Rodeo Hearts

Chapter 22

**I think that it would be extremely interesting and helpful if everyone commented and told me their predictions about what will happen in the book!**

 It would give me insight of whether the book is too predictable or if the plot is extremely unpredictable. It would also allow me to go back and spice up parts of the book if need be. 

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Brayden's POV

I watched the mountains in the distance. Almost wishing I was up there alone, where I couldn't make a fool of myself. Aurora probably thinks I would benefit from anger management. After hearing what Blake had to say about her, I would say that anger management is a good option for me right now. I hate it when guys talk about women as no more than an object.

Even though Blake is my brother, he isn't a very good guy. He's self-absorbed, a player, and most of all a jerk . Like I said before, though he's my brother and at the end of the day, I have to love him.

My thoughts were brought back to Aurora as her nose was scrunched up in thought. I patted my buckskin before speaking up, "I'm sorry about the way I acted earlier." Aurora's gaze snapped to mine as if she didn't expect me to apologize. She pulled back on the reins gently to stop her horse. Her eyes never left mine as she searched for the words. Instead of waiting for her reply I continued, "It's just that he's not a very good guy and when he started to talk about you...I guess I lost it."

Aurora licked her pink chapped lips before speaking, "It's okay, you don't have to apologize. I don't mean to be nosy, but what do you mean by 'not a very good guy'." She said repeating my choice of words from earlier.

"Well for one, he sleeps with a different girl every other night. He's constantly running with the wrong crowds. His best friend is the bottle. I swear that he drinks liquor as his three meals a day and in between as snacks. Today is actually the first day I've seen him completely sober. Mom and Dad have tried to get him to go get help, but in retaliations he goes and gets himself into fights. He's supposed to be the oldest, but he stopped acting like it about two and half years ago."

I didn't tell her the reason why he started drinking, because that was his story to tell.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"It's not your fault." I sadly smiled before nudging my horse forward.

We rode in silence until we came to the most beautifuliest part of the ranch. Overlooking the hill we were currently on, there was a small creek running down the length of the valley. The valley was shaded from the sun by the hillsides surrounding it. Towards the end of the valley, sat an old hunting cabin. I smiled at the familiar sight.

Aurora was looking at the view in awe. Her lips were parted in astonishment and cheeks we're flushed from the warm wind that blew over the land. She reaches up and tucked a strand of her wild blowing hair behind her ear. When she looked over at me, I saw that her blue eyes were sparkling with the reflection of her excitement.

"What do you think?" I asked smiling.

She looked in my direction before giving me a toothy grin.

"Wow!" She said breathlessly.

I lightly chuckled at her before taking the lead once more and leading her down into the valley. Once we rode to the cabin, I slid off and tied my horse to the hitching post. Aurora copied my movements.

"I wanted to show you this. I found this cabin when I was a little boy. Ranch hands use to use this as a hunting cabin way back when. As I got older and older I stayed here more and more. This is the place I stay to get away from all the stress of the world." I took hold of her hand and lead her up the cabin steps.

"It's beautiful." She said looking around.

I opened the door and walked in first to check everything out before widening the door for Aurora to come in.

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Thank you for reading! I'm sorry about the short chapter the next few are much longer! Please comment, vote, and or share.

Also, let me know what you think about the book so far.