Dark Sexy Knight (A Modern Fairytale)(44)

“Huzzah,” Colt answered, rolling his eyes.

Striding through the practice ring, he headed for Thor’s stall but was distracted by a conversation in the stall to his left as he walked past.

“Keep the retard away from éclair.”

“Artie, come on, now,” said Joe.

Colt stopped in the doorway, about twenty feet away from where Artie and Joe were speaking.

“I f*cking mean it, Joe.”

Colt cleared his throat, and both men turned to look at him.

“Is there a problem here?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he stepped forward, facing them.

“No problem,” said Artie, narrowing his eyes. “I just don’t want your girlfriend’s brother hanging around my mount.”

“Ryan knows horses,” said Colt, choosing not to correct Artie when he called Verity his girlfriend. “He’s good with them.”

“Yeah? Well, someone gave éclair cabbage, and he’s farting like the world’s f*cking ending. I’d need a gas mask to ride him tonight.”

“Cabbage?” asked Colt. “Do we even have cabbage back here?”

Joe shrugged. “Don’t know how it got in here, but Artie pointed out some shredded leaves that must’ve fallen on the straw. Horse ain’t digestin’ it well.”

Everyone knew you weren’t supposed to gives horses cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli. An experienced stablehand like Ryan would have definitely known not to.

Colt cocked his head to the side. “You have proof it was Ryan?”

Artie sneered. “No, but he’s a retar—”

“Then I suggest you shut your mouth about him until you know for sure who was responsible.”

Stepping forward, Artie sized up Colt with a mean look. “Are you f*cking threatening me, Lane?”

Colt closed the distance between them, staring Artie down. “I’m telling you to shut your f*cking mouth about Ryan Gwynn unless you have some solid evidence that he did something wrong. You hear?”

Their standoff lasted for a few more seconds, until Artie dropped Colt’s eyes and took a step back. “I don’t have time for this shit. I have to go saddle up Galahad.” He shifted his glare to Joe. “Remember what I said—he doesn’t go near my mounts anymore.” Then he shouldered past Colt, knocking into him as he left the stall.

Colt looked over his shoulder, watching Artie go, before he turned to Joe.

“What do you think?”

“That horse has some bad indigestion,” said Joe, wrinkling up his nose.

“No, I mean, was it Ryan? How’s he doing here?”

“Great,” said Joe. “Natural stableman. Been around ’em all his life, from what I can gather. Soothes ’em. Feeds ’em. Mucks out the stables when I say so. Cheerful. Hard worker. Couldn’t ask for a better helper. No idea what Artie’s got against him.”

Colt tightened his jaw. Self-centered *s like Artie were uncomfortable around disabled people like Ryan and Melody, and they did whatever they could to make their lives hell. Maybe it was to establish their own power, or maybe it was to try to drive the disabled person away. Well, that wasn’t f*cking happening. Not on Colt’s watch anyway.

“Keep an eye on him for me, huh, Joe?” asked Colt. “Let me know if Artie’s making trouble for him, okay?”

Joe nodded. “Yeah. I’ll look out for him. Probably he just has to prove himself. I had to do the same when I got here too.”

Colt sighed, wishing some people weren’t such monumental *s. “I gotta go mount up.”

“Don’t worry, Colt,” said Joe, offering him a warm smile. “It’ll be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”

But two hours later, his victory behind him, Colt was still annoyed over the incident with Artie in the barn. He had gotten the feeling in the kitchen this morning that Verity objected to his fighting, but f*cking hell, if Artie was harassing Ryan, if Artie decided to push things, it might come down to a fight. Colt’s anger boiled inside, rolling and hot, at the idea of Artie bothering someone as gentle as Ryan.

So f*cking help him, thought Colt, he’d better find someone else to pester. If he doesn’t, he’ll be on the receiving end of my fists, and that’s a f*cking promise.

It took concentration and effort to force his rage back down to a simmer, but he focused on Verity’s face in his head, on the fact that she and Ryan were probably hanging out by his car, waiting for him to change and drive them home. He thought about her lying next to him on his bed while they watched a movie together. He thought about what he wanted to do to her after the movie was over, when his room was dark and they were warm and drowsy. He thought about the taste of her mouth and the smell of her * after she’d rubbed it against his jeans. He thought of her tongue flicking out across the skin of his throat this morning and suppressed a groan.

Little by little, he traded his anger for lust, and by the time he’d changed back into his jeans and T-shirt, his thoughts of Artie had been replaced by excitement about seeing Verity. He strode from the castle into the parking lot, unable to stop himself from smiling when she saw him coming and waved.

“Hail the conquering hero!” she called.

“You know it’s a rigged show, right?” he asked, hiding a smile as he unlocked the car doors.