Tie me up? I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. Hearing his voice was enough to drive me insane. It was like a shot through the heart each time he’d say my name. Talking to him was out of the question.
Taking a bottle of water, I guzzled it down and grabbed an apple. The weather was a little cool with the sun hiding behind the clouds, but it was perfect to be outside. Blake let Snowflake and the other horses out to pasture and it was always fun to watch them interact with each other. Snowflake always frolicked along like she was the only one out there, and Nightshade played it cool, hanging out by the stream. I climbed up on the fence and took a bite of my apple. Nightshade’s ears perked up and he trotted over to me.
“I see how it is. You only want to come when I have treats.” I laughed. He nudged me with his nose, his big round eyes trained on the apple. “Let me have one more bite and then you can have it.” I leaned toward his ear and whispered, “Just don’t tell Snowflake. She’ll be angry.”
Holding the apple on my palm, he opened his mouth and grabbed it with his teeth. “You’re such a good horse. Why can’t your owner be as sweet as you?”
The sound of crunching gravel caught my attention. I turned to the driveway. “Dammit! He’s back already?” Shit, shit, shit. I patted Nightshade’s nose and hopped off the fence. “I gotta go, boy. I’ll give you another apple tomorrow.” By the time I got to the barn and peeked around the corner, Blake had already parked his truck in front of the house. I was hoping like hell he didn’t see me.
“Hadley, I know you’re out there,” he called. He took off his T-shirt and crammed it into his back pocket.
“Dammit,” I hissed, crouching down low.
“Don’t you think it’s time we talked? You can’t hide from me forever.” His footsteps grew closer, so I hid inside one of the empty stalls, hoping he’d walk past. I slid down into the corner and held my breath as he walked by. “I want to say I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings the other night.”
“Just drive the wedge in even harder, asshole,” I mumbled to myself.
“I need you to come out and talk to me. I can make you if I have to, which might be kind of fun for me. You don’t want me to enjoy this, do you?”
What I really wanted to do was smack him on the head. He was baiting me, but I couldn’t figure out the game.
“Hadley?” His voice grew farther away until I heard his footsteps leave the barn. Once I heard the patio door of the house slam shut, I knew I only had a couple of minutes to get out of the barn. Taking a deep breath, I slowly got to my feet and glanced over the stall; the coast was clear. I had no clue where I was going to go, but anything was better than being stuck in a stall.
The wooden door of the stall creaked and I froze. Fuck. I held my breath and listened, but there were no footsteps approaching. As quietly as I could, I tiptoed my way to the back entrance of the barn and turned the corner, only to run right into Mr. Let’s Talk. He reached for my hand, but I jerked away from him.
“You didn’t think you fooled me back there, did you?”
“Fuck you,” I spat, turning on my heel. I marched off but he followed close behind. “I have nothing to say to you.”
“Well, too bad. I have a shit-ton to say to you. Now stop being a childish brat and give me one minute.”
Sucking in a breath, I froze. Did he really just call me a childish brat? Gritting my teeth, I faced him head on. I half expected him to smirk, but there was nothing but seriousness in his stormy gray gaze.