Taming His Stallion [BWWM]

26_Acquaintance

The scenario played in my head, over and over again, as I attempted to make heads or tails of things. Though, try as I might, the result was inconclusive. Nothing made sense. Except, that distortion had been Ellie's intention all along.

Why turn up here?

Why else wait for the exact moment when my girlfriend and sister had left to use the facilities, if not to cause trouble for us?

When we finally returned to the ranch, my first instinct was to go to my room.

I thought maybe I'd find Paege curled up in my bed, hugging the stuffed moose close.

At least, I hoped she'd calm down by then and come up for air, enough to take a step back and examine things from my perspective.

I prayed that maybe she'd had enough time to truly grasp the extent of my feelings for her and hoped, after what I'd had been through in the past, she would understand I could never conceive of hurting her like that.

And in spite of everything that had occurred tonight, most of all, that the bond we'd cultivated would be enough to weather this storm.

Instead, there was no trace of her. No evidence that she had existed beyond my imagination.

It was made to look as if I'd conceived of every moment we spent together in the confines of my mind. That she was just a figment of my imagination.

To be certain, I also checked her room, the one she'd been staying in before our relationship evolved into something more.

As I feared, the room was bare, lifeless as though no one had resided there for the past few months.

In a panic, I instantaneously fished my phone out of my pocket, punching frantically at the buttons. Hitting send, I pressed the device to my ear, waiting for the recipient of the outgoing call to pick up.

"Hello?" A familiar voice registered at the other end of the line.

"Where the hell is she?!" I demanded through gritted teeth, dispensing with the pleasantries at the moment. My voice was strained and my pulse climbing as I contemplated on scenario after scenario, fearing the worst.

Pacing back and forth, I raked my hand through my hair.

"Calm down, Danny," A.J. began, his tone even as he dared to try and appease my worries. "I dropped her off at the Florette's."

The stampede in my chest as well as my fluctuating emotions began to regularize subsequent to finding this small truth to hold on to. Proof that she existed, that she was still within my grasp, though the notion failed to dispel my unease, and did nothing to extinguish my fears.

"What? Why?" The grogginess in my voice sounded foreign. Even to my ears.

"She didn't say much, but I surmised that in her frame of mind, it would be too painful to be around you right now."

Silence lingered between us for a while.

"What happened, Danny?" He asked, not unaccusingly but in an effort to gain insight.

The mere fact that A.J. thought to ask me a deeply intimate question, even though we had established clear boundaries about such questions in the past, brought home the depth of pain he must have sensed from Paege.

The thought made my stomach turn, considering he'd taken her home and had a first-hand account of her emotional posture. If it was possible at this point, my heart sank as I sat, defeated in the vacant room.

"Hello, Danny?"

Raking a hand through my hair, I sniffled, shaking my head and squeezing my eyes shut to clear my vision of the tears that threatened to fall, the call forgotten.