Rodeo Hearts

Chapter 14

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Mark. The guy that I thought I had loved at one time was standing in front of me. I wanted to slap him or punch him for putting me through all of that pain. I no longer loved him. I loathed him. He hasn't spoke to me since we broke up and frankly I'm glad.

"Hey." he said looking at me with those eyes I once found comfort in.

"I have someone to be." I walked around him, but his hand grabbed my arm.

I looked down at his hand on my arm and tried to pull away. He wouldn't let me budge.

"I don't know what you want to talk about, but I can assure you I'm not interested." I told him, allowing every ounce of venom I had seeped into my voice.

"Just hear me out." He pleaded.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not relive the night my now Ex- boyfriend cheated on me." I put emphasis on the 'ex'.

"Please." He asked once again.

"I don't think you understand me; I have no interest in talking to you." I tried to pull from his grip, but it wouldn't budge.

"I think it would be in the best interest for all of us, if you let her go." A familiar voice sounded from behind me. I didn't have to look to know who that voice belonged to. I smiled inwardly at him coming to my rescue.

"Who are you?" Mark demanded.

"Someone who could ruin that pretty boy face of yours if you don't let her go." Brayden looked absolutely furious and it was kind of hot.

Wait did I just think that? Yeah, I guess I did.

Mark's grip on my arm was released and he stalked away. Brayden walked up to me and pulled me into a warm hug.

"Thank you." I said, laying my head on his chest.

"You're welcome. Who was that...idiot anyways?" He gritted his teeth.

"Mark...My ex-boyfriend."

"He seems..."

"Desperate." I offered.

"That's not the word I was looking for, but yeah." he chuckled.

He let me go to look me over as if he was looking for injuries.

"Are you okay?" He asked, genuinely concerned for my safety.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I reassured him.

I thought about whether or not I should tell him about my feelings for him. I quickly decided to save that discussion until later.

"Wanna get out of here?" Brayden asked.

"What?" I asked as if I didn't hear him.

"Do you want to get out of here?" He repeated.

"We can go get something to eat somewhere close by. I don't know about you, but I'm starving and it's going to be a few hours before we get to eat anything." He rambled.

"Sure, I'd love to!" I told him honestly.

On the way to the vehicle we passed my mother a father. We explained to them where we were going to go. Before my father could retaliate, my mother interrupted him to tell us to have fun. She reminded us to be careful and be back within the next couple of hours.

Since Beth's was closed, we had no other option, but to travel to Kingston. The ride to Kingston was mostly quite other than the occasional small-talk. Once we arrived at Kingston I helped him to get to the restaurant we had decided on along the way. We pulled into a parking place at McDonald's. We thought it would be the quickest way to go.

"Don't you think we're a little overdressed to be walking in here?" I asked.

He looked down at his tuxedo and quickly agreed.

"Yeah, you're right. Maybe we should do drive-thru?" He suggested.

"I think it would be best." I laughed.

We pulled out and went through the drive-thru. Brayden ordered a Big Mac, fries, and a large Coke. I ordered something just a smidge lighter with a Sweet Chili Wrap, fries, and a Sweet Tea with lemon. I offered to pay, but he quickly dismissed that notion. We pulled around with our food and parked. We sorted everything out and began eating.

"This guy, Mark, why was he so set on speaking with you?" Brayden asked curiously.

I washed down a bite of food with my tea before speaking.

"Things didn't really end well when we broke up and I guess he wanted to try to clear things up." I said, looking down at my food.

"Oh." Is all that he said. I could tell he wanted to ask what happened exactly and I guess I owed him that.

I began to explain what happened. I told him how Lauren was once my best friend, but after awhile I noticed she had been acting distant. I tried to confront her to ask her what was wrong, but she wouldn't tell me. Then I told him how I walked upstairs during the Founder's Day Ball to look for Mark and I found him...with Lauren. Then I told Brayden I broke up with him and after a year or so here I am.

The whole time Brayden was listening to me intently. After I shared that little part of me with him, we ate in silence. Once we had finished, we threw away our trash in a bin sitting a few feet over in front of the truck. Not much more was said as we made our way back to Plum Groove.

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