Mustang Dreams (COMPLETED)

Chapter Twenty Three

        Misty ran up to her room fuming upset. Not only was she upset at herself for getting mad and fighting with Clay, especially after as bad of a day as he had been having, but she was still upset at him for several reasons. He had lashed out, hurting her with his words, trying to tell her that her own horse was too much for her to handle, all because she got dragged a few feet due to error of her own. In anger, Clay had also shouted that maybe him and Misty shouldn't spend as much time together, and that was something that really bothered Misty. The feelings that she had for Clay were beginning to turn into more than just a crush or even just liking him, and that worried her that, after their fight, Clay didn't feel the same way. 

         With a heavy sigh, Misty replayed the fight over and over again in her head. She knew that they were bound to fight at some point in their relationship, but why did their first one have to be so bad? 

        Grabbing a pair of pajamas out of her dresser, Misty walked to the bathroom. Slipping out of her soaking wet and muddy clothing, Misty hopped into the shower, thankful for the warm water to wash of the stressers of the day. Once she was finished with her shower, Misty put on her pajamas, wrapping her dirty clothes up in her towel, taking them to the laundry room to start a load. 

       Making her way back to her bedroom, Misty flipped on her ceiling fan, turning off the over head light; the only light illuminating the room was the lamp beside her bed. Misty grabbed her laptop from her desk, tossing it on her bed as she squirmed under her covers. Opening her laptop, Misty scanned the screen until she found the document she was looking for: the spreadsheet with all of the horses that were up for sale on the ranch tomorrow. The numbers impressed her; all the foals had grown out to be healthy weights, and the rescue horses that had been donated to the ranch were all excelling in their training, based on the notes on the document. 

       After another two hours of analyzing the data, Misty began a to-do list for everything that still needed to be done before the sale started tomorrow afternoon. Just as she had made a bullet point for the tenth item on her list, Misty heard the screen door squeak open and slam shut downstairs. She thought nothing of it until the person who had come inside made their way upstairs, and to Misty's room. When a knock was dropped on Misty's door, she almost jumped. 

        Before Misty could ask who it was, the voice announced, "Mist, it's me, are you awake?" The voice belonged to Clay. 

        "Yeah, I'm awake." She replied with a twinge of anger, that she didn't know was still there, lingering in her voice. Misty didn't stop her typing of the to-do list as she listened to Clay's next question. 

        "Can I please come in so we can talk?" Clay's voice pleaded. 

        With an eye roll, Misty set her laptop aside, slipping out of bed to walk to her door. Opening it just enough to look at Clay, Misty said, "I'm about to get to bed, what do you want to talk about?" 

        Clay took a step closer, glancing behind Misty into her room. "Will you please just let me in?" 

         Letting out a sigh, Misty stepped aside, taking the door with her. Waving her hand to the side, she motioned for Clay to come into her room. Once he was through the door, Misty shut it behind him. Clay thanked Misty for allowing him in before following her to her bed where she slid under the covers again, replacing her laptop on top of her legs. 

         Clay sat down on the side of Misty's bed, looking at her. Watching her eyes, Clay knew that she was just staring at her screen so she wouldn't have to look at him. "Misty, about earlier..." He started, cautiously resting a hand on her knee, softly rubbing it. When she made no motion to stop him, Clay continued, "It was wrong of me to lose my temper on you. Casper is your horse, he is makin' great progress, and you're doin' a fantastic job of workin' with him. It might be selfish of me, but I think that I am almost jealous of him. Sometimes I feel like he has your full attention, and I am greedy in wanting that attention. I know that he has done things to hurt you, and I know that they were unintentional, but still, I feel guilty. I would have given anything to be in your place when Casper hurt you." Taking a deep breath, Clay looked at Misty's eyes again. Seeing they were still glued to her computer screen, Clay reached a hand over, slowly closing the laptop so he could have Misty's beautiful blue eyes on his. When his plan worked, Clay moved the laptop off her lap and scooted closer to Misty's hip, his hand still on her knee. "Speakin' of hurtin' you...Misty, I-" Clay had to pause to clear his throat from the swell that was forming. He was not a crier in the least, but the thought of his hands hurting a woman, especially in a time of anger, was enough to make tears begin to rise in his eyes. "I never meant to hurt you, and I pray that you realize that. I am not the type of guy who would ever hurt a woman, but tonight I let my anger give my hands way too much power, and for that, I ask you to please, please forgive me." When Misty's hard expression softened, and she began to ever so slightly nod, Clay reached a hand up to her bicep. With a careful finger, Clay lifted the sleeve on her shirt so he could see were his hands had laid. Misty's eyes followed his down to where Clay now held her arm in his hand, this time, he was holding it as if it was a priceless piece of china. 

