Page 62 of Quarter Miles (Runaway 3)

Damn it, I had a lot to say. The words clogged my throat, scratching and pleading to be set free. But this was not something I wanted to do in public.

An elevator was not the place to tell your best friend that you were in love with her.

I’d known it yesterday, sitting beside her on the beach. Maybe I’d known it the day I’d first seen her at the ranch all those years ago.

I was in love with Kat.

Any other woman and I probably would have blurted it out last night, but she wasn’t any woman. This was Kat. And to say those words, to take this leap, was risking our friendship. And it was risking her happiness.

I was a Greer. I’d always be a Greer. And if this thing between us didn’t work out, she’d lose more than a boyfriend. She’d lose a mother, a father. Grandparents and a brother. Her job. Her house.

If Katherine didn’t want to explore this thing, I knew, deep down, that eventually she’d leave Montana.

Maybe she’d already made that decision.

Maybe she didn’t feel the same way.

Maybe I was twelve years too late.

We needed to go home. We needed to get on familiar ground and talk this through. If she thought I was leaving without her, she was insane. No way I’d leave her with all the shit we’d gone through this week. No way I’d leave her with vultures like Mark Gallaway circling.

“Did he offer you a job again?” I asked.

“Yes.”

Son of a bitch. “And?”

“And what? We had this conversation last night. I’m just exploring options. Not all of us are content to settle for the same old thing.”

“Settle.” I scoffed. Her claws were coming out. “That’s what you think.”

“Yes.” The elevator dinged and she flew past me, stomping down the hallway in her flip-flops to the room. She slid the key into the slot and turned the handle. I planted my hand in the door, pushing it with too much force. It sl

ammed against the rubber stop with a bang before slamming closed behind me as I followed her into the room.

She was ready for the face-off. She stood in front of the TV with her arms crossed. My heart jumped into my throat. When Kat entered a battle, she usually walked away the victor.

Not this time. I wanted us both to win.

“I love my job,” I said. Before we covered anything else, I wanted to clear the air. “All I’ve ever wanted to do was be a cowboy. That’s not me settling, that’s me understanding reality. I’m the second son, Kat. My entire life, my father has been grooming Easton to take over the ranch. And I’m okay with that. I don’t need to be in charge everywhere because when I am in charge, they respect that. When one of them needs help with a horse, they come to me. The rest . . . it was never meant for me.”

“Doesn’t that bother you?”

“No.” I sighed. “Why does it bother you?”

“Because it’s not fair.” She threw her hands in the air. “You deserve all of it. You deserve the chance to choose the job you want.”

I really did love her. She was standing here, furious on my behalf, when there wasn’t anything to be furious about. I stepped closer. “I did choose. I am exactly where I want to be in my life. I don’t want or need it to change.”

A flash of pain crossed her gaze. “Right. Well, I don’t feel the same. Mark—”

“Screw Mark.” My rage returned with a vengeance at his name. I spun around and walked to the closet, yanking out her suitcase. Then I brought it back and threw it on the bed. “Pack. We’re going home.”

This trip was a disaster and though I wanted to talk to Kat about the future, I sure as hell wasn’t doing it when we were at each other’s throats.

“I’m not ready to leave.” She jutted out her chin.

“We’re leaving.”