Cowboys & Horses

Chapter 27

If I thought I'd seen him angry before, I was very much mistaken. He clicked the lock with a definitive move, his glowering eyes never leaving mine. Clenching his jaw, a muscle in his cheek twitched and his chest rose with short, shallow breaths.

"You slept with him?"

The raw husk of his voice sent chills down my spine. His entire demeanour had changed from a light, fluffy friend to a raging, furious bull. Despite my dry mouth and racing heartbeat, I pushed my brazenness to the forefront. I couldn't afford to back down. He had to know how this felt. My worry for involving Brady was obviously nothing to consider.

"Yes," I said, squaring my shoulders.

He took a step towards me, visibly shaking with anger. At precisely the wrong time, I bit my cheeks to stifle a smile.

"Are you smiling?" he said, his voice now a seething whisper. "Are you seriously fucking smiling?"

I scuttled back from him, finding the wall behind me all too quick. He glowered above me like some rabid beast toying with its prey. He leaned forwards, trapping me between his arms as he pressed each palm to the wall.

"Well?" he said.

I shook my head. I had no voice. Despite my initial boldness, it was fading fast. If he was trying to intimidate me, he was doing a good job.

"Was he good?"

A whimper left me. How was I supposed to answer that in a position like this? "I..."

"Speak up, Soph. I can't quite hear you."

As he moved a hand to gesture towards his ear, I saw the small gap he'd left and took my opportunity. I slipped along the wall and stepped behind him. Unfortunately, I misjudged his reflexes. Before I could run backwards away from him, he spun around and reached a hand out, grabbing hold of my wrist in a vice like grip.

He yanked me back towards him, holding my arm up in the air. "Was he good?"

The hard beat of my heart against my ribs was making my chest hurt. Adrenaline coursing around my body made my head spin. Fear froze me to the spot. I dared to meet his eye contact, panic covering me when I saw the sheer fury blazing in his jaded eyes.

Tears sprang from nowhere, trickling down my cheek in a steady stream. "Yes," I said, my voice a hoarse whisper.

His grip tightened. "Did you enjoy him more than me?"

A desperate sob escaped as I drew a deep breath. "Ben, please—"

Shaking my arm back and forth, he repeated his question in a low, menacing tone. With each word, he inched his face closer to mine. I bit my lip in an attempt to stem my flow of tears, but it wasn't working.

I cast my eyes down and tried to calm myself. Taking too long to answer his question, he squeezed my wrist, making me yelp in pain.

"Yes," I said, sobbing. "Yes, I did."

He let go of my arm, throwing it back at me as if it was something that disgusted him. "So, what made the cowboy so much better, Soph? Please, indulge me."

"I...I don't know..."

"Yes, you do."

I glanced back up at him and shook my head.

"Tell me."

"Ben, I—"

"TELL ME!"

The booming authority of his voice made me jump, and also broke through the filter I had on my mouth.

"Because he made me feel like I mattered, Ben. He made me feel like I was the only girl in the world."

He curled his top lip back in a sneer. "Listen to you. Do you realise how pathetic you sound right now?"

Heat burned through my cheeks. Of course I knew how cliché all of this was, but that wouldn't change how Brady made me feel.

"You disgust me," he said, carrying on in his condescending tone. "I can't even look at you right now without feeling sick. I never would have imagined in a million years that you would have turned into some cheap whore."

A painful arrow shot right through my heart leaving a venomous sting in its wake. That hurt, really hurt. Despite all the mess we were currently trying to wade through, those words crushed me into a thousand pieces.

"At least I wasn't laying there wondering if he was picturing my sister."

I all but spat the words out, each one laced with a potent barb as the turmoil of emotions inside me boiled together in a dangerous mix. Combined with the sheer frustration I was currently trying to hold back, it was no surprise that as I finished my sentence, I gave him a forceful shove away from me.

A sharp crack sounded through the air. Seconds later, my right cheek exploded into a throbbing, searing agony. It took me a good few seconds longer to realise that he'd struck me. Ben had actually laid his hands on me in a way other than as a lover.

Stunned, I didn't know what to do. Except flee. Instinct told me to run, get away from the source of the danger, the threat, the thing that could damage me even more. I bolted for the door, fumbling with the lock before finally finding my freedom.

This time though, I knew running from Ben wouldn't result in a car crash or a hospital visit. Everything about this scenario was like déjà vu from when I'd found them in bed together. Except this time, the sound of his voice calling my name wasn't following my blind run.