I shook my head at Rodeo and walked a few steps toward Harkin. The weasel shrank back a step. “I’m not going to apologize for who I am. Look, it’s over. You got what you wanted. I swallowed some dirt. I’ve always had great respect for your riding skills. So let’s just leave it at that.”

I turned around, hoping he’d take the invite to leave with the remainder of his pride and his face intact. But some guys were thick as hell, and Nate Harkin was proving to be just that.

“That’s right, walk away. Better for me because I’ve no doubt your drug addict father has a high caliber lawyer on speed dial. He’d probably sue me if I nailed that smug face of yours.”

I spun back around, took steps toward him. Again, he backed up a few. “You can say whatever you want about me, but don’t you ever fucking insult my dad.” I turned away from him again, determined not to put on an ugly show of bloody noses and knuckles for Kensington. While I’d dated plenty of girls who would have been excited as hell to see a couple of guys throwing fists over them, and I was sure that was what this was all about, Kensington wasn’t like those other women.

“Cole!” Kensington yelled as Harkin’s roar and pounding steps came up behind me. He threw a fist in my back, which was already hurting like fucking hell. I dropped to my knees and heard Rodeo cussing behind me as I went to catch my breath.

“Rodeo, Denver, no.” I stood up. I avoided looking at Kensington because I knew where this was heading, and I didn’t have the courage to look at her face. Harkin’s friends had raced over, but it didn’t matter. Something told me they weren’t going to step in to help anyhow.

I glanced toward Rodeo. “This fucker is mine.” I spun around.

Harkin’s eyes widened. I grabbed his shirt with one hand and plowed my fist into his face. Blood sprayed from his nose as he stumbled back. The fool looked completely stunned as if he hadn’t expected me to return the punch.

Harkin regained his footing and lunged toward me, but Denver stepped between us. “You should have walked away when he complimented your riding, Harkin.” He lifted his phone. “I recorded that. Just in case you try and swing this as something he started.”

Harkin wiped his nose with the back of his hand. The blood seemed to surprise him. He stood like a bull with flaring, bleeding nostrils. His fists were tight against his sides. “Fucking loser,” he muttered, and stomped back to his truck.

My back was hurting worse than ever. The day just really needed to end. “Hey, Denver—” I started. He read my mind.

“Yep. Rodeo and I will get our shit loaded up so we can get the hell out of Dodge.”

Kensington hopped off the tailgate of the truck and hurried over to me. “I knew he had a stick up his butt, but I had no idea how long or how sharp that stick was.” She stroked the side of my face. After the day I’d had, it felt damn nice. Her touch stirred up every emotion. Even the ones that I didn’t know I had.

I took hold of her wrist and pressed her palm against my mouth for a kiss. “Sorry it came to that.”

She shook her head at my apology. “He pushed every damn button. I thought you were holding it together pretty well. Boy, but your face when he called your dad a drug addict—” She smiled. “I thought you were going to peel him open like a banana.”

“Should have. Then he wouldn’t have had the balls to hit me in the back. What a weasel. Who does that?”

“A weasel,” she said confidently. “Let’s get you home, so I can tend to my patient properly.”

“See, I knew there would be an upside to this shitty morning.”

Chapter 24

Kensington

The sickening feeling in my stomach had slowly diminished on the way back to Cole’s house. I’d been sort of conceited to think it had been about me, and it made me feel a little embarrassed. Sure it might have started out because of me breaking it off with Nate, but then it had stretched way beyond that to something I liked to refer to as testosterone driven pride. And it seemed a fist fight had been unavoidable.

Cole groaned a little as he shifted in the passenger seat trying to get comfortable, a feat that was going to be pretty impossible after falling on his back and getting punched there in the same morning. Denver and Rodeo had driven the truck home, and Cole drove back with me. The pale, sort of pasty look on his skin had finally disappeared and some color was coming back to his face.

I pulled my car into his driveway just behind his friends. They hopped out to unload the bikes. Cole climbed out of the car as if he had heavy weights hanging from both shoulders. I took hold of his arm. “You poor guy. Hey, I have some of those magical little pills the doctor prescribed for me after a horse stomped its hoof down hard on my foot and cracked it. Hurt like heck, but the pills made it all better.”

“Hmm, magical pills. Would you mind?”

“Not at all. I’ll help you get comfortable inside and then head home to get them.”

Cole stopped and looked at me. His hands cupped the sides of my face as he leaned in to kiss me. There was something so completely tender and real about the way he was touching me, it made my throat ache. I was falling hard for him.

We walked into the house. I helped Cole take his jersey off. His shoulder blades were scraped up, and a bruise was forming where Nate had hit him. I pressed my fingers gently against the bruise. “Doesn’t look like he landed the punch anywhere important. It’s not near the spine or kidneys. But then I’m no doctor, and my x-ray vision isn’t great.”

Cole turned around and faced me. “I’ve had a lot worse. All I need is some tender kisses from the right pair of lips, and by the right pair—” He reached up and held my face as he kissed me. “I mean this pair right here.”

“You’re good. Here you are standing in pain with a big ole bruise spreading over your back, yet you’ve got me blushing . . . among other things.”

“Yeah? Other things?” He leaned in to kiss me again, but Rodeo and Denver walked inside.

“Looks like this hasn’t set you back too much, boss,” Denver quipped.

“Denver, do you guys have some antiseptic?” I asked. “I want to clean up the scrapes on his shoulders.”

Rodeo clucked his tongue. “King, you catch all the fucking breaks. Now you’ve even got yourself a sweet little nurse to clean up your boo boos. I smacked my head yesterday, and I had to spend a half hour with a bearded, fat-bellied medic whose breath smelled as if he’d been eating cow shit for breakfast.”

“Yeah, and he was probably not having much more fun working on your grumpy, whining ass either,” Denver said. “I’ll get the antiseptic.”

Cole sat on the sofa in the front room. Denver brought in the bottle of antiseptic and a box of gauze. He grinned down at Cole. “If you’re real good and don’t put up too much of a fuss, we’ll buy you an ice cream cone later.”

Cole turned his back toward me. “Really? I want one of those Blizzard shakes with the chopped up Snickers bars.”

“See, he’s fine,” Denver said. “Can I get you something to drink, Kensington?”

I blotted off the scrapes with the gauze. “Nope, I’m fine. I’m going to run home and get some pain pills I have in my medicine cabinet. Between that and an ice cream shake, he should be a happy patient for the rest of the night.”

Rodeo plopped onto the big chair that was positioned in front of the television set. “Hey, get me one of those shakes too, Denver. I was also a good patient.”

“No you weren’t. You’ve been fussing for the last twenty-four hours.” Denver walked over and pushed up the front window. “Stuffy as hell in here.”

“Well, you’re all cleaned up.” I kissed Cole’s shoulder as a final act of first aid. I hopped up from the couch. “I’ve just got to check on the horses and grab the pills. Then I’ll head straight back.”