to watch. We’ve done this before, but this time, Brooks has his arm around me, and I’m tucked in close to him. He kisses my head and tells me this is one of his favorite things to do on the ranch. I smile and inhale the fresh morning air. What I don’t say is that everything about this place and him is becoming my favorite thing. I’m afraid to get too attached, but I also want it so damn bad.

“Thanks for bringing me out here this morning,” I tell him once we’re back on our horses.

“Sorry about the early morning wake-up.”

“Eh, it’s not so bad getting up early when you’re there.” I laugh at myself. “That was cheesy, wasn’t it?”

He shakes his head. “Maybe, but I feel the same.”

I assume Brooks’s plan was for us to be back and have the horses in their stalls before anyone else showed up at the stables. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Beck is standing with his arms crossed, looking between us when we ride up.

“You two are up early,” he says slowly, probably trying to figure out what is going on.

“Should say the same for you. What’re you doing here so early?” Brooks asks. He sounds so unbothered, but I wonder if he’s worried about Beck finding out about us.

“Got to get a head start on some things, and I have an early trail ride for a family before they check out,” he explains.

Brooks nods. “We’ll get these horses back up for you then.”

He offers no explanation about why the two of us are here, and Beck doesn’t ask any follow up questions, but I see the confusion in his eyes. I try to think of some sort of explanation, but my mind is blanking.

“You can leave Sparkles tacked up. I’m using her on the trail ride,” he says instead of asking the questions he really wants to.

“Ok.” I walk Sparkles to the fence and tie her up.

Brooks says something to Beck, and then he motions for me to follow him back to the UTV we rode over here in.

“Aren’t you worried Beck is going to tell people he saw us together?” I ask once we’re far enough away from the stables.

“No. Beck isn’t like that. He won’t say a word to anyone until he hears it straight from me. If he asks me, I’ll tell him the truth but let him know we’re keeping it to ourselves for now,” he assures me.

“And what exactly would you tell him?”