Highest Bidder

13. Myles

13

MYLES

“Dude, I hate this store.” I look at JT as he pulls in front of Target.

“You’ll get over it.” He opens his door and climbs out, not taking a single glance my way.

JT loves this store. I swear he’s such a girl sometimes. I shake my head and get out of the truck. Whatever, as long as it has the groceries I need to make dinner, I’ll let him be easily entertained.

I grab a cart once inside, and he says he’ll meet me after I grab the groceries. He always bails on me in stores, probably to look at sheets or something. I shake my head as I walk to the right side where the produce is. I roam the aisles, grabbing different ingredients. We are making smash burgers with a fried egg inside. My mouth waters just thinking about the melted cheese and over easy egg oozing into the meat on the bun.

I grab lettuce, tossing it into the cart when I hear a slap next to me. I look over and a woman is bending over a watermelon, leaning her ear closer. My eyes narrow as I realize who is spanking the watermelons. She’s wearing a loose T-shirt and jean shorts, and her brown hair is cascading around her face over top of the produce .

“You do realize that’s not how you pick a watermelon, right?”

Hunter’s body goes ramrod straight and whips around to face me. Her mouth parts as her eyes meet mine then looks at my cart, appraising the contents. Fucking hell, she’s a Yankee fan. I stare at her navy blue with white lettering shirt. If I didn’t like her before, I sure as hell do now.

“Yeah, not sure I want to take the advice of a guy who obviously mixes ketchup with his scrambled eggs.”

I look into my basket and see the carton of eggs, ketchup, cheese, and bread buns. “Oh, I’d love to show you exactly what I’m cooking tonight.” A smile plays at the corner of my lips.

“Maybe someday.” She goes to walk away, picking up a watermelon as she passes.

My mouth is open before I can stop it. “Hunter?”

She turns to look at me after placing the melon in her cart. “Yeah?” Her face a picture of ease.

“I gotta know…”

Her eyebrows furrow, leaning her weight on her right leg. “Know what?”

I rub the back of my neck before I finally blurt out, “Did you go out with James?”

She blinks a few times. “Yeah,” she answers, slowly.

My hands ball into fists at my sides. “He’s not a good guy,” I let slip. I have no loyalty to the guy, but it’s a tight-knit industry. If someone hears you talking shit about someone else, it spreads like wildfire. Dealers definitely don’t want an auctioneer who talks bad about one of their own. I sigh. “I’m just saying, I don’t think he’s good for you.”

She lets out a humorless laugh. “And you know what is good for me?”

“Shit, this isn’t coming out right.” I adjust my hat on my head. “I’m only trying to say that I’ve heard a few things about him, and I don’t want you around a guy like him.”

Her jaw drops. “You don’t want me around a guy like him ? ”

I rub my palms over my face. I go to say something but she holds her hand up, silencing me.

“Listen, you have no right to tell me who I can date. My love life is none of your concern. Whether or not I’m with James has nothing to do with you. Got it?”

I slowly nod. “I know. But…”

“Goodbye, Myles.”

I watch her make a beeline to the self-checkout, quickly buying her food and storming out the door. JT walks up next to me.

He points. “Was that Hunter?”

“Yup,” I growl.

Peering over at me, he says, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Nope.” I push our cart toward the checkout lanes.

Sitting on a large wooden stump, I rest my elbows on my knees, soaking up the fresh air. As I listen to the steady flow of the creek, it’s the most relaxed I’ve felt all week. I’m at the one place that feels more like home than my own. The trails that lead into the woods from the back of JT’s house can only be reached on horseback, so the area is completely secluded. I came here trying to clear my head of that wild-haired woman. But my mind continues to wander back to Hunter.

I told JT I was riding to the creek. I like to start my week decompressing out here before dinner. He told me he would try to meet me, but he got a new quarter horse after returning from the store and isn’t sure he can get her settled enough to get here before dark. He always goes the extra mile for his animals. He won’t leave their side till they at least drink some water and have a little hay. JT says he never sleeps well in a new location, so he wants his animals to feel comfortable before leaving them, even if that means staying in their paddock all night.

Sitting on a stump around a firepit JT and I built for colder nights, I toss a rock into the rushing water, making a rabbit dash into the woods. Cricket’s song rings in my ears as birds flap their wings overhead. We spend a lot of time here sitting by the fire at night, drinking and enjoying downtime from work.

Images flood my head of what it would be like to bring Hunter here. Does she know how to ride? I could teach her, or she could ride with me. Oh, to have her sexy little ass nestled between my legs on a horse. On second thought, I don’t want her to learn how to ride on her own. I immediately feel a boner growing hard under the zipper of my jeans. Fuck. This has been happening a lot. I can’t get her out of my head. I don’t even want to pick up random girls at a bar for a good time. The only interest I seem to have is picturing Hunter climbing out of her pool in a skimpy black two-piece, water gliding off every curve as I fuck my hand. It’s embarrassing. It's like I’m a pimply-ass, sex-deprived virgin all over again.

Fuck, I miss sex.

I hear a snort from a horse approaching and know JT must be near. He always has perfect timing. He catches me at the worst times and loves to give me grief about it for hours. I already know this will be no exception. He’ll probably take one look at me and rag on me. He’s always been able to read me like a book.

