Chompin' at the Bit (Horse Play #2) (39 page)

“Should we maybe gather some more firewood for tonight?” I suggested after we got the dishes and campsite cleaned up. “It would probably be wise to do it during daylight hours rather than waiting until the sun goes down.” 

We wound up gathering quite a bit of wood for our fire and decided to head back. I was thankful for that because I was feeling pretty wiped out and ready for a nap—at three in the afternoon. I had only known I was pregnant for less than twenty-four hours and my symptoms had hit me like a freight train.

Jensen started stacking the firewood when I knelt next to him. “I’m going to go and lie down for a bit, okay?” 

“Are you feeling all right?” he asked, concern appearing in his eyes. 

I nodded. “Yeah, that walk just kind of zapped all my energy.” Smiling, I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “You know, you could always come and snuggle with me.” 

“You don’t have to ask me twice. Let me just finish up here, and I’ll be right there.” 

With a smile on my face, I started to make my way toward our tent when Willow stopped me. “Hey!” she exclaimed. “Where are you off to?” 

“I’m going to go and take a little nap. That walk through the woods really took a lot out of me,” I explained. 

There was something in Willow’s eyes that told me she suspected something, but she didn’t say anything. “Okay. Well, have a good nap. We’ll see you when you get up.” 

“Thanks.” 

I had just finished changing out of my jeans and climbed into our sleeping bag when Jensen slipped into our tent alone. “Where’s Bones?” I asked. 

“He stayed with everyone else. Kyle was playing fetch with him again, and I didn’t want to break up their fun,” he explained, shedding his jeans and T-shirt before crawling into bed next to me. “How are you feeling, baby?” he asked, rolling onto his side and propping his head in his right hand as he used his left to tuck my hair behind my ear. 

“Um,” I said quietly. “I feel okay.” 

The smile he gave was sympathetic. “Only okay? You’re sure there’s nothing I can do?” 

“Nope.” I sighed. “I’m not sure, but I also don’t think there’s anything anyone can do. We’ll just have to wait this part out.” 

When I yawned, Jensen chuckled. “Okay, sweetheart. Let’s get some sleep.” He moved until his warm body was pressed to mine, and I rolled onto my side, placing my head on his chest and sighing when I felt his lips against my forehead. 

I was lying on my belly with my arms tucked up under my pillow when I opened my eyes slowly, still groggy. The light canvas of the tent wall came into focus as I reached for my cell phone with a groan. Based on the time, it would appear that my “quick nap” wound up being three hours long. 

“Hey, we slept longer than inte—” When I turned my head to my right, I found myself alone, and I sat up quickly. “Jensen?” 

There was rustling from outside the tent before the zipper moved upward and Jensen stepped in. “Is something wrong?” 

Shaking my head, I tossed the sleeping bag off my legs. “No, I just woke up and you weren’t here.” I looked up at him with sad eyes. “Why didn’t you wake me up?” 

Laughing softly, he dropped to his hands and knees over my stretched out legs and kissed me sweetly. “I tried, but you were non-responsive. I figured I’d let you sleep. I’m sorry.” 

He kissed me again, and I found it impossible to stay upset. “I guess you’re forgiven. Did I miss anything?” 

Jensen hopped to his feet and offered me his hands to help me up. I changed back into my jeans and long-sleeved tee from earlier and took his hand, following him outside.

“Kyle and Brandon are trying to think of what to do tonight. The girls want to play charades while Kyle would love to scare the shit out of you all with ghost stories.” He laughed. “I feel like a camp counselor mediating for a bunch of children.” 

I joined in his amusement and bumped into his side lightly. “Well, we’re going to have to practice that if we’re going to have camp sessions next summer,” I reminded him. 

“Excellent point.” 

When we made it back to the fire, Willow and Lilah stole me away from Jensen and pulled me down onto the log between them. I watched as Jensen rejoined the guys, taking a fresh beer from Brandon and smiling at me while Kyle talked to both of them. 

“How was your sleep?” Lilah asked, offering me a wine cooler. 

Holding up my hand, I shook my head. “Oh, no thanks. I just woke up.” 

Smiling, she traded the cooler for a bottle of water and handed it to me with a shrug. “No worries.” 

“I can’t believe I slept that long,” I said, still a little upset with myself for missing the last few hours.

“No worries,” Willow replied. “Jensen filled us in on how stressed you’ve been with work. I remember how hectic it gets this time of year.” 

“Yeah, it’s been trying, that’s for sure.” 

“Ladies?” Jensen asked across the flames. “Should we be thinking about dinner anytime soon?” 

The words had barely left his mouth, and my stomach started rumbling. “I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m famished.”  

While the guys cooked, they continued to argue about what to do after dinner. Kyle was still hung up on this ghost story thing while Willow and Lilah were still lobbying for something a little more
fun
. Along with suggesting charades, Willow recommended truth or dare, which made Jensen and I laugh, remembering our game on the way to Lilah’s wedding a few weeks ago. After a bit more bickering, they finally decided that we could do both—not that I was looking forward to being scared shitless right before bed. 

After dinner, we regrouped around the fire, settling in so we could begin our first game of charades, which was pretty fun—probably because Jensen and I kicked ass. The sun had long set, and we were in the lead with seven wins while our competitors each had four. It was my turn to act out the clues, and I felt like a tool—just like the first three times I had to do it. 

