Chapter 9

As Austin had predicted, Nora was the proud owner of a brand-new Camaro by the weekend. The only roadblock to her plan was she still hadn’t passed her driver’s test.

The other development was that Jimmy found work elsewhere. Austin had made the executive decision that he was better off avoiding Kelly at all costs, so he’d started riding the bus again, which made Macey happy. She did give him a hard time about bailing on her at lunch but understood because he was being tutored.

She warned him that Luke still had it in for him and was planning his revenge. Austin somewhat dismissed her concern because he thought Luke was a wimp despite being a big football star. Then again, Luke was concerned about his public image. Austin would be on his guard.

Then something unexpected happened.

Austin came home from school Friday afternoon to find his dad dressed up.

“You must have a date,” Austin said.

“As a matter of fact, I do, and I need to talk to you about it. Iris and I would like you to come to dinner on Sunday so you can meet her and her family.”

At first, he wasn’t happy his dad had moved on from his mother, but she’d told him she had a new guy in her life. Besides, his dad had been much happier since he started dating again. Austin assumed that was because he’d gotten laid. Not that he wanted to think about his dad’s sex life, but after losing his virginity, Austin appreciated what it meant to be with someone.

“I’m happy for you, Dad, and I would love to meet your new lady friend,” Austin said, smirking. “You’re sure she’s a lady, right?”

Clay did a double take, which made Austin blush because it wasn’t like him to make inappropriate jokes to his father. Being in high school had exposed him to jocks cracking on each other, and it had just come out.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” Austin apologized.

Clay just nodded.

“I’ll be late. No wild parties, and get to bed at a reasonable time,” Clay said, grabbing his truck keys.

“I’d need to have friends if I wanted to throw a party.”

Clay stopped and shook his head.

“Not necessarily. But that’s a discussion for another time,” Clay said and left.

Nora still wanted an answer to the question she’d asked before her slut of a stepmom had put on her show: was Austin mad at her? Even though they went riding each afternoon, he barely talked to her. When he did, he treated her like the boss’s daughter, not a peer. But she’d seen him joke around with Travis and Maverick. The problem had to be what Travis had said about the dance.

Austin came down from his apartment shortly after Clay left. Nora already had Bliss and Red out of their stalls and was putting on their bridles. Austin threw on Bliss’s blanket and saddle and let her tighten it while he saddled Red.

“Are you mad at me?” Nora blurted out.

Austin glanced over and shook his head ‘no.’

“Then why do you not talk to me when we ride?”

“I use that time to think.”

“But you don’t really talk to me any other time, either,” Nora said.

He mounted Red before answering.

“I assumed you didn’t want me to, which I understand. You have your own friends.”

Nora winced when he said that and then again when she got into the saddle. She’d slept wrong, and her back and neck hurt.

“Looks like you’ve got a hitch in your giddy-up,” Austin said.

She looked pinched. ’Giddy-up? Really?’ Nora thought.

“Let’s hit the trail, cowboy,” Nora drawled.

That opened the floodgates. Who knew Austin was such a chatterbox? And funny, besides.

On the ride back, Nora reassessed her opinion of him. He wasn’t bad-looking when you got past the long-haired cowboy outsider persona. And those jeans showed that Austin had a great butt. She knew she could never date him because he was the help, after all, as her stepmom reminded her.

Austin was also a bit of a nerd. Word had spread that he did well on his recent round of tests, which surprised Nora’s friends. They all figured a cowboy wouldn’t be all that bright. With all that, Austin could be a friend. He wasn’t the worst company.

So she decided to help him put the horses up.

Once Red and Bliss were watered and fed, Austin said, “I can help you with that.”

“With what?” Nora asked.

“I’m pretty good at giving a massage. I have extensive training with horses.”

Bliss trusted him, and he’d always been very gentle with her, so Nora assented. Austin told her to turn around and brushed her hair to the side, then tenderly ran his fingers up and down her neck, sending tremors down her back.

Nora had mixed feelings—he was wrong for her in so many ways—but she never expected he would affect her like that. Austin pushed his fingers deep into her flesh and was anything but gentle. He started to massage her neck in a way she hadn’t expected. But it felt amazing, and Nora’s neck pain vanished. She was surprised to find she enjoyed having Austin’s hands on her, so she closed her eyes and lost herself in the pleasure.

“I can do your back, too,” Austin said, startling her.

“What? Here?” Nora asked.

She realized she sounded disoriented, which caused him to chuckle.

“Well, we could go up to my apartment. That way, we could have some privacy,” Austin said.

Alarm bells sounded in her head, but her back was killing her.

“No funny stuff,” Nora said.

He gave her a tiny grin.

“I promise to not do anything you don’t want me to,” Austin said.

Coming from just about every guy she knew, she would’ve thought they were lying, but for some reason, she trusted Austin.

“Okay.”

Austin had grabbed a half-used bottle of the liniment he used on the horses. They liked it when he rubbed it on their legs, so he assumed it would work on Nora to help relieve her pain.

Austin gave her a choice when they got into the apartment: “I can do you lying on the floor or, if you’d be more comfortable, on my bed.”

“You promised,” Nora said.

“Floor it is,” Austin said.

Nora hesitated.

“Is your bed clean?”

“I’ll put a towel down for your protection. I wouldn’t want you getting boy cooties,” Austin joked.

“Do you know who I live with? God knows what’s on their sheets,” Nora said.

Austin blushed.