Fall With Me (Sugarland Creek, #3) (15)
For the first time since he walked into the training session an hour ago and ruined my day, he lifts his backward baseball cap and scrubs his fingers through his thick brown hair.
I gulp at the intense way he keeps his gaze on me while he does it. Then he adjusts it back on his head and closes the gap between us, leaning down into my personal space.
“I’ll see ya tomorrow mornin’ at seven. Bring your runnin’ shoes and have your singin’ voice ready.”
He walks off before I can tell him to his face he’s lost his damn mind, but if Landen Hollis thinks he can continue barging into my life after my not-so-subtle hints of my hatred for him, I’m not going to make it easy for him to be around me.
In fact, he’s going to wish we never met.
Chapter Four
LANDEN
PRESENT DAY
FOUR YEARS LATER
Iwish I’d never met Ellie Donovan.
Lies.
Well, maybe not, depending on the day.
After years of knowing her, the woman is nothing but a complete mystery.
She’s ruthless, unkind, and downright mean.
But only to me. She’s halfway pleasant to everyone else.
And I haven’t a single clue as to why.
Since the first day we got introduced, she’s had it out for me although I was nothing but nice to her. Hell, I ran with her five days a week for three months. All while listening to her sing Taylor Swift songs and giving me the cold shoulder.
Not once during our runs did she speak to me or thank me for coming along in case she passed out or needed encouragement. She did make me hold her water bottle, though. And like the sap I am, handed it over every time she reached for it.
I was basically her butler running buddy. The only thing left would’ve been to bow at her feet and chant Long Live the Queen.
She qualified for the National Final Rodeo after her first full year and placed third after the ten-consecutive-day competition but didn’t take home the win. Overall, I think it was a great experience for her after winning the Southeast regional championship. Once the next season started, she traveled on and off for ten months, but I went to a few with Noah to watch her race in the local pro rodeo circuit events.
She’s now in her fourth year and training harder than ever to win first at this year’s NFR. The past few years, she’s consistently been in the top three but lost first place by mere microseconds. Since then, she’s had more media press and sponsorship opportunities, which has only helped get her name out there more.
You can’t walk through downtown without seeing an Ellie & Ranger poster or banner in the windows of several small businesses. Every little girl I see under the age of twelve wears a sparkly pink cowboy hat to support their favorite local barrel racer. So many damn reminders of her.
It’s fucking torture.
I don’t see her in person much, only in between competitions when she’s here to train. Even when she’s around, her dislike for me has never faded, which brings me to today.
Wishing I’d never met her.
Because even after all this time and her obvious hatred for me, my heart reacts the same every time I see her. And that pisses me the fuck off.
Even when she’s somewhat nice, I’m instantly suspicious about it.
Last summer, I ran into her with one of her 4-H friends as they were walking out of Millie’s Ice Cream Shoppe. I quickly stopped to say hi and the girl recognized me from the ranch, so after a few minutes of constant flirting, I asked her for her number.
Ellie smiled at Clara like she totally supported the idea, and she hadn’t shot me any murderous glares, so I figured it was fine. We made plans for that following weekend, and since Ellie had a race, I ended up taking Clara to the rodeo with me.
We had a fun time and seemed to find things in common. But then after Ellie’s race and we went to congratulate her on the win, she barely acknowledged her friend, or me—but that was normal—so it was easy to assume she didn’t like that we came. Considering I was already on her shit list, I didn’t want to get in between her and Clara, so I never asked her out on a second date.
The following weekend, I ended up drunk at the Twisted Bull and took some chick home. It wasn't my finest moment, and I felt like shit about it afterward. But then the next morning, still hungover, I walked out of my house to find a knife in my truck's tire. Every single one had been slashed.
I drove my dirt bike to the barn, and when Ellie saw the knife in my hand, her face split in two. Before I could even ask her about it, she thanked me for bringing it back to her. I was so shell-shocked that she openly admitted to doing it, I couldn't even form words to ask her what the hell her problem was or why she did it.
If it was for dating her friend or hooking up with someone else after not continuing to date her friend, I hadn’t a fucking clue. She was confusing on a normal day.
But this really took the cake.
During Noah and Fisher’s wedding, I asked her to dance, but she claimed to have broken her toe. I offered to bring her some ice and instead of using it, she left it on the table to melt. Because there was no broken toe.
I should get over her and escape the delusion that she’ll someday feel the same or at the very least, give me a chance. It’s clear there’s a one-sided hatred situation going on between us. There’s no reason I should be as infatuated with her as I am, and still, here I am—unable to get her out of my stupid head.