Broken Dreams (Broken 2)

Her smile faded for a quick second before she flashed it back at me. “Let’s go riding.”

I grabbed her hand. “Come on, mutts. Y’all want to go?”

“Oh, Reed, they won’t run away, will they?” Courtney asked.

I grinned. “No, baby. I always take them when I ride. They love it.”

She let out a sigh and started skipping out of the house with both dogs and me in tow.

I watched as she and the dogs made their way over to the ranch truck. She pulled the tailgate down, and the dogs jumped into the bed of the truck. She shut it and turned back as she smiled.

I walked up to her and held up the blanket. “Will this work?” I leaned down and gently kissed her.

“Oh, yes, that will be perfect,” she whispered against my lips.

As we rode along, the light of the moon lit our pathway. I glanced over, and my breath caught as I saw Courtney with her head thrown back and a smile on her face.

“Damn…it’s so cool out, and that breeze feels amazing. I’ve always wanted to ride at night!” Courtney said with a giggle. She snapped her head forward and then looked at me. “What?” she asked.

I slowly shook my head and smiled. “I just don’t want this to be a dream. If it is, I don’t ever want to wake up.”

She started laughing. “I feel the same way.” Her smile faded, and she brought Tink to a stop. “Do you think we could stop here and…talk for a bit?”

The seriousness in her voice scared the shit out of me. “Sure.” I jumped off my horse and grabbed the blanket as I looked around for somewhere to sit.

“Just let Tink roam?” Courtney asked.

“Yeah, Tink and Rascal are good horses. They won’t wander far, and the dogs will end up just lying near us.”

I looked over her shoulder and saw a giant elm tree. I walked over and laid out the blanket. My heart was racing. I could hear it in Courtney’s voice that she was nervous about something.

Please don’t let this just be a fling for her. Please, God, don’t let her say this all ends tonight.

We both sat down on the blanket, and Courtney pulled her knees up to her chest as she finally looked at me.

She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Reed, I need to tell you about Noah.”

Noah…the guy she was dreaming about. I took a deep breath in and said, “Okay. Who’s Noah?”

The moment I saw the moonlight hit the tear rolling down her face, I died inside.

Whoever he is, I plan on hurting him.

Hearing Noah’s name coming from Reed’s lips killed me. I’d never told anyone—no one—about what happened with Noah. Reed was different though. I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Reed. I knew I loved him more than life itself, and I didn’t want to keep anything from him.

I quickly wiped the tears away and took in a deep breath. “Noah is my brother’s best friend. He’s two years older than me, and he was my high school crush.”

I stopped and looked at Reed. His eyes were fixed on mine, and I’d never had anyone give me such devoted attention before in my life.

“When I was sixteen, he asked me to go to his senior prom. Needless to say, I was overjoyed, and I said yes. I was just happy that he’d finally noticed me,” I said with a weak smile.

I swallowed hard as my mind went back to that night. I closed my eyes, and when I felt Reed take my hand, I jumped.

I shook my head and opened my eyes. “Noah always stayed at our house when his parents would go out of town, which was often. His dad worked for the government, doing something. I never did understand what he did. Anyway, Noah was staying with us for the weekend, and I was so excited because that meant I got to see him all weekend. I was still jazzed from him asking me to the prom. That same night, he came into my bedroom in the middle of the night.”

Reed’s grasp on my hand tightened.

I closed my eyes and prayed that I could get through this without crying. Opening my eyes, I took in another deep breath and slowly let it out. “I asked him why he was in my room, and he said he was there to…to…make me his,” I barely said.