You hear?”
Their standoff lasted for a few more seconds, until Artie dropped Colt’s eyes and took a step back. “I don’t have time for this shit. I have to go saddle up Galahad.” He shifted his glare to Joe. “Remember what I said—he doesn’t go near my mounts anymore.” Then he shouldered past Colt, knocking into him as he left the stall.
Colt looked over his shoulder, watching Artie go, before he turned to Joe.
“What do you think?”
“That horse has some bad indigestion,” said Joe, wrinkling up his nose.
“No, I mean, was it Ryan? How’s he doing here?”
“Great,” said Joe. “Natural stableman. Been around ’em all his life, from what I can gather. Soothes ’em. Feeds ’em. Mucks out the stables when I say so. Cheerful. Hard worker. Couldn’t ask for a better helper. No idea what Artie’s got against him.”
Colt tightened his jaw. Self-centered assholes like Artie were uncomfortable around disabled people like Ryan and Melody, and they did whatever they could to make their lives hell. Maybe it was to establish their own power, or maybe it was to try to drive the disabled person away. Well, that wasn’t fucking happening. Not on Colt’s watch anyway.
“Keep an eye on him for me, huh, Joe?” asked Colt. “Let me know if Artie’s making trouble for him, okay?”
Joe nodded. “Yeah. I’ll look out for him. Probably he just has to prove himself. I had to do the same when I got here too.”
Colt sighed, wishing some people weren’t such monumental assholes. “I gotta go mount up.”
“Don’t worry, Colt,” said Joe, offering him a warm smile. “It’ll be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”
But two hours later, his victory behind him, Colt was still annoyed over the incident with Artie in the barn. He had gotten the feeling in the kitchen this morning that Verity objected to his fighting, but fucking hell, if Artie was harassing Ryan, if Artie decided to push things, it might come down to a fight. Colt’s anger boiled inside, rolling and hot, at the idea of Artie bothering someone as gentle as Ryan.
So fucking help him, thought Colt, he’d better find someone else to pester. If he doesn’t, he’ll be on the receiving end of my fists, and that’s a fucking promise.
It took concentration and effort to force his rage back down to a simmer, but he focused on Verity’s face in his head, on the fact that she and Ryan were probably hanging out by his car, waiting for him to change and drive them home. He thought about her lying next to him on his bed while they watched a movie together. He thought about what he wanted to do to her after the movie was over, when his room was dark and they were warm and drowsy. He thought about the taste of her mouth and the smell of her pussy after she’d rubbed it against his jeans. He thought of her tongue flicking out across the skin of his throat this morning and suppressed a groan.
Little by little, he traded his anger for lust, and by the time he’d changed back into his jeans and T-shirt, his thoughts of Artie had been replaced by excitement about seeing Verity. He strode from the castle into the parking lot, unable to stop himself from smiling when she saw him coming and waved.
“Hail the conquering hero!” she called.
“You know it’s a rigged show, right?” he asked, hiding a smile as he unlocked the car doors.
“A win’s a win!” She winked at him, her ponytail swinging playfully as she ducked into the car.
Colt reached for Ryan’s shoulder just before he opened his door and whispered, “Ryan, how’s Artie treating you?”
“Oh, Artie.”
“Okay? Not okay?”
“Okay.”
“Yeah?”
“Sometimes people call me retard, but that’s their problem, not mine.”
Colt clenched his jaw but kept his face neutral. It upset Melody when he had a “thunder face,” and he didn’t want to upset Ryan. But if he ever heard Artie use the word retard in conjunction with Ryan again, Colt would deck him with pleasure.
“Listen, if he bothers you, I want you to tell me, okay?”
“Yeah,” said Ryan. “Tell Colton. You’re a friend.”
“That’s right.”
“Yeah. I’m tired.”
“Go on. Get in the car.” Colt released Ryan’s shoulder, and Ryan opened his door.
As they sat down, Verity turned to him with an impish grin. “What were you two talking about?”
“Artie,” announced Ryan from the backseat.
Grin gone, Verity’s head whipped back to look at her brother. “Is he bothering you?”
Colt looked at Ryan in the rearview mirror and