Taming His Stallion [BWWM]

28_Devastated

Danny

All week, I'd been in an unshakable funk.

Time appeared to slow considerably, apparently awaiting some divine principle to course-correct its brittle, unencumbered hands.

Its leisurely pace seemed to be a direct consequence of the incident that had occurred at the County Fair Dance. The last night we'd spent together. An incident I'm certainly not proud of.

It was almost as if time held a fierce grudge, and had discovered the pettiest way to inflict misery on the offending party, in this instance, yours truly. To punish and ridicule me. To torment me.

Every encounter had lost its vitality, in my eyes, and tended to be trivial at best. Never mind my family did their best to support me in whatever way they believed would help to improve my mood.

And, though their methods usually yielded success in the past when I had been under the weather, ultimately all efforts had come to nought.

Essentially, my life seemed so porous that everything began to phase through me.

It didn't exactly help my case knowing that the object of my affection, and of late, my affliction, could be anywhere on the property at any given point.

Though we were cordial, her responses were limited to one-worded answers. It was by no means enough. Certainly not for two people who shared a bed together as recent as a week ago.

Heaven help me, that woman had been driving me crazy.

I would never invalidate her anger, but, for the most part, it had been undeserved and misdirected.

I still found it curious that there seemed to be no trace of closeness between us. As if all we'd meant to each other had simply evaporated.

If I were a complete stranger, looking in at a superficial level, I would have ascertained that we were no more than mere acquaintances.

But that couldn't be further from the truth.

If Paege's reaction to my embrace in the stables a week earlier was anything to go by, her feelings for me ran deep and they persisted, regardless of her antics.

However, she hid them well, and quite frankly, I was sick of it.

My patience was wearing thin, and as much as I wanted to be considerate, and ensure that I gave her the time she needed to catch her bearings, it was only a matter of time before that rope ran out.

At any rate, pigs would fly by the time we got around to discussing the incident. But I'd be damned if I'd let that come to fruition.

With each passing second, my resolve weakened, and it became that much harder to resist Paege. Every moment away from her felt like a goddamn eternity.

My jaw clenched just thinking about it.

How were we to move past this misunderstanding and begin to put our lives back together, if she didn't hear me out?

For sure, I played a role in the incident, but it was by no means my fault. I wouldn't kiss that woman willingly. Not if my life depended on it.

Whether or not my thoughts had somehow summoned her was still up for debate as a familiar red convertible barrelled onto the land, kicking up the dirt and prompting me to release an audible groan.

Just outside, beyond the corral, I cast a cold glare at the vehicle and its owner.

The tires rolled to a sudden stop moments before she hopped out of the vehicle, prancing her way over to me with a smile pasted on her face.