Breaking Through (The Breaking Series Book 3) (24 page)

His jaw tensed as he watched the stuff on the wall. “Did the guy show up again?”

“No. I don’t know. I’ve been careful to leave only when someone else does, so I’m never alone. If he was there and hiding, I didn’t see him.”

Gui picked a saddle, stirrups, and reins. “I wanted to be there every time you went or came back from work, just to make sure you were okay, but I have this damn tournament and—”

“You’re still in the tournament?” I asked.

He nodded, chuckling. “Yeah. Why? Thought we were that bad and we were done already?”

“No, but … your text. You said you couldn’t come Thursday, so I thought you had a game. Then you texted again saying you could come today, so I thought you guys had lost and were out.”

“
N
ã
o
. We’re still in the tournament.”

I gaped at him. “That same tournament? In Los Angeles? What are you doing here, then?”

He smiled, taking my breath away. “It’s okay, relax. When it’s close, it’s easy to come and go as we want. I canceled on Thursday because I had a game that afternoon and wouldn’t make it back in time, but I didn’t have a game this morning, so here I am.”

“You could have canceled today too. I don’t mind.”

His smile slipped away. “I didn’t want to cancel.”

I gulped and lowered my gaze, feeling too hot under his stare. “Okay.” I turned to the equipment. “What do I do with this?” I gestured to the things he had laid on a bench in the middle of the tack room.

“You will only watch this time.” He picked everything up and jerked his chin to have me follow him again. We stopped by Belle’s stall. “I’ll tack her up, explaining everything I’m doing. Take notes, I might quiz you later.”

Like a good girl, I paid attention to every detail as Gui saddled Belle, but I doubted I could do that alone if he had asked me to. I was still afraid of touching and being too close to horses, and I would probably get too nervous and forget all the steps. Besides, I wasn’t only paying attention to what Gui was doing. I was also paying attention to him.

As much as I tried to fight it, there was no way to resist. He was too handsome for his own good. Being a designer, I sometimes wondered if his clothes were made for him, because they fitted him like a glove, revealing enough of his hard body to leave me wondering what else lay under there.

In shock, I realized I was lusting after a guy. Not only admiring how cute he was, but I wanted the guy. A man. A male. Lusting. Wanting. That was huge! I hadn’t felt this way since before that terrible night three years ago. Giddiness bubbled inside me.

There was still hope for me!

Then it all came crashing down. I couldn’t feel this way about Gui! He was my brother-in-law’s cousin. He was practically family. No, damn, it wasn’t right.

“What?” he asked, exiting the stall, pulling Belle out with him with the reins.

“Nothing,” I said too quickly. Gui narrowed his eyes at me, but didn’t prod me for more. He finished tacking her and turned to me. “What now?”

“Now we ride.” Gui effortlessly jumped onto Belle and extended his hand to me.

I gaped. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

I gulped. “I …”

He leaned forward and reached for my arm. “Come on, Hil. I promise you’ll be fine. I’ll be here with you the entire time.”

Okay, okay. Deep breath in and out. I can do this.

With my stomach twisting in knots, I rested my hand on his and let him help me onto the horse, right behind him. Immediately, I scooted closer to him, gluing my chest to his back, and my thighs to his, and wound my arms around his waist.

Gui chuckled. “I was going to tell you to hold on tight, but I guess I don’t need to anymore.” He jerked the reins and Belle started moving. “Here we go.”

My arms started shaking and my breaths came in small snippets. If I weren’t so nervous and scared, I would have enjoyed the warmth of Gui’s body pressed against mine, and the spicy scent of his deodorant.

Belle walked slowly, but each step she gave, her entire body moved, which meant the saddle moved, and I swore I could see me falling headfirst and then her hooves falling over me. I buried my head in Gui’s back.

“You’re okay, Hil.” He rested one of his hands over my interlaced hands on his hard stomach.

Slowly, Gui guided her away from the stable. I dared a peek or two, and saw that we hadn’t left the arena. It was large enough for us to walk around in circles for a while.

After a few minutes, I stopped shaking, but my muscles were still wound up. Every time Belle moved in a different way or stomped a hoof or did anything I didn’t expect, I tensed even more and dug my nails into Gui’s stomach.

“Sorry,” I whispered, trying to loosen my hold on him a little bit and failing.

He chuckled. “It’s okay.” Absentmindedly—or not, Gui ran his hand over my forearms, from one elbow to the other and back. “Tell me, what’s the next fear on your list?”

That question surprised me. “Why?”

He shrugged. “Just curious. Maybe I can help you with that too.”

I didn’t have to pick up the list to look at the next fears. I knew the list by heart even before I wrote it down. I didn’t answer his question right away, though. Admitting having fear of horses wasn’t too bad—I bet lots of people were at least skeptical about these massive four-legged animals, but admitting to the rest? That would expose more of me to him, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to make holes in the walls I had put around myself.

