Ryan's Love - C.A. Harms Page 0,54
wrapped around hers. “Ryan got volunteered to grill with Pop, so I’ll keep you girls company.” He turned slightly and winked at me, and Bailey rolled her eyes, trying to appear unaffected. But when she looked at me, I saw the truth. She bit her lower lip to hide her smile, but she couldn’t hide it from me. She was definitely crushing on the youngest Sawyer brother.
I immediately spotted Ryan across the yard, standing next to the grill, and his bright smile captured me from across the pool of people. The only problem with that smile was that it wasn’t directed toward me but at the petite woman with auburn hair who stood next to him, hanging on his every word.
Jackson led us to a small seating area just at the edge of the porch and in perfect view of the show that was beginning to make my stomach turn. I spent the next hour watching the woman paw at Ryan. Every time she placed her hand on his arm or leaned into him while laughing at something he said, I felt more and more nauseous.
Bailey and Jackson were still playing a game of cat and mouse at my side, and even her constant resistance to his advances didn’t break me out of my trance. I was jealous and slightly irritated at the woman’s forwardness toward the man I’d confessed my love to only a little over forty-eight hours ago.
“That’s Zoey.” I looked up as Noah sat down in the chair next to me. “She was one of Claire’s best friends and just moved back to town a few months ago. I’m thinking she may have even had a crush on Ryan when they were younger.”
I narrowed my eyes at him in irritation. He honestly was not making me feel better. “Where’s your date?” I shot back at him in a clipped tone.
He chuckled and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “You’ve been looking at her for the last hour.” My eyes grew wide, and he only smiled wider. “I’m thinking I missed some sort of sign. I asked her out when she was already hitting on Ryan last week. When she said yes, I thought for sure I was wrong about her flirting with him.”
He turned back to Ryan and Zoey. “Wanna take a walk with me, Amber?” he asked without looking at me.
“Sure,” I replied. “I could use something else to watch for a while.”
We stood up, and I told Bailey I was going for a walk. She was so engrossed in Jackson she just nodded and kept flirting. I had a feeling I may be going home without her tonight.
Noah walked me out around the barn that held Ruby and her foal Rogue, who was born just this morning. I hadn’t been much farther than that before. Yes, Ryan and I went riding that first day, but we had gone in the opposite direction. Once we rounded the barn, the ground declined down a small hill. At the bottom was a long and narrow lake that widened as it led out to a larger body of water.
“Wow, how many lakes are on this land?” I asked. Ryan had shown me one, and I knew his property that adjoined the ranch had one too.
“There are four,” he answered. “This one, the one Ryan showed you the first time he brought you here, and the third lake sits behind Ryan and Olivia’s house.”
He paused, and I turned from the lake to look at him. “And the fourth?”
He lifted his hand and pointed. I squinted, following the direction of his finger.
“Do you see those lights?” he asked.
A good distance away I saw two distinct lights. They were dim, but I could see them.
“Those houses belong to me and Jackson. Cabins, actually,” he said, and I brought my attention back to him. “The fourth lake separates our houses.”
“I thought Jackson lived in town?”
He chuckled. “Nah, that’s just his crash pad. When he’s in town and too drunk to drive, he’ll stay there. I wouldn’t even call it an apartment, really. The place is really just one big room with a small bathroom.”
“Okay, so Jackson is the hooker out of the three of you.” He laughed at that description. “What’s your story, Noah?”
“Well, there isn’t really much of one. I always thought I would be the one that would follow in my dad’s footsteps. Breeding, training, boarding, everything horses. But when Ryan joined the police force, I followed behind him.