Unbroken Read Free Page B

out of him, awkward and angry. “Obviously that will never be a problem I have with you. And it’s not like you slept with their husbands after they were married.”
    â€œGranted. But it doesn’t seem to matter.”
    â€œWho cares about that high school BS, anyway?”
    â€œEveryone,” she said. “Everyone but you. Which is why we’re friends.”
    â€œI did a lot of stupid things in high school. Nobody gives me crap.”
    â€œThat’s because you were never naked with them. Guys are dumb about that stuff,” she said, the lines around her mouth curving downward. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter, Cade.”
    â€œIt does.”
    â€œNo. It doesn’t. And don’t go punching people for me anymore.”
    â€œCome on . . . you liked it a little.”
    The previously noted grooves at the corners of her lips turned up a bit. “Fine. A little bit. But only because he
so
had it coming.”
    â€œHe really did.”
    â€œI wonder if any of your former flames are going to come up and accuse you of being a man-whore.”
    â€œNah,” he said, “they won’t. But only because they don’t want anyone to know they slept with me. That guy’s just pissed cuz he’s not going there again.”
    â€œI’m going to go ahead and take that as a compliment.”
    â€œI would never mean it as anything else.”
    â€œI know,” she said, looking down at her thumbnail. “I’m not the same person I was then.”
    â€œSure you are. You’re just more emotionally well-adjusted.”
    That earned him a smile. “Is that what you call this? Shooting pool, drinking beer, bar fights?”
    â€œIf it’s not well-adjusted then we’re both screwed.”
    â€œI think we’re screwed.”
    â€œGood thing we’re screwed together then.” He slung his arm over her shoulder and they started walking back to her truck, the gravel shifting underneath his boots with each step.
    â€œI guess so.” She pulled away from him and rounded to the driver’s side, climbing up inside the cab and turning the engine over.
    He got in behind her, slowly. Pissed that just climbing into a truck made him conscious of his limitations. Made him see the bad kind of stars—not the orgasmic kind, but lightning bolts of pain shooting up his thigh and crawling up his back, stabbing right at the center of his spine.
    He settled into the seat and let out a long breath. For a second there he’d felt ten foot tall and bulletproof, punching that jackass in the face.
    He didn’t want to know what that said about him. But maybe it didn’t matter, since he was back to feeling roughly six foot three and vulnerable to being trampled on by a horse.
    Which he was.
    He held on to the handle just above the passenger window and leaned out, shutting the heavy truck door.
    â€œDo you feel like a man now?” she asked, maneuvering the truck out of the lot and onto the cracked two-lane road that led back to Elk Haven Stables.
    â€œI’m riding bitch in your Ford, how much of a man could I possibly feel like?”
    â€œWould you like me to throw you a raw steak when we get back to your place?”
    â€œNo. Tuck me in and read me a bedtime story.”
    â€œAw, poor baby.” She leaned over and put her hand on his thigh. Second time that night. Weird, but he seemed to be keeping a ticker on “number of times her fingers come into contact with him” that evening.
    â€œShe’s married and off on her honeymoon,” he said, resting his elbow out the truck window.
    â€œYeah. What do you think they’re doing right now?”
    He whipped his head around to face her. “Playing Scrabble.”
    â€œIs that what the kids are calling it these days?”
    He had no frickin’ idea what the kids were calling it these days. He hadn’t had it for four years. Four.
Years.
He