Best Friend's Ex Box Set

“Do you honestly believe it’s a couple of teenagers pulling pranks on all the ranchers?”

“I don’t know what to think,” I said honestly. “I’ve never dealt with a problem like this. No one has ever dealt with a problem like this before in Green Point.”

“I still think it has something to do with me. I get the feeling that the people here in Green Point don’t like me very much.” Her lips curved up into a small smile. “Particularly the females.”

“No one likes me, so I wouldn’t worry too much about what Green Point residents think.”

“First off, the women here are your biggest fans. That’s why I’m very unpopular with them.”

I chuckled at that. “Well, I can’t lie to you. I have a reputation pinned to me for being a ladies’ man when I was a teenager.”

“That makes sense then,” Cheyenne said, giggling. “You had a couple of girlfriends that still live here. T

hey talk about how much of a player you are, but I think differently.”

“What do you think of me then?” I asked curiously.

“Well, for one. I don’t think you really are a womanizer. I haven’t seen you parading around here with different women. You seem more like the old-fashioned and rugged cowboy who rides off into sunsets with his true love.”

“That’s what you think of me?”

Cheyenne let out a full-bellied laugh as she fell back against the window at the horrified look on my face, but I couldn’t help the grin tugging at my lips.

“I meant it as a compliment,” she said. “It’s nice to not be around a man who thinks behaving like a complete jackass is the best way to a woman’s heart.”

“There’s a right and wrong way to get inside someone’s heart. I’ve done both, but the right way seems to have better results.” I caught Cheyenne’s eyes when she looked up at me with flushed cheeks from the whiskey. “It may take longer, but it gets you to the same place eventually.”

“Maybe,” Cheyenne said thickly. She took another drink of whiskey to avoid my eyes. “So, is it hard to be home still?”

“Hard to be home?” I repeated in puzzlement. “When I have said that to you?”

“You said you were getting restless sitting in this house. Tiffany suggested that it was hard for you to be here because you think about your parents.”

I winced at the accuracy. Tiffany knew it better than anyone else did. It was hard for the both of us to be here. It was difficult walking past their room, still intact and untouched from the day of the car accident, and not wanting to look in there to see if they were there. It was hard not to look for them in the barn when I walked down first thing in the morning to let the horses out into the pasture to graze. It was hard sitting in that damn dining room with their chairs forever empty because no one wanted to sit there.

“Colt.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m sorry for asking that,” Cheyenne said. “I can see it in your eyes that it was a stupid question to ask. I know it’s hard to be here.”

Tears were burning at the back of my eyes, but I refused to let them come out. I had done all my crying in private before putting a face on to help Tiffany navigate her own grief and the responsibilities of the ranch.

“It’s okay to be sad in front of me,” Cheyenne whispered.

The soft touch of her hand against mine surprised me. Her fingers threaded through mine so naturally, it was hard reminding myself that she was trying to console me against the onslaught of grief and emotions. I absorbed the gentle touch with a sharp intake of breath.

Lust was beginning to bubble in my veins. I wanted to lean forward, to close the gap between us, and press my lips up against hers.

“I lost my biological parents when I was a baby,” she continued on, oblivious to the desires starting to flicker to life in me. “That’s why I wanted to do a sanctuary. Since I was a little kid I wanted to do it because of a camp that my adopted parents sent me to that had rescue horses. I felt connected to them because they were orphaned or abandoned. I know what it’s like to feel disconnected from my adopted family even though they live in Portland.”

“I didn’t know you were adopted,” I said. “Tiffany—”

“I never told her. You’re the only person that knows here in Green Point besides a few family friends.”

“Thank you for telling me,” I whispered, squeezing her small hand gently as possible. “I appreciate you entrusting me with that. We both know what it’s like to deal with death.”

“Unfortunately,” Cheyenne said, sighing. “It’s hard around the holidays, you know? It’s Thanksgiving next, along with Christmas. Those holidays are hard because my adopted parents always leave for their vacations now. We used to be close, but after what happened…”