Velvet Midnight - Max Walker Page 0,6

focused more on his smarts and succeeding at pretty much anything he ever put his mind to, something I was finding difficult lately. So while Dusty may have looked tiny and pocket-sized next to Rex, I felt more… well, more like a perfect fit.

“I’m gonna go check on the cleanup.” Dusty dipped, waving over his shoulder as he walked away, back toward the yard.

The stable felt a hundred times smaller. I wanted to rear up like a pissed-off Electra and run into unbound pastures, running far away from Rex Madison and his perfect freakin’ face, framed by that perfect head of hair, with that perfect fuckin’ beard.

Instead, I said, “You look good.”

Not exactly running, but whatever.

He bit his lip. The fucking asshole bit his lip. “Is that what you were saying about me?”

“No, I actually wasn’t.” Okay, find your footing. Rex was good at disarming me, always had been. Ever since we were teens, when he’d come into my life as my brother’s best friend, when he was completely forbidden from me.

And when he also seemed to be completely straight.

Funny how quickly all that changed.

Just one night. One sweaty, steamy, unforgettable tropical night was all it took for me to find out the truth.

“I was just wondering why you were here, that’s all. From everything I see online, your life in New York is pretty great.”

Rex huffed. “We all know how accurate online photos are.” He moved to Electra, slowly. The large thoroughbred horse hadn’t stomped off, surprisingly. She stood there, the sun shining on her dappled gray body, her silky mane falling like a waterfall. She was looking at Rex with liquid amber eyes, studying him from head to toe. “Right, Electra?” Rex put a gentle hand on her snout.

I braced myself for a snort and a head whip, but nothing happened.

“She remembers you.”

“It hasn’t been that long, Benji. You’re acting like I crawled out of an ancient crypt.”

“Six years is a long time.”

“Six years and a day might be the perfect amount of time.”

I arched a brow but was able to suppress an eye roll. Aside from always having devastating good looks, Rex also had a tendency to sound like a walking fortune cookie. Sometimes, his nuggets of wisdom were golden, and other times they were the leftover nuggets that fell out of the bag and rolled under the refrigerator.

This was one of the refrigerator nuggets. Still, I’d bite.

“Has it really been six years and a day since you’ve been here?”

“I moved to New York the day before your birthday. Six years ago.”

“Damn, and I was just throwing that ‘six’ out at random.” I huffed a laugh. That wasn’t entirely true. I knew damn well it had been six years but I wasn’t about to pull out my calendar for him. “Well, you’ve clearly always had perfect timing.”

“I don’t know about that,” he said. “If I did, I think I would have shown up sooner.”

My brow arched and my face cracked, revealing my thoughts without needing very many words at all.

Then why didn’t you, Rex? Damn it. Why didn’t you?

4

Rex Madison

Benji looked exactly how I remembered him and, at the same time, completely different from the boy who had taught me so much about myself years ago. He still had the same bright eyes that never failed to lighten up a room, and he still carried himself with his shoulders high and chin proud, even when I could tell all he wanted to do was bury his hand in the sand.

There was a shadow of something else in his eyes. He turned his gaze down at the hay-covered floor, breaking eye contact and leaving me wondering if this was a good idea after all.

“You’ve been good?” I asked, trying to break the glacier between us. Electra gave a gentle whinny before clopping away to the trough of food.

“I’ve been all right.” Benji leaned against a wooden post, the brushes clinking together. A midafternoon ray of sunlight cut through an opening in the stable’s roof, cutting across his face like the brush of some masterful Renaissance painter.

“All right? I haven’t seen you in six and some years and you’re going to give me the equivalent of signing ‘HAGS, KIT’ in my yearbook.”

“HAGS?”

“Have a great summer. Yeah, I know, I thought it was a slur at first, too.”

Benji laughed at that. Short but sweet, making me want more almost immediately. “KIT is what I should have done with you.”

“That means ‘Keep Insider Trading,’ right?”

My turn to laugh. “Yes, that and