“Liv?” Shae’s voice carried down the aisle. Liv and Matt turned in unison to see her come around the corner. She stopped short when she saw Matt, her eyebrows going up. “Matt! Wow. It’s been a while.”
He smiled easily. “Shae. I hear congratulations are in order.”
“Yes.” She beamed as she held out the rock on her hand. She gave him a slow once-over. “You’re looking good. I guess world championships agree with you.”
“I’m not a champion anymore, Shae.”
“You’ll always be a champion in my book,” Shae said in a way that made Liv, the most nonviolent of people, want to reach out and smack her one. Then Matt cut a subtle sideways glance her way, caught her eye, and Liv suddenly wanted to laugh. Maybe Shae didn’t always outshine her. She and Matt might be on the outs, but at least he took her seriously.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
LIV MISSED MATT. As a friend. As a confidant. As a lover.
There were matters, such as her father, that were easier to discuss with Matt than with Andie, and after five days of silence, she knew that the ball was in her court. She had to be the one to reestablish contact—hopefully out of hearing range of Tim.
On the night that the drill team practiced in the slack arena while the ropers commanded the larger one, Liv decided to make her move. She told herself that it was crazy to give up on a decent friendship when they might be able to iron things out. She fully admitted to herself that she missed the sex—and that she’d been stupid to draw a line in the sand.
She also realized that what she’d been doing was wrong; she had tried to do to him exactly what she’d refused to let him do to her—have a say in his life. Yes, what he was doing to his knee was wrong and crazy, but so what? It was his life. She couldn’t control him. In fact, she was a bit ashamed that she’d tried. The pot calling the kettle black and all that.
After her practice was over, about midway through the roping, Liv led Beckett through the trailers to Matt’s, where she found a roan and a bay tied side by side. No Matt.
She thought about waiting, changed her mind, walked a few steps back in the direction she’d come and then stopped when he called her name.
“Hey,” she said as she turned around, feeling awkward. She and Beckett walked back to the trailer where he was coming out of the tack room. “I...uh—” she peeked into the tack room and her mouth went a little dry as she remembered their last experience in a trailer “—just wanted to see you.”
There. Out and honest.
“Yeah?” he asked in that voice that just kind of did things to her—a marked change from the cool tone he’d used in the discount store a few days ago.
“I shouldn’t be trying to tell you what to do. With your knee.” Matt slung the bridle he was carrying over his shoulder. Before he could say anything—if he was going to say anything—she added, “I was doing exactly what I asked you not to do.”
“What shall we do about that?” he asked reasonably.
“Start again?” Liv pulled in a breath. “I...miss talking to you.”
A slow, knowing smile curved his mouth. “Is that all?”
“You know it isn’t.”
Matt glanced over at the arena, then back at Liv. “Can we talk after the roping? Can you hang around that long?”
Liv nodded. “I can do that.” Because she wanted to talk to Matt and get things back the way they’d been before she’d made her error.
Matt smiled and Liv’s stomach did a bit of a free fall as he said, “I missed you, too, Liv.” A simple statement that held a wealth of meaning, as in, he accepted her apology.
Without thinking, she reached up to touch his stubbled cheek. He caught her hand, kissed the palm, making her breath catch as she thought once again of tack rooms, and then Beckett gave her a nudge from behind, knocking her forward half a step. Matt laughed and reached out to pat Beckett’s neck.
“How’s the drill horse?” he asked.
“Good.” A lot less tense than she was at the moment.
“I miss him, too,” Matt said matter-of-factly, sliding a hand under the horse’s mane. “But...you know.”
Liv did know. He hadn’t asked to buy the horse back since his second failed attempt. He had other horses and seemed satisfied to use them. Maybe the only reason