The Dysfunctional Test (11 page)

“Fine. Play the movie.”

He reached for the remote and clicked the TV back on, then hit Play. She was calm until the first sighting of Pennywise the Clown. In a surprising display of strength, she vaulted out of his grasp, over his shoulder, and behind his back to cower between him and the headboard.

Her face pressed against his back, her breath warm, tickling the hairs on his neck. Her legs hugged his sides. She was right. This was a very, very bad idea. Because he now wanted to turn the movie off, lay her out flat, and finish the kiss they started last night.

Instead, he ground his molars and held his position for the next fours hours until the movie ended and he didn’t know which one of them got the worse end of the deal.

Chapter Seven

Life Lessons According to Camryn:

There’s a lot of frogs to kiss before you realize they’re all frogs.

Troy stared at the red-planked stables in front of them and then at the sky. Camryn might get her wish from the other night. The sky was threatening rain. The forecast was calling for an inch with storms through all afternoon and evening.

She’d wished for rain. He shook his head, disappointed. He’d hoped she had let go, been a little loose, even just a little. For him.

She also said their kiss was nothing. Right after she insulted him by assuming he couldn’t go a week without sex.
This is a long time for you to go without someone
. Did she actually think the reason he kissed her was because of withdrawals?

He could still feel her against his back from last night. That wasn’t nothing. Neither was the kiss the night before.

The wind blew, causing the long, wild grass beside the stables to swirl. It smelled like three-day old manure.

A woman came out of the stables—long, lean and naturally beautiful. Blonde hair cascaded down her back in waves. Full breasts demanded release from a blue-patterned flannel. Jeans hugged her thighs. She wore a pure, charming smile as she pocketed a pair of riding gloves.

Justin hugged her. “This is Jessie,” he said to them.

She looked like a Jessie. And for once, he didn’t feel a stirring in his gut, even in the presence of such beauty. A week ago he would have shifted to full magnetism mode to see where flirting got him.

Jessie’s gaze took him in from head to toe like she wanted to eat her way through his clothes. Justin cleared his throat and started introductions. When he got to him, Troy interrupted.

“I’m Troy, and this is my girlfriend…”

Jessie darted a tongue across her lips, meant to moisten and tease, distracting him. Any basic male reaction he may or may not have had to the woman fled.

He said
girlfriend
, and she all but made a move. Jessie lost all her attractiveness in the blink of her green eyes. Eyes that were no match for Cam’s.

“Camryn,” Cam said, finishing his sentence while holding out her hand. “Thanks for letting us ride today.” If she was irritated for his distraction or fumble she didn’t look it.

“Sure,” Jessie said, waving a hand to follow her.

Fisher eyed him. “Smooth, man.”

He used to be.

Emily had been chatting the whole car ride here about riding a horse. She’d been so excited the car seat had barely restrained her. But once they entered the twelve-stall barn and she got a look at a real horse, she all but climbed up Anna’s leg in fear. Troy couldn’t blame her.

Jessie guided a white mare from the second stall. “You guys can pick whichever horse you want. They’re all saddled and ready to go. This one here is for whoever rides with Emily. She’s the most gentle of all.”

Troy looked from Emily, face buried in Anna’s neck, to the horse. “What’s the horse’s name?”

“Darby. She’s eight years old.”

Anna walked up to the horse and petted her nose. “Want to try, Emily?”

Emily shook her head, squirming against Anna’s hold.

Troy stuck his foot in the stirrup and mounted Darby. He held his hands out for Emily. Anna handed her over, causing Emily to go into full meltdown. She arched back, screaming and flailing. Troy held her firm, swinging her legs across his lap so that she was facing him.

“Put your face against my chest,” he said, guiding her. “There. You can’t see anything. Let’s try this for a minute, and if you don’t want to ride, we won’t.”

Emily stiffened, then poked her face out from his chest. Slowly, Troy lifted the reins and directed the horse to step forward. Emily buried her face again, but didn’t scream.

