Bittersweet

Bittersweet: Chapter Fourteen

THIS BOOK IS CURRENTLY BEING REWRITTEN AND HEAVILY EDITED. NAMES, PLACES, AND SOME SCENES WILL BE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. SOME STUFF WILL BE TAKEN OUT AND SOME WILL BE ADDED.

THE INITIAL PLOT STAYS THE SAME.

So, if you begin reading as of 5/21/2021 and choose to read ahead further than I have updated-some things might be confusing or might not make sense. As of right now and will continue, slowly, adding the new chapters as I write them. CHAPTER FOURTEEN has been rewritten & updated.

**IF A CHAPTER HAS BEEN REWRITTEN/EDITED THE ^^ABOVE^^ NOTE WILL BE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CHAPTER.

Chapter Fourteen

The next afternoon we made amends from the whole Tucker fiasco. I wasn't at all interested in that guy even though he was much more handsome than I thought he would be. I was being nice out on the lake because that's just who I was. The alcohol in my system made it easier to do so. Plus, if I was being completely honest, I needed to take a breath from Austin. Everything about him was so damn stifling that I couldn't think straight. If I needed to show a slight interest in another guy just to get him to take a few steps back then so be it. I knew very well that we could never be friends. There wasn't a part of me that actually thought Austin was capable of having a female friend.

It was late in the afternoon, and I was brushing my horse, Jaycee, getting ready to bathe her when he came up opposite of me. He silently grabbed the extra brush from the hook next to him and began brushing softly. He looked beautiful today. I'd been watching him all day-unable to keep my eyes from him.

His dark hair was becoming wildly long, much different from when he first came around, groomed to perfection. It was beginning to grow around his neck, curling at the ends. The light green plaid button-up that was cut off at the sleeves he wore so damn good did something to his eyes that made me literally shiver where I stood.

"She's one of the prettiest Palominos I've ever seen." He murmured, gliding his hand over the soft pale golden colored hair.

A small grin took over my lips. Even though, the last thing I wanted to do was smile at him. He had some nerve trying to tell me who I could and couldn't be around. I'd never actually been angry with him until yesterday and I was mad at myself when I felt all of that anger draining from my body as soon as he came around. "You know horses?"

Austin shrugged and cocked his head to the side, "I was a part of the polo team at Columbia, and I briefly had one as a child so I guess you could say I'm educated enough. What's this girl's name?"

Of course, he played polo-the wealthy man's game. Sometimes I forgot he lived a life of privilege outside of our town. I supposed he'd given me a little insight into his personal life so I decided I could return the favor. "Jaycee. I've had her since she was a foal. My mother picked her out for my 7th birthday...Just a few months before the accident." I whispered to him, sadly.

I watched as his adam's apple bobbed as if he were nervous. Maybe he didn't know what to say to that, but I didn't mind. "You mind if a friend helps you out?"

Silently, I nibbled on my bottom lip as if I were contemplating sending him away. Yeah, right. After a moment, I nodded. "What do you mean had one as a child?" I asked, as I grabbed one of the sponges from behind me and dipped it in the warm soapy water.

He turned and laid the brush down and followed me by grabbing the other sponge and lathering the opposite side of Jaycee. "His name Dash-he was a Thoroughbred. Damn, I loved that horse more than anything. He was wild when I got him, so my dad hired someone to break him. I was ten at the time and he was just about there-almost ready for riding. Me, being the impatient kid I was, I took him out one morning when our stable hands weren't around, saddled him up, and climbed on him. It took him about 15 feet to buck me off, breaking my arm in three different places. Long story short, when Felix found me and my father was notified, the next day he was put down. I tried to tell them that it was my own fault, but my father never listened to anything I had to say."