Broken Trouble (Broken Storm Series Book 1)

Chapter 7

Storm took the first step towards trusting, putting his faith in me as he walked to the bucket and shoved his nose down into the feed bucket to gobble up the treats at the bottom. His eyes were wide and his movements jerky, his head snapping up to stare at me for a minute at a time before going back to the bucket.

He was skittish, thinking I would hurt him like the people in his past. It was something I could understand. Isn't that what I was doing here? Trying to trust but constantly worrying about being hurt again?

Storm nudged the bucket with his nose, turning it upside down before walking off towards the far edge of the corral again, staring back at me expectantly. He was blatantly telling me he wanted more treats, which made me smile and walk back over to the bucket. He had dumped all of the peppermint treats onto the ground, only eating the Sugar Straws.

"Don't care for peppermints?" I asked him as I opened several more things of Sugar Straws and dumped them into the bucket.

We went through the same routine several times, him eating out of the bucket and me putting more Sugar Straw powder back in, each time I walked a shorter distance away until I was just taking a couple steps back.

I searched my pockets for more, only finding one blue one left. Who didn't like blue Sugar Straws? They were the best flavor in the bag, their sugary sweetness and Maui Punch flavor trumped the other flavors by a mile. Now I had a craving for the things, but the look in Storm's eyes as he stared at the last Sugar Straw in my hand made me forget my need for the flavor. Instead of eating it, I poured the contents into my hand. I held it out to him, wondering if he would actually eat from my hand or if it was too soon.

It was like someone asking me to free fall off of a rooftop with the promise that someone would catch me before I splattered against the sidewalk. There was no way I would do that unless I thought I could trust the person and trust, for someone like Storm and I, was so rare that it was nearly extinct.

After a long stretch of silence, and after willing my arm not to shake like crazy, I was surprised to find Storm's nose inching towards my hand. I held my breath, my arm shooting with pain from staying in the position for so long, the shaking worsening to the point where it was almost laughable.

Storm yanked his head back and forth a couple times, his nose flaring as he eyed me, then snapping his nose down, gobbled up the sugary powder, flinging it everywhere before backing up a couple steps. He eyed me expectantly and I knew what he was waiting for.

The hit or punch. The loud voice screaming profanities at him. The pain of being hurt.

I knew because I had seen the same expression in my reflection so many times before.

When I didn't make a move to do those things, his ears twitched forward and back, looking at me like I was the most confusing thing to ever happen. We both stood still, just watching each other, until finally he moved forward, nuzzling my hand for the last few bits of Sugar Straw sugar.

A small breeze fluttered my hair and Storm threw his head up, half rearing as he spun and galloped to the other side of the corral, his ears laid back and his nose flaring, his eyes wide with fear.

I dropped my hand, brushing my hands off on my pants with a sigh. My stupid hair had spooked him, I'd need to remember to tie it back when I was around him.

"I've never seen anyone get that close to him."

A voice spoke from behind me, causing me to spin around. It was way past dark now, the moon was the only thing shedding light on the ranch, with the exception of the bonfire, which was too far away to make a difference. I could just make out Wyatt's hat in the dark as he sat on top of the fence. How long had he been sitting there? Was he the real reason Storm had spooked? I didn't say anything in response, just watched as he climbed down from the fence and into the corral, approaching me with slow but sure steps.