“Did you get the horse settled into the paddock?” I holler, not taking my eyes off the water.

“Obviously, or I wouldn’t be here, dumbass.” He gets off of his horse, Sunshine, and lets her get some water before tying her up. “So what’s on your mind?” He turns toward me after settling on the log next to me. “You’re giving off even more broody vibes than normal. This wouldn’t have anything to do with running into Hunter at the store, would it?”

I roll my eyes. “What? Do you want to go back and forth and talk about our feelings around the fire?” I ask sarcastically. I don’t have time for this tonight.

“First off,” he says, holding up his index finger, “there is no fire, nor am I going to build one.” He puts up another finger. “Secondly, fuck you. It’s impossible to not mention your mood when it radiates off you and contaminates my air, and third”—finger number three joins the rest—“don't make me call Mama.”

Fuck. That would be horrible. He knows I don’t want him telling her I’m moody. JT’s pushy, but good god, that woman is in a whole other category. She wouldn’t leave me alone until I’d laid everything I’ve been feeling out on the table. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy…well, maybe CarMax James.

“I do not like you,” I growl.

“Then, spill it.” He motions to me with his fingers, like he’s trying to drag the words out of my mouth. “We don’t have all night. It’ll be dark in 3 hours.” He stretches out his legs to get more comfortable. “Also, I want those burgers.”

I shake my head. I know if I don’t at least talk to him about it, I’m going to go insane. Or I could do something stupid. Talking to him seems like the lesser of all the evils.

I rub my hands up and down my face, hoping that if I rub long enough, the thoughts will disappear. “I put my fucking foot in my mouth.” I look over at him, and he just nods, permitting me to continue. I sigh. “I told her that CarMax wasn’t good enough for her.”

His eyebrows raise in surprise. “Okay.” He knows I don’t usually give a crap about what happens with a girl. But Hunter is different, and I know he understands that.

Letting out a breath, I look at the dirt between my boots. “And I kinda told her that I don’t want her around a guy like him.” I wince.

His eyes widen, and he drops a rock from his palm, making it land with a thump in the dirt. “Well, that was dumb.”

I nod. “Yeah. I know. ”

“Well, what are you going to do about it?” he asks, as if I already have the answer.

I glare at him. “If I knew that, I wouldn’t be sitting here trying to figure it out with your sorry ass.”

“Come on,” JT nudges, “it’s not that hard.”

I grunt, unable to shake the haze that’s crept into my head.

“Dude, how did you approach women before Hunter?” he asks, picking up a stick and chopping at the dirt with it.

“It’s not as easy as you think,” I huff out. “I want to ask her out so we can at least get to know each other outside of the auction.”

“Well, definitely don’t ask her out right now. She would shoot you down faster than she can sell a car.” He smirks, pulls out a pocket knife, and starts whittling notches into the stick. “You and I both know that’s pretty damn fast.” JT points the knife at me.

“You are absolutely no help.” Seriously, what kind of pep talk is this?

“Bro, just say you’re sorry. Be friendly. Continue to show her the real you. Then you can ask her out.”

“Since when do you have all the answers for relationships?” I turn to him and grab the stick out of his hand, feeling the smooth wood against my hand before tossing it back at him. “I don’t see you with a steady girlfriend.”

Honestly, neither of us has had many serious relationships. I know he had one before coming to my high school, but it ended because he had to move. He doesn’t talk much about it. I know it’s a sore subject. But since then, we’ve both been single.

“Yeah. I know. It’s easier said than done sometimes,” he says and stares off into the distance.

“Do you ever hear from her ?” I ask.

His head whips around in fake confusion. “Hunter? I talk to her every day at work.” He gives a light laugh before going back to carving, and I know he’s trying to avoid my question.

“No, not Hunter.” I keep pressing .

“We aren’t talking about her, so let’s keep talking about how royally fucked up your life is.” He glares at me, and I know this is as serious as he gets. He likes to keep things fun and easy, but sometimes he becomes a different person. His past changed him. Not necessarily for the worst, but not really for the better either.

“I know. I’m here if you want to talk.”

He rakes his fingers through his hair. “Jesus, way to turn it around on me,” he says, then nods over his shoulder. “You ready to head back, or do you want to keep talking about how you are going to fix it with Hunter? We could also paint each other’s nails while we’re at it.”

“I’m good.” I slap my knees before standing up to stretch out my back. “Let’s get these horses home and fed.”

We mount our horses and start our slow ride back to his house. JT and I never rush the ride back because there is nowhere else we’d rather be than on these trails listening to the crickets and frogs as they sing the world to sleep. As we make our way back, my mind wanders, and it settles back on that petite face with the button nose and sparkling eyes. I allow myself the luxury of imagining myself riding these trails, with Hunter riding behind me, her arms wrapped tightly around my waist. We are riding next to JT, with a smile on his face and a woman whose face I can't see sitting behind him on our way to the creek. We're happy.

“I guess now would be a good time to tell you I got Hunter hired at the Ocala Stockyard, and she starts tomorrow.” JT's voice invades my musings and the scene I was imagining fades in the dust Sunshine kicks up in front of me.

Shaking myself to clear my mind, JT disappears through the trees. What did he just say? I thought I had till Tuesday to at least work up the nerve to talk to her. Now I’m seeing her tomorrow at my favorite auction? Fuck me.