Diary of a Bad Boy(62)

“Grammy, huh? What color is she?”

“Black.”

I nod in appreciation. “Just like my soul. We’ll get along nicely.”

“All done?” Foster calls out.

“Yup,” Sutton answers, bringing the horse to a stop. She tosses her hair over her shoulder and to my horror, I watch as Josh reaches out and grabs her by the waist, bringing her down to the ground. I stand taller, the hairs on the back of my neck at full attention. They stand for a few seconds, talking as his hands stay on her hips. The grip I have on the fence turns lethal as I count the seconds they stand there.

What the hell are they saying?

Do they have history?

Is that why Sutton is so calm with me, because she knew she’d see this guy all along?

Tossing her head back, she laughs and then pats Josh on the chest, and I nearly blow through the fence like a tornado and charge toward Josh, ready to buckle his knees with a piece of the fence.

Finally, they part and carefree Sutton walks toward us, hands stuffed in her back pockets, a huge smile on her face. “That was so much fun. I can’t remember the last time I did that. Lady is such a smooth horse. Josh has been doing a great job with her.”

Fucking Josh.

“Josh has been a great attribute to the ranch, taking excellent care of the horses while I’m gone. He’s great,” Foster answers and then claps his hands. “Are we ready to go on a ride along the range?”

“Can’t wait.” Sutton gives me a glance. “Are you going to go back to the house?”

“No. I’m going with you.”

A small smile peeks past her lips. “Have you ridden a horse before?”

“No, but I feel confident in the quick bond I’ll develop with Grammy.”

“You put him with Grammy?” Sutton gives her dad a look. What’s that look for? What do they know that I don’t?

“She’s very tame.”

“She also is very ornery,” Sutton counters.

“He’ll be fine, right, Roark?” Foster asks with a grin.

I don’t like the word ornery, but it’s not like I’m about to put up a fight about it either, so I hold steady with my confidence.

“What are we talking about?” Josh asks, playfully bumping into Sutton who grants him with another one of her beautiful smiles.

I’m going to fucking snap if she does that again.

“We’re going for a ride on the range, want to join us?” Sutton asks.

“Doesn’t he have shit to do?” I ask, the words slipping from my mouth before I can stop them. Everyone turns toward me, and I have an oh shit moment, so I quickly try to recover. “I mean, do you have shit to scoop before you go? I can help.”

“That would be awesome,” Josh answers, the jolly fucker that he is. “You can scoop up the pen and I’ll saddle up the horses with Foster. How does that sound?”

Sounds like I just gave myself shit duty.

“Yeah, sure,” I mumble, walking away to the wheelbarrow and shovel as everyone else heads to the tackle barn.

How did this become my life? Not long ago I was in the city, having a good time at nightclubs, hanging with my boys, getting my job done with my expected expertise. All that was thrown out when this undersized bombshell appeared in my life, overturning my contentment for habitual debauchery with her smile and mettle. One taste of her mouth and I was driving my tongue up and down said beauty’s clit. Now I’m shoveling horse shit into a rusty old wheelbarrow while Sutton is getting all buddy-buddy with Josh, the horse whisperer.

Where did I go wrong?

I know the exact moment I went wrong, though. When I left Sutton’s bed like a fucking spineless gobshite. That was the turning point for me, the worst decision I’ve made in a very long time, because instead of hanging out on a beautiful farm with Sutton under my arm, smiling up at me, I get to watch her sway her hips all over this godforsaken place while every man who works here watches.

I roll the wheelbarrow over to the first pile and start scooping a load of horse droppings into it.

Fucking ridiculous.

I continue moving the wheelbarrow around until I scoop up the last of it. That’s when I turn to find Sutton sitting on the fence, hands braced at her side, watching me. “You’re good at that.”

“Great.” I roll my eyes and put the wheelbarrow back with the shovel. “Something to add to my list of accomplishments. Can shovel horse shit.”

“You never know when it’ll come in handy.” When I reach her, she hops down from the fence and dusts off her butt. Sure, she can hop down from the fence all by herself, but she needs Josh’s help when she’s getting off the horse. “Grammy’s all ready. Want to mount her?”

There’s someone else I’d rather be mounting.

“Sure.” I dust my hands off on my jeans and ignore the fact that they are once again covered in dust.

“Didn’t my dad tell you black doesn’t do well out here? We should get you fitted in some cowboy gear.”

“I’d rather drop dead.”

“You don’t think you can pull off cowboy boots?”

“I can pull them off, easily. I just don’t want to.”

She shakes her head while giving me a once-over. “I don’t know. I don’t think you can pull them off, but then again, not everyone can look as good as Josh in a pair.”