Farm Girl Loves Bad Boy (#2)

Chapter Nine

“Race you,” I laugh, nudging Silver on before Vince can object. Soon we’re a team, galloping across the snowy fields. It’s been a month and a half since I won my case, and I feel like a small weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

“Look who’s winning now!” Vince calls as he passing me, leaning forward to gain more speed on Patch. I smirk cunningly, and then wipe all the expression from my face as I stop Silver.

“Oh my god!” I scream, faking my concern. Vince immediately pulls Patch to a stop, and rushes back without questioning it. He asks what’s wrong, his eyes searching my body for some sign of injury. “I think I hurt my ankle,” I whine, staring down at my foot that hangs limply out of my stirrup. “I don’t know what I did!”

“Want me to take a look at it?” When I nod, he starts to climb off Patch. Once he’s in the space between us, I shove my foot back in the stirrup and take off as fast as I can. “Hey!” Vince yells, as I gallop for home. I reach the hill that overlooks the farm and know I’m going to win. Smiling, I turn around to see he’s already catching up to me.

Pulling to a stop in front of the barn, I grin at Vince who slows to a walk a few feet away. “Didn’t you ever hear of the boy who cried wolf?” He asks, narrowing his eyes at my. I slide of Silver and smirk.

“Didn’t you ever hear of the girl who cried ‘I think I hurt my ankle?’”

“Ha-ha,” Vince says unenthusiastically as we lead the horses into the barn. I check the big, round clock at the end of the aisle and see that it’s already seven-thirty.

“Can you un-tack Silver for me?” I ask, batting my eyelashes as I hand him the reigns. “I owe you!”

Vince nods, and gives me a small smile before I turn to run out of the barn. Before I can, he pulls me back by my arm and places his lips on my cheek. Blushing, I wiggle out of his grasp and sprint to the house.

“Hello?” I smile into the phone, sitting on the floor as I twirl the cord around my fingers. No one answers, as usual. Every single day Emery would call, and I would tell him about my day. Every time it ended, it was either because I ran out of things to say, or I pushed my luck with asking him to talk.

“Mary slept over last night,” I tell him as I stretch my legs out in front of me. “We’re having roof-withdrawal,” I laugh, remembering the joke between Mary and I. “It’s too dangerous to go on it with the snow, so now we have nothing better to do.” I slowly trail off, running out of things to say. This is how it’s been for about a week. Slowly and slowly, I’m losing interest talking to someone who never responds. Sometimes I even miss his calls, even though I know he will call at exactly seven-thirty.

“What are we doing, Emery?” I sigh into the phone, running my fingers through the length of my hair. “Why do you call, if you’re never going to say anything?” For once, he doesn’t hang up and I continue. “You want me to move on, yet you keep holding me back, and you know it. Well guess what,” I rant, biting my bottom lip. “I am. With Vince.”

As soon as the words leave my mouth, the phone is slammed down and the line goes dead. I know I probably just blew everything with Emery, who refuses to talk to me, and hates me. Not to mention that I’m not being completely truthful. I like Vince, but I don’t know whether it’s as a friend, or more.

Twenty-Four Hours Later:

“Can you get the phone?” I sigh to Vince, while we watch TV in the living room. My parents are in town, out for dinner and I’m in no mood to talk to Emery right now.

“Sure,” Vince squeezes my shoulder as he rises from the couch and heads into the kitchen. “Hello?” The voice is muffled because he’s a room away, but I briefly hear more. “Listen here, Emery…” it sounds like Vince trails off, but I know he’s just lowering his voice so I don’t have to hear the conversation. Unfazed, I sink into the couch and turn up the TV volume.