“Her hooves sound just like a heartbeat, right?” Fisher said to Emily, walking beside the horse as she took a few more steps.

Emily lifted her face to look at Troy. Troy smiled. “Kinda smells like your dad too.” Emily laughed, much to the dismay of Fisher. “What do you say? Want to try?”

Emily nodded, so everyone picked out a horse, and Jessie led them out of the barn. “I thought we’d head out to pasture and then maybe through the wooded trails,” she said, looking over her shoulder for a response.

“Sounds great,” Heather said. “It is so beautiful out here.”

Troy kept Emily close to his chest with one hand on the reins and the other around her as the little girl peered over his shoulder at Cam. Cam was riding a brown gelding named Sweet Tea. That had to be a good sign to the horse’s temperament.

They made their way over a hill and to a flat meadow where wildflowers colored the tall grass. Far in the distance, the foothills at the base of the Rockies could be seen past a forest. The altitude made breathing heavier, but everything smelled fresh. Jessie turned and entered a path through the trees wide enough for two horses. Troy, being closest to her, pulled his horse next to hers. Anna and Cam followed.

Peat moss and soil heavily scented the air as the heat of the day lessened under the canopy cover. Not far from them a woodpecker banged away. It was quite relaxing, actually. Troy would rather ride a Harley through downtown Milwaukee, but this wasn’t half bad.

“So, Heather,” Jessie said over her shoulder. “What color are the bridesmaid dresses?”

“Lavender. I had Camryn in mind when I saw the color. It goes great with her skin tone.”

Before yesterday, if Troy tried to picture Cam in anything but neutrals or white, he couldn’t. Even now she had on khakis and a white tank top. But seeing that dress on her, the color against her skin…

Anna agreed with Heather. “It does look nice on her. What flowers are you having?”

“You know, I’m not sure,” Heather said. “Justin’s mom…”

Troy didn’t hear the rest because Emily leaned over to check out the horse’s legs. He tightened his hold on her. “Stay still, squirt. I don’t want you to fall.”

“What’s on the horsey’s feet?” she asked.

Jessie glanced over at Emily. “Those are horseshoes. They protect the horse’s feet.”

“They don’t look like shoes.”

“They’re shoes.”

“They don’t look like shoes.”

Troy grinned. “Horses only need protection on the bottom of their feet. Unlike little girl feet.”

Satisfied, Emily nodded and looked away.

After about an hour of riding, his ass was killing him. He suggested a break when they arrived at a clearing. Jessie dismounted and tied her reins on a nearby branch. She came up beside his horse and plastered a grin of pure sex on her face as she took his reins.

The little vixen.

Emily leaned over again, and before Troy could adjust his hold, she slipped.

“Troy, she’s going to fall!” Cam shouted, reaching out from next to him for Emily.

In the panicked millisecond it took to unwind the reins from his other hand, Cam had leaned too far, hauling Emily to her chest as she fell off her horse and flat on her back.

Anna dismounted before Troy could, and picked up the crying child. “Oh my God, are you okay?” She knelt on the ground and ran her hands over Emily’s head. “Does anything hurt?” she asked.

Please, please, kid. Don’t be hurt
.

Troy looked her over, lifting her arms and running his hands over her back, seeing no scrapes or cuts. “I don’t see anything. She slipped right out of my hands. I’m so sorry.” He looked from Anna to Emily again. “Are you hurt?”

Emily shook her head, tears abating.

Heather placed a hand on his arm. “She’s okay, Troy.”

Fisher squat down next to them. “I think she’s just scared. She fell on Cam.”

Cam.
From his knees, Troy turned and pushed Justin out of the way. She was flat on her back, arm sprawled out at her side.
Oh no. Oh God, no
. “Cam?”

Jessie knelt on the damp ground and held Cam’s head still. “Justin, ride back and get help. Heather, tie up the horses.”

“Shouldn’t we use a cell and call?” Heather asked.