After Jensen and I won again, Kyle admitted defeat and suggested we make s’mores and tell scary stories. My nose wrinkled at the thought of telling ghost stories out in the middle of nowhere, but I complied, snuggling up close to Jensen as Kyle began. 

“So, there was this guy and his wife who lived in Memphis, like, five years ago …” The light and shadows from the flames of the fire danced eerily across Kyle’s face, chilling me to the bone as he continued. “They had this huge Doberman in a little house just outside the city limits. One night they went out for dinner and dancing. By the time they got home it was late and the husband was more than a little drunk. They got in the door and were greeted by the dog choking to death in the family room. 

“Well, the husband passed the fuck out from all the alcohol, but his wife called the vet, who was actually an old family friend of hers, and got her to agree to meet her at her clinic. The wife drove over and dropped off the dog, but decided that she’d better go home and get her husband into bed.” 

I was freaking out as he continued, pushing myself closer to Jensen until I was practically sitting on his lap. My eyes searched frantically for Bones, only to find him huddled between Willow and Lilah as they hugged him for dear life. 

“Well, she arrived home and finally slapped her husband into consciousness, but he was completely shit-faced. Because he was about twice her size, it took her almost half an hour to get him up the stairs, and then the phone rang. She was tempted to just leave it, but she decided that it must be important or they wouldn’t be calling that late at night. As soon as she picked up the phone, she heard the vet’s voice screaming out:
‘Thank God I got you in time! Leave the house! Now! No time to explain!’
Then the vet hung up.” 

I shivered, but not because I was cold. 

“Because she was such an old family friend, the wife trusted her, and so she started getting the hubby down the stairs and out of the house. By the time they made it all the way out, the police were outside. They rushed up the front stairs past the couple and into the house, but the wife still didn’t have a clue what was going on. The vet showed up and said,
‘Have they got him? Have they got him?’
 

“
‘Have they got who?’
the wife asked, starting to get really pissed off. And the vet answered, “
‘Well, I found out what the dog was choking on—it was a human finger.’
Just then the police emerged, escorting a dirty, stubbly man who was bleeding profusely from one hand.
‘Hey Sarge,’
one of them yelled.
‘We found him in the bedroom.’
” 

I was deeply regretting this idea and definitely wanted to hear a funny and light-hearted story. No luck though; apparently Kyle either thought it was funny to tell all these dog-centric urban legends—the poodle in the microwave, the one where the girl was getting her hand licked by what she
thought
was her dog under her bed —or he just wasn’t thinking how freaky it might be. I shuddered again.

It was getting late, and I was terrified. There was no way I was falling asleep. I needed to change the topic. 

Sensing my distress, Jensen started telling jokes, which got Kyle onto a dirty joke tangent. The mood in the air had shifted, and soon I felt comfortable enough to let my fatigue settle over me. I pushed myself to my feet. “Okay, it’s after midnight, and I’m feeling like I might be able to sleep peacefully now, so I’m going to turn in.” 

Jensen was on his feet next to me instantly. “Me, too. Have a good night, guys.” He turned to the dog. “C’mon, Bones.” 

Bones followed after us as we made our way to our tent and got ready for bed. We crawled into our sleeping bag, and I snuggled up to Jensen, closing my eyes and preparing for sleep.

Jensen took a deep breath, almost like he was steeling himself for something big, and I looked up, trying to make out his expression in the dark. “Madi, if I ask you something, will you promise to be one hundred percent honest?” 

“A hundred and
ten
,” I assured him. 

He seemed to choke on what he was trying to say. “Do you want this baby?” I opened my mouth to speak when he interrupted with more. “It’s just … you don’t want to tell anyone, you say things sometimes that worry me …” 

Scooting forward carefully, I coaxed his face up so our eyes locked. “Listen to me,” I ordered. “Yeah, it’s all happening really fast, but I love you, and I’ll love this baby. You have nothing to worry about.” 

Even though I spoke the truth, there was something in his eyes that told me he wasn’t entirely convinced. Regardless, he smiled, nodded, and kissed my forehead. 

“Goodnight, Jensen,” I whispered. “Sleep well.”

Chapter 33. Tripped up by Déjà Vu

A
s promised, I called and made a doctor’s appointment the Monday after our camping trip. The soonest I could get in was in three weeks and Jensen seemed even more impatient about that than me. We kept ourselves busy with work, though. Jillian was still away, but she called and assured us things with her dad were looking up and she should be back within the next couple of weeks. Extending her stay in Lubbock worked out well for me since Jensen was refusing to let me do basic groundwork, and it saved me from having to explain why I couldn’t train in the afternoons. Dad seemed a little suspicious, but he hadn’t said anything outright.

“Madi?” Dad called from the office when I’d come in from releasing Starla into her paddock after our session. 

Popping my head into his office, I found he was buried up to his eyes in paperwork. “Yeah, Dad?” 

Running his hands over his weary face, he sighed. “I was going to head in for feed and a few other things this afternoon, but as you can see, that isn’t going to happen. Would you mind running in?” 

“Not at all. It’ll be nice to get away for a bit,” I told him with a smile. 

He nodded. “Okay. Well, I called everything in earlier this week, so just tell Ken I couldn’t make it.” 

Since my dad knew where I was going, I didn’t think to tell Jensen; I knew he and Tom were busy fixing a few fence rails that some of this spring’s foals had rubbed and chewed on. My truck roared to life, and I was suddenly reminded that with Jensen and I now expecting, I would probably have to start looking for a new vehicle soon.