“Hey!” Josh yelled from behind him. “Don’t speak to her like that!” Alex spun around to face him, and I breathed a small sigh of relief that his anger was no longer focused onme.
“This has nothing to do with you, it’s between me and Savannah. What are you even doing here anyway?” Alexsnapped.
“It has everything to do with me,” Josh replied. “And there is no you and Savannah. You need to leave,now!”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” Alex said, turning and grabbing me. I yelped as his hand gripped my upper arm and he pulled me towardhim.
“Take your hands off her!” Josh bellowed, walking into the water toward us. As Alex turned to confront him, Josh swung his fist, punching Alex in the face. I stumbled slightly as Alex lost his grip on my arm, and I watched as he fell backward into thewater.
“You’re done here Alex. Take the horse back and leave her alone. Come on Savannah,” Josh said, reaching for my good hand and guiding me out of the water. Overwhelmed by what had just happened, I followed him in silence. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” he asked once we were out of earshot of Alex, the fingers of his hand brushing against the arm Alex hadgrabbed.
“What the hell just happened? Why are you here Josh?” I asked him, pulling my hand from his and turning to look back toward the river, where I saw Alex staggering out of the water, blood pouring from hisnose.
“I saw you ride off on Marley and I was worried about you. You shouldn’t be riding while you’re pregnant, and given what just happened, I think it was a good thing I was here, don’t you?” Josh repliedcockily.
I stared at him in disbelief. “Are you out of your mind? That never would have happened if you hadn’t shown up!” I exclaimed, gesturing toward the water. “It has nothing to do with you if I ride or not—I’ve been riding since I could walk and I know what I’m doing. How dare you tell Alex I’m pregnant! Everything was fine until you showedup.”
“Well I assumed that as you had your tongue halfway down his throat, you had already told him you were pregnant. I assumed you would have had that conversation when he asked youout!”
“Don’t you dare judge me. It is none of your business who I choose to tell, and it’s even less of your business who I’m kissing. Just back off.” I paused, taking a deep breath. “In fact, stay away from me completely.” I could have sworn I saw a flash of pain cross his face, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come. “I appreciate all your help with the cottage, I really do, but I think it’s best if we stay away from each other. I’m tired of hurting Josh, and whenever I’m around you, I end up hurt.” I turned away from him and headed for where Marley was grazing withTitan.
“Savannah?” Josh shouted afterme.
“Please leave me alone Josh,” I replied. Not waiting for a response, I mounted Marley as quickly as I could with one hand and galloped away from the river toward the ranch, leaving Josh and Alex to make their own way back. I didn’t want to speak to either of them. Josh acted like he had some claim over me, but when it came down to it, didn’t actually want me. Now, Alex thought I was a slut—justperfect.
Tears tracked down my face as I replayed the events of the last 15 minutes in my mind. I was furious with Josh that he had turned up and blurted out to Alex about the baby. I’d known agreeing to go out with Alex had been a mistake, but never had I imagined the date ending as it had. I was taken aback by him kissing me, and I had been just about to tell him we shouldn’t see each other again. The kiss only confirmed to me that I was right, and for me there were no feelings there—how could there be when my head and heart were full of Josh? Although at the moment, I wanted to killhim.
As angry as I was with Josh, I couldn’t help remembering the flash of pain I’d seen on his face when I’d told him to stay away from me. My heart clenched at the thought of not seeing him, but I knew from the past week that the pain of being around him was far worse than the pain of not seeing him at all. It was only a matter of time before he met someone, and I couldn’t bear to be around when thathappened.
Thankfully,neither Josh nor Alex followed me home after the date from hell, and I couldn’t have been more grateful. I was in no rush to see either of them—in fact, I was convinced I’d never see Alex again, which was fine by me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t say the same about Josh. While I’d asked him to stay away from me, he was Brody’s best friend, and it was inevitable that I would see him around the ranch at somepoint.
My mom was home when I got back and we spent the afternoon in Marble Falls shopping for the cottage. We had decided I would move in the following weekend, so I wanted to get as much organized as I could. I didn’t actually need a lot; my parents had conveniently decided they were remodeling the den and had offered me pretty much everything in there, which turned out to be perfect for the sitting room in the cottage. I was pretty sure remodeling wasn’t something they had been planning to do, but it was their way of helping me out. I told them it wasn’t necessary, but they insisted that they had been meaning to redecorate for a while and this was just the push they needed. I didn’t believe them for a second, and my heart swelled at how supportive they werebeing.
On Monday, Libby and I headed into Marble Falls, checking out flowers and wedding cakes. For someone who read a ton of romance books where everyone fell in love, got married, and lived happily ever after, she had no clue what she wanted for her own wedding. We had narrowed the flowers down to roses, but she still had no idea about a cake or what color she wanted the bridesmaid dresses tobe.
We stopped for coffee and Lib picked up on my somber mood. “So, what’s going on Sav? You seem a bit down. What’s happening with you and Josh?” she asked as she blew on her cinnamonlatte.
“I’m okay, just a bit anxious about moving into the cottage, and nothing’s happening with Josh, why?” I answeredquickly.
“Don’t give me that, I’m not blind—you barely spoke two words to him on Saturday night when we all had dinner. Whathappened?”
I sighed and sipped my decaf Americano. “Did you know he woke me up from a nap that night, just as you and Masonarrived?”
She nodded. “Yeah, your mom told us you were napping, and when she went to go wake you, Josh volunteered to do it. Is that why you were annoyed with him, because he woke youup?”
“No Lib, I wanted to be woken, but by my mom. I was wearing my bra and panties and I’d kicked the comforter off—I was pretty much naked!” I watched as she burst out laughing, barley managing to put her latte down before spilling iteverywhere.
“Wow! I bet he got any eyeful then,” she said through spurts oflaughter.
“I’m glad you’re finding this amusing,” I said dryly. “This is my life at the moment—one bigmess.”
“Hey!” she exclaimed, her face changing from amusement to concern. “Your life is not a mess. I’m sorry I laughed. Urghhh, I wish you two would just work things out—it’s painful towatch!”
“It’s painful to live it Lib.” She reached across the table and took my hand. “He tells me I’m beautiful, but when I ask him if his feelings have changed, he says I deserve more than he can give me. I can’t be around him, it hurts too much. I told him to stay away from me…it’s easier thisway.”
“Is it?” she askedskeptically.
“Yes,” I insisted, quickly filling her in on my disastrous date with Alex. I watched as she frowned at me. “I know, I know, I shouldn’t have gone out with him at all. It was a terrible idea, but anyway, enough about me and my pathetic excuse for a love life. Let’s get back to weddingplanning.”