         A couple red marks dotted a pattern on Misty's bicep. Beneath one of the red marks, there was a fingernail size bruise beginning to form. "Misty, I didn't mean to..." A tear fell to Clay's cheek as he stared at the visible pain that he had engraved on his girlfriend's arm. Reaching across Misty's body, Clay carefully grabbed her other arm, observing it as well. When he saw it practically mirror her right arm, Clay let another tear fall as he said, "I can't believe that this was from something I did. I swear I didn't-" 

         Misty pushed Clay's hand off of her arm, grabbing his hand in her own, weaving her fingers through his. "I know, Clay. It's okay." At the sight of her truly regretful boyfriend, a tear fell onto Misty's cheek. 

        "I didn't mean a single thing that I said, I promise. I didn't mean it when I said that we should spend less time together. I didn't mean any of it." Reaching his free hand up to Misty's cheek, Clay looked at her with pleading eyes. "Baby, please forgive me. I cannot tell you how sorry I am." His thumb wiped away the tear that had wet her cheek. 

        "Of course I forgive you, Clay. I know you didn't mean to hurt me; it's alright. I know it will never happen again. And, I didn't mean anything that I said either. Please, can you forgive me?" 

        "Of course, darlin', of course." Clay moved his hands to pull Misty into a hug. After a few seconds, he pulled back enough to drop a kiss onto her neck. Making their way around her face, Clay kissed Misty's jaw, then her cheek before landing a feather light kiss on her lips. "I'm so sorry." He said again, bringing their foreheads together. 

         Misty lifted her hand to rest on Clay's neck, fingering his hair. "Can we please agree to never fight about Casper again? Actually, can we please just never let our fights get that bad ever again?" She asked, tracing a line back and forth on his neck. 

         "Of course. You mean the world to me, darlin'. I hope you know that." Clay pulled his head away so he could show Misty he was sincere by the look in his eyes. 

         "I do. And you mean the world to me, Clay Montgomery." Misty smiled as she leaned forward again, closing her lips over Clay's. Pulling back after the first kiss, Misty said, "Thank you for coming up here and apologizing."

         "You're welcome." Grabbing both of Misty's hands in his own, Clay added, "Why don't you get some sleep now, and I will see you at breakfast tomorrow?" 

         "Okay." Her sleepy voice was just a whisper. 

        "Okay." Clay repeated, standing up off the bed. Still holding one of Misty's hands, Clay dropped a long kiss on her forehead before letting go to grab her laptop, setting it on the bedside table. Misty laid down on her bed, fully sliding under the covers. Clay pulled the blankets up to Misty's shoulders before kissing her forehead once more. "Stay warm, my darlin'." He smirked, his lips only inches from hers. With a grin, Clay stood up, telling Misty goodnight before turning off her lamp, then making his way out of her room. 

         Before closing the door behind him, Clay looked back at Misty, laying in bed. The bright moon outside illuminated her room just enough that Clay could see Misty's face. Her eyes were already closed, but there was a content smile on her lips. Silently closing the door behind him, Clay crept down the stairs, careful to not wake her family. 

         Once Clay was outside, and in his truck, he began his prayer. The whole drive back to his loft, Clay thanked God for blessing him with the extremely forgiving woman that he called his girlfriend.