“No service out here. Justin knows how to ride. He’ll get help fast. Go!”

Justin mounted his horse and rode off down the trail, kicking up mud in his wake as Heather jumped up to do as asked. Troy could hear her crying from across the clearing as she tied the horse reins to neighboring branches.

Air whooshed from his lungs, leaving him unable to draw a breath back in. He couldn’t move, just stared at her, a thousand
I’m sorry’s
careening through his brain. He scrambled over to her on his knees. “Cam?”

She opened her eyes, winced. “Not so loud.”

When she tried to sit up, Jessie put a hand to her chest and eased her back down. “Lay still, just in case.”

“In case of what?” she asked.

Heather came back from tying the horses, her face wet with tears. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just a headache.” Cam looked around at the faces above her and stopped at Fisher. “Is Emily all right? I tried to grab her…”

“She’s okay,” Anna assured.

Cam tried to sit again, only to be held down by Jessie. One of her infamous glares darted to the woman holding her down, so Troy brushed Jessie aside and held Cam’s head instead.

“Hold the side of her head,” Jessie ordered. “Above the ears. If she has a neck injury you could do more damage.”

“Let me up!” Camryn barked. Her face paled immediately after.

“Don’t move, honey. Justin’s getting help.”

Honey?

Emily wanted to be by Cam, so Anna started walking around with her, bouncing her on her hip. When he looked back at Camryn, she looked mad as hell.

“I’ll let you go if you promise to lie still.”

“Fine. But there’s nothing wrong with me an aspirin won’t fix.”

Fisher knelt next to her and took her hand as Troy pulled back and sat on his haunches. He looked down and saw blood covering his left hand. Cam’s blood.

All that red.

“Fisher…she’s bleeding,” he said, his voice shaking half as violently as his hands.

This was darn near close to the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to her. And there were a lot of moments on that list. The family surrounded her ER bed, fighting and carrying on, her hospital gown left her rear end hanging wide open for the free world to see, and her doctor looked like he should be doing pelvic thrusts on a wet bar, not practicing medicine. Add in the fact that Troy refused to leave the room, including when they undressed her, and she had the cherry atop the ice cream sundae from hell.

They were awaiting x-ray results before discharge. Thankfully she didn’t need stitches. The cut on the back of her head was small. The doctor assured them, Troy several times due to him freaking out, that the head bleeds a lot, even with minor injuries.

By the time Troy was on her very last nerve, he plopped in a chair in the corner and shut up. Next time she’d push him off a horse.

“You’re lucky you don’t need stitches, young lady.” This from Mom. ’Cause she did this all on purpose. “What would your hair look like for the wedding?”

“At least something good came from this,” Nana proclaimed. “Have you seen her doctor?”

Oh God. Nana was going to hit on the ER doctor. Perfect. Just perfect.

Kuma Viola opened a cabinet door and closed it. “Never mind the doctor. Have you seen those slipper socks they give you in the hospital? I just love those.”

And now we can add in theft. Lovely.

The doctor came in the room holding her x-rays. He uncomfortably wove around the family to get to her bedside. “Okay, nothing is broken. Pelvis, neck and spine are intact. You do have a minor concussion, so take it easy for the next twenty-four hours. Have someone wake you every couple of hours tonight. It would be a good idea to stay in bed tomorrow. No rigorous activity, like exercise…” Nana snorted, “…or sex.”

Yjaka Harold laughed. “Hear that Troy? None for you tonight.”

“Cam wouldn’t know rigorous sex if it bit her in the ass,” Nana said. “But her doctor on the other hand…” Nana pinched his butt, causing the poor man to jump.

Camryn closed her eyes as the ER staff spontaneously broke out into song and dance. The nurses climbed on top of the desk outside her room and kicked their legs in chorus. The doctors stripped off their white coats, twirling a stethoscope around their fingers and blinking the otoscope light lenses in harmony. Just as they were hitting the peak crescendo, her doctor interrupted.