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“What were you two talking about?” Lea asked.
Jewel tensed again, and so did Mercy. She had to remind herself and force herself to relax. Lea was right. It was much easier to ride the horse when calm and trusting the horse wasn’t going to knock her off—or more likely, that she wasn’t going to just topple over. “Nothing.”
“That wasn’t nothing.”
Eli turned around. “I’m going to trot ahead and see which trail is open. You got her, Azalea, if Mercy pulls any funny business?”
“Yeah.”
With that, Eli was gone. Jewel struggled to keep her breathing even so she wouldn’t scare Mercy or herself any more than necessary. Lea pursed her lips before cocking her head in Jewel’s direction.
“Okay, for real this time. What was that about?”
“I told you. It was nothing.”
“You haven’t been making enemies with my former student, have you?”
“No, that wasn’t her being protective. That was her attempting to give unsolicited advice.”
“Advice about what?” Lea’s blue eyes were so wide, her cheeks red from being nipped by the chill in the air.
Jewel stared at her incredulously. Did she really not know? Was she really that dense? Flabbergasted, Jewel said the only thing that came to mind. “About us.”
Lea clammed shut. The air between them had gone from tense to electrified. Jewel gave her a pointed look, silently saying, “Well, you asked.”
“She knows?”
“Lea, she all but walked in on us last night. What did you expect?”
Giving a heavy sigh, Lea closed her eyes. “I didn’t think she knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That I like you.”
“What?” Shock. That was the only thing she felt.
“Yeah, she asked about it when we first got to Indigo, but I didn’t think she’d continue to pursue this inane idea to this extent.”
“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.” Mercy stopped walking, and Jewel had no idea why. Lea pulled the reins of her horse and backed up so they were even again. “What do you mean that you like me?”
If Lea’s cheeks were tinged pink before, they were on fire now. Jewel had been able to read Lea so well in the past, but in this moment, she couldn’t read anything. Lea remained silent for a long time as they stood in the middle of the road on top of two horses, staring at each other.
“What do you mean you like me?” Jewel reiterated, wanting an answer.
“I mean I like you.” Flustered, Lea shoved a hand through her hair and it caught on some tangles. “But I’m not entirely convinced this is a good idea.”
“What is a good idea?”
The side look Lea sent her told her everything. Relationship. Kissing. Sex. All of it. Anything beyond what they used to have, which Jewel had so wonderfully gone and messed up in the span of the last two days. Cursing inwardly, Jewel wished she could get down and hold on to Lea’s hand, any type of connection that would center her back to the conversation they were having when Eli had specifically told her not to—or had she?
Truthfully, Eli had just told her to let Lea guide the conversation. Biting her tongue to hold her mouth, Jewel looked over and observed. She wanted to see every change in Lea, every hesitation or worry or fear. She wanted to see what Eli was seeing in this moment, a moment when they were so bare and also so apt to misunderstand.
“Us,” Lea murmured. “We work together.”
“Yes, we do.”
“We live in a small, conservative town. I’m sure there will be quite a few parents who don’t take it well.”
