Best Friend's Ex Box Set

I ran a hand through my sweat-matted hair with a sigh. A long and hot shower did sound good after working out in the rain. The back of my shirt was drenched with sweat too from working around the ranch all day.

“I’m going to take a shower too,” I said and stepped past Tiffany as she hobbled to the landline. “What are you doing?”

“Calling a bug guy,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere near that barn until we have someone spray. I don’t want anyone getting bit.”

I didn’t even bother pointing out that I could buy a bottle of something to spray around the barn while the horses were out in the pastures. Something wasn’t right about the spiders, and I wanted a professional opinion when it came to explaining how that many spiders ended up in the first stall that Cheyenne had gone into.

Chapter Seventeen

Cheyenne

Rain pelted against the barn roof. A wet cold clung to the air as I tried helplessly to sweep out the clumps of wet hay and mud.

“This is pointless,” I groaned, rubbing my lower back with a grimace. “It’s just going to keep raining and keep getting muddy in here.”

One of the horses whinnied in agreement. I smiled as I set the broom back in the tack room, locking it up behind me before I double checked the barn stalls one last time. No spiders. No black widows. No scurry of movement all along the ground like a few days ago.

A shudder went up my spine at the memory. An exterminator had arrived earlier yesterday morning to completely spray the barn just in case. Nothing would live, he had assured us. Not even ants. Still, it was hard to close the barn doors without wondering if one lone spider lived somewhere out of sight like the others had been. Even if one bite wasn’t enough to kill a horse, it was enough to inflict pain. That hurt my heart thinking about it.

Rain pelted against my jacket as I jogged up the wet pathway to the mudroom. The lights were on in the bottom part of the house, but I knew that Colt was upstairs going over the books for the Smith ranch. Rick had left an hour ago to get supplies in a neighboring town, while Tiffany had gone with a friend to town for her weekly check up on her leg.

It was a cold and rainy day alone with Colt. The chill in my bones craved something warm, something that Colt could undoubtedly offer.

I slammed that passing thought down before the rest of my body could respond. Getting closer to Colt was complicating things. My body felt tight and coiled whenever Colt was around. I kept wondering what his lips against mine would feel like. Wondering what it would be like to have Colt in my bed was starting to drive me crazy.

Sweeping a hand along the drenched strands of my hair, I entered the mudroom door with a relieved sigh. A warm shower would chase those feelings away without a problem. I shrugged out of my rain jacket to hang it up. Kicking out of my boots, I padded through the kitchen to head upstairs in the direction of the guest room. I stopped in surprise though to find Colt sitting in the living room with a glass of whiskey in front of him.

“Hello,” he said, looking up from the iPad in his lap. He arched an eyebrow at me. “Were you running out in the rain?”

“I was trying to clean,” I said as a blush filled my cheeks. “I did run after one of the horses, though, when he was spooked by all the thunder and rain.”

“It doesn’t even look like you were wearing a rain jacket. You must be freezing.” Colt patted the couch cushion next to me. “Sit down. I don’t want you getting sick from playing out in the rain.”

Maybe it was the hazy warmth in Colt’s eyes that chased away the cold still clinging to my skin and wet clothes, but I shook my head at him politely. A shower. That was how I was going to warm up.

“I’m heading up for a shower. I stink of horses and mud.”

Colt’s nose wrinkled at that. “Oh, well, then please do take a shower. You do smell now that I really think about it.”

I climbed the stairs with a giddy laugh. It wasn’t until I was in the privacy of the tiled shower that I let that wicked temptation take hold. It’d been too long since I last felt even a drop of pleasure. I tilted my head up against the blast of hot water. I never craved anyone physically, but with Colt it was different. I craved him in ways that I couldn’t even put into words. I just wanted him close. I wanted those strong and sturdy hands cupping me in all the right places while those lips were pressed up against mine.

Shame filled me when I felt my fingers drift to the throbbing between my legs. One little touch couldn’t possibly hurt. It was my own hand doing it. It wasn’t Colt’s hand even though I wished that it was.

Pleasure burst through me a minute later. I rested my forehead against the slick shower tiles with a relieved breath while the hot water continued to beat on the back of my neck and shoulders. If I hadn’t done this… I couldn’t face Colt until some of this tension was gone. We were already bordering on that very thin line of friendship and more than friendship.

Dexter’s face passed through my head. He was a good example of how relationships could go sour and then bitter. Our mutual friends had eventually stopped calling my phone to talk over the months that passed since our breakup. Their smiling faces with Dexter right in the middle of them had been enough of a lesson for me.

And I didn’t want to risk losing my friendship with Tiffany over a passing lust for Colt. The two were rightfully protective over each other, and I didn’t want to step in the middle of them. I was already on the bad end of an enemy in Green Point. Having the Smiths as an enemy felt more frightening and isolating than Bill Coates spewing hate about me to anybody who listened. Some residents believed him. Some

residents didn’t believe him. It was hard to figure out who was a friend anymore.

“You look refreshed,” Colt commented when I came downstairs ten minutes later. “Have a nice shower?”

I smoothed my hands down the front of my shirt while my cheeks flared hotly. “Yes, it was nice. What are you doing?”

“Going over the books for the ranch,” Colt replied, scowling down at the iPad. “Tiffany normally does this, but I’m doing it today.”

I took a seat on the couch with a pile of couch pillows between us. A fire crackled happily in the fireplace while Cole rested his head on the back of the couch, sighing in contentment.