“You’re jokin’ right?”
“Does it look like I’m joking?” I say, feeding his line right back to him.
“You, sweetheart, are not fuckin’ chunky.”
My lips tighten. “Now you’re just being a dick.”
I turn and pick up my hat, dusting it off and walking toward the house, angry. I don’t care about the damn horse, it can stay there. I don’t care about the group of people staring at me, they can all bite me. I’m not going to be the pity party of a group of men that look like they do, trying to kindly tell me I’m not chunky. I am chunky. I don’t need to feel any less than I do right now.
“Keep goin’, I’ll follow,” Rhett yells, and the sounds of horses galloping off can be heard.
Then, I hear boots nearing behind me. “Lei, quit fuckin’ stormin’ off.”
I stop, spinning around. “I’m going back to the house, packing my shit, and going home. I don’t belong here.”
I can already feel my cheeks burning red from the sun, and now I’m panting from my little act of storming off. I probably look like a tiny piglet huffing and puffing, just to make things even worse.
“Why are you so angry?”
I narrow my eyes, looking up at him. “I know what I am, Rhett. I don’t need men that look like you, trying to make me feel better by telling me I’m not what I am. That’s all I’ve ever had in my life, from everyone who ever mattered. Oh, you’re not fat honey. Oh, you’re not chubby honey. Oh, you’re beautiful.”
“You are fuckin’ beautiful.”
His words shock me, so much I stare at him, mouth agape.
I’ve been lied to and told I’m beautiful before, but nobody has ever said it in the way he just did.
I ... I actually believe him.
“I said you’re not chunky, because you’re not fuckin’ chunky,” he goes on, “you’re curvy in all the right fuckin’ places and believe me, I’ve been lookin’. You’re fuckin’ sexy in the nerdiest most fuckin’ random way I’ve ever seen, Lei. I’m not a liar. I don’t fuckin’ tell bullshit stories to make people feel better.”
I’ve never ... I have no words. Nothing. Zero.
I stare at him with my mouth slightly agape.
Nobody has ever said anything like that to me before.
Never.
Not once.
“You don’t even know me,” I mutter. It’s all I can manage.
“I don’t need to know you to have an opinion on how you look to me.”
God damn.
My crush is going to explode into full blown love if this man doesn’t stop speaking.
“Now, get on the fuckin’ horse because we’re goin’ to ride and we’re goin’ to give you the best time you’ve ever had here at the ranch.”
I blink.
“I’ll fall.”
“Won’t let you fall again.”
Well.
It’s official.
I’m in love.
Someone help us all.
RHETT IS RIGHT.
This is actually fun.
When I finally get the hang of riding Porky, it is actually enjoyable. Rhett takes us all to the cattle yards, and we watch in absolute awe as they all ride beside the cows, pushing them into another paddock with nothing but their horses and a few dogs to do it. It’s the best thing I’ve ever seen, and I can’t take my eyes off Rhett as he moves on that horse in a way that makes me feel things I’ve not felt before.
In places I’ve not felt them for a very, very long time.
“God damn,” Kara sighs. “I could stay here forever. I would be happy never to leave, just so I could come here every day and watch this.”
“It is the best thing I’ve ever seen,” Grace sighs, leaning forward on her horse.
“I have to agree,” Emily murmurs, eyes following the men as they move.
“I see why it’s called a retreat now,” I tell them, watching Rhett. “This is all the therapy I’ll ever need.”
Everyone laughs.
I rub my hand down Porky’s neck, and he snorts, which Rhett told me means he’s happy and relaxed. I scratch his ears and just like that, the two of us are friends. I apologize for all the mean things I said about his weight, and promise to come and get him out more often so he feels a little healthier. I watch Rhett on Diablo, and oh boy do the two of them make a god damned gorgeous pair. That horse is muscled, sleek, and moves like lightning.
Rhett makes it look easy.
“You’re giving him lovey eyes,” Kara murmurs, leaning over so only I can hear her.
“It’s hard not to,” I admit.
She nods in agreement.
“Okay,” Lake calls to the group, riding over, “we’re going to finish up here, you can all head back to the barn to unsaddle your horses. After that, we’re goin’ to the lake where we’ll have some lunch. I promise you, you’re in for a good time there.”
I go to turn but Rhett puts a hand up. “Leave Lei here, I want to discuss something with her. You take the group back to the barn.”
Lake nods, and I stare at Kara who wiggles her brows.
They all ride away, leaving only me with Rhett and the other guys that are still working. Rhett talks to Enzo for a minute and then rides Diablo over to where I’m still waiting. “Come with me,” he murmurs.
He opens the gate and comes out, and then he kicks Diablo into action and begins riding toward the thick line of trees. Nervous as all hell, I turn Porky around and ride after him. It’s hard to keep up, and poor little Porky is grunting and snorting trying to catch up to Diablo, but, eventually, he does.
We reach the line of trees and ride down a path that goes deeper and deeper into the woods.
“If you’re going to murder me,” I yell out, “I have to warn you that I run about as fast as Porky.”
Rhett turns, grinning at me over his shoulder. “So you’ve said.”
Calm down, stomach. He doesn’t want us. He’s just being nice.
We walk along for a few minutes more before we come to the most beautiful little river I’ve ever seen. Surrounded by trees and rocks that climb up the mountain behind it is a crystal-clear body of water that is running from a waterfall up ahead. It’s absolutely beautiful. I stop Porky and watch as Rhett dismounts Diablo and ties him to a tree. Then he walks over, extending a hand.
“This place is something else,” I say, taking his hand and sliding more gracefully than I expected, off the horse.
“It’s my place,” Rhett murmurs. “The only one that I can come to, and when I’m here, everyone knows not to come down. They all know to leave it to me, and it’ll always remain that way.”
“So why are you bringing me here?” I dare to ask.
He glances at me as he takes his hat and tosses it onto a rock. “I like you.”
Oh boy.
He starts unbuttoning his shirt and I watch with a mix of horror and nervous anticipation. We’re getting in? Is that what’s happening here? I swallow as he shoves his flannel shirt off his shoulders and drops it to the ground.
I’ve seen some bodies in my time, not directly but on the television and none of them, I mean fucking none, have looked as good as the one I’m staring at right now. Rhett makes all of it mediocre in comparison. His body is thick, muscled, and strong. A worker’s body. A body that isn’t made in a gym, but out there in the real world. Muscles that are formed from riding horses and lifting hay. A real body. A body that makes you weak at the knees.