Wind Therapy - A.J. Downey Page 0,27

talking about anything but me.

“Intense,” she said after a moment of quiet from the other side of the dressing room curtain, the word followed quickly by a nervous laugh.

“So, a total bitch,” I said pragmatically.

“Oh, no. I wouldn’t go that far. She’s just very… particular. Comes in, takes the world by storm, that type of thing. She’s one of Maverick’s best friends. I get that they’ve known each other a long, long, time. Like since they were kids.”

Interesting.

“So, do you know what all of this is for?” I asked, handing some items out from behind the curtain. She took them from me and thrust something else into my hand. I blinked and rolled my underwear-clad self in the mirror. More?

“These guys take riding safety extremely seriously,” she said.

I dutifully tried the things she handed to me on and decided they didn’t look half bad –the jeans fit like a dream and were definitely keepers. I wasn’t sure what to do with the leather that was supposed to go over them.

“I don’t know what to do with this,” I said holding it out.

“Can I come in?” she asked.

“Sure.”

She helped me and didn’t make it weird, and I was grateful. My walls incrementally easing down, still cautious but not nearly as scared.

I felt like I was somehow making a new friend and the impossibility of that task at home had been insurmountable… but here, maybe all things were possible.

“Do you know why he has me buying all this stuff? Like, I get safety but, girl, you got a pile going over there.”

“My guess is he wants you to have enough gear for the two-week run coming up.”

“Two weeks! Where the hell does he think he’s taking me!?”

She hesitated and finally erred on the side of caution. “If he plans on taking you anywhere, he’s the one that should really be the one to discuss it with you and he absolutely will. Mav is always ten steps ahead of the rest of us – and I don’t mean by strong-arm tactics or anything. He’s just got things all figured out before we do. He’s super smart, and he’s not the type to make you do anything you don’t want to do. He just likes to be prepared.”

Her words did little to comfort me but at the same time took the jagged edge off my concern – for now anyway.

“Just to be sure, which pile is ‘keep’ and which pile are we putting back?” I asked and she smiled.

“That’s up to you. This pile is the one you didn’t say anything about or make any noises. This is the one that you sounded like you liked.” She touched one pile hanging up on one side then the other smaller pile with the other hand.

“Shit, okay, guess I’d better try all this on again and whittle it down more?”

“You really don’t have to. Mav is gonna expect you to have enough gear for a two-week run and I don’t want to go back and have him disappointed.”

“Why? Does he get mad easily?”

She laughed. “Not at all. He’ll just send us right back here to get more and maybe will come with next time and have you model the entire store.”

“You sound like you speak from experience.”

She shook her head. “Dahlia told me, and I believe her.”

“Kind of can’t wait to meet her,” I said and blew out a breath dubiously. Either we would get along great or we would hate each other. There was no happy medium with me.

I was just naturally inclined to believe the latter because that was just about always how that seemed to work out.

“I think you have a good plan though,” she said, standing back so I could get a look at myself in the mirror. “These chaps look great on you with these jeans. Like one pair of the chaps and at least two pair of the jeans for sure.”

I nodded. “If you say so.”

She wrinkled her nose adorably and exclaimed, “I do! Trust me. You won’t regret it.”

I smiled and more of the tension riding me loosened.

I decided that I really did like Little Bird. Her smile and lighter than air, easygoing personality were starting to lift my spirits too.

Chapter Nine

Maverick…

I sighed and sat back in my seat and asked, “Not to put too fine a point on it, but two weeks with any of our number away is a big fuckin’ deal right now. So, let’s hear it. Who wants to stay and who wants to go?”

I