You’re stupid, Hilary. Can’t you see there are already holes in that damn wall?

I groaned. Yeah, I knew there were holes there. Brand new holes that Gui had helped open.

“Sorry,” Gui whispered.

“For what?’

“I swear I’m not being nosy or anything like that. I just thought you were becoming good friends and good friends talk to each other.”

He was right. Damn it. “It’s okay. I was just gathering the courage to tell you.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Not really. It’s more like embarrassing.”

He sighed. “Don’t worry, Hil. I promise I won’t judge you.” Belle jerked as a squirrel ran across the arena and I tensed, burying my nails into Gui. “
Ai
.”

I relaxed my grip on him. “Sorry.” He chuckled again, and I decided to blurt it out before I lost my nerve. “The next two items on my list are fear of heights and fear of going to a club.”

“Going clubbing?”

“Yeah, I used to dream about going clubbing with my friends before, but now … it’s because of the crowd and the bodies bumping against each other and there are always drunk guys …” I stopped right there. He knew what I meant.

“I see.”

Gui didn’t offer any other comment and that bothered me. “That’s it? I just confessed to you two of my fears, and you’re not even encouraging me to beat them.”

“I’m thinking.”

“About?”

“How to help you with those fears.” He pulled Belle’s reins and the horse turned to the left. Tensing, I tightened my grip on Gui again. “I’m not sure about the height fear yet, but going clubbing is easy. We just need to get all the gang together and go. Like we have done so many times before. But this time when we invite you and you say yes, there will be no tricking us.”

“But—”

“You’ll be with us. I promise I’ll be by your side all night and make sure the girls are around you all night, and we’ll take care of you. What do you think?”

I shook my head, my forehead brushing against his back. “I’m not sure.”

“That’s okay. You don’t have to decide now.”

Why was he trying to help me? Why was he being so nice about it? I really didn’t get him, and I was too scared to ask him why—that was another fear I could include on my list right now. To confront Gui and ask him why the hell he was bothering with troubled me when he could be doing anything else. No, I couldn’t do that. Not yet. I was too scared of his answer.

With no other sudden movements from Belle, other than her rhythmic walk, I relaxed against Gui’s back. We remained in silence as Belle walked around the arena for a couple more laps. Finally, at ten in the morning, Gui guided her to the stable.

He jumped off the horse first, then put his hands on my waist and helped me down—his eyes one mine.

Warmth crept up my cheeks. “Thank you.”

He smiled at me. “My pleasure. You did well.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious. Soon enough, you’ll be a pro.” He took a step back, releasing me. “I need to get going.” He sidestepped me and started taking Belle’s tack. I wanted to ask him where he was going, but now I didn’t want to look like the nosy one. Thankfully, he answered it anyway. “I have a game this afternoon in L.A.”

“What? You said you didn’t have a game today.”

“No, I said I didn’t have a game this morning.” He glanced at his phone. “If I leave now, I should be in L.A. just past noon. Plenty of time to have lunch and warm up before the game.”

“You’re crazy. You should have canceled with me.”

“I didn’t want to,” he said, staring at me as he closed the door to Belle’s stall.

The intensity of his gaze was too much. Too hot. I would get burned. Lowering my eyes, I took a step back, telling myself it was to give him more space so he could walk past me to the tack room, but deep down, I knew that was just a part of it. I stepped back because I wasn’t sure what I would have done if I didn’t.

I helped him carry the equipment to the tack room and put them in the right places. Then we walked out the stable and to the parking lot together.

“
Por favor
, take care of yourself,” Gui said, turning to my car. “Don’t give that guy a chance to get to you again.” He clenched his hands.

“I will.” I opened my car door. “Good luck at the game this afternoon.”

“Thanks.” I slid inside my car and he leaned down a little, so he could look into my eyes. “Text or call if you need anything, okay? L.A. is just two hours away. I can come and go anytime.”

I smiled. “Okay. Thanks.”

He stepped back. “All right.”

“Bye,” I said, reaching for the door.

“
Tchau
,” he said, closing the door before I could.

I fumbled with my purse, pretending to look for something while I watched him walk to his Jeep and climb into it from the corner of my eyes.

Wake up, Hilary. Stop being so stupid.

I snapped back to reality and started my car before Gui noticed I had been watching him like a starstruck girl. Because I wasn’t a starstruck girl. I couldn’t be. Not with Gui.

With a frustrated sigh, I drove away from the ranch as if I could leave the starstruck girl behind.

***

Sunday was a lazy but rather busy day. The only things I did were have lunch with my mother and her friends at the club, then spend the afternoon at Hannah’s ranch. Leo was at the tournament in L.A. and the other girls were busy. It had been a long time since my sister and I had spent some time alone. We made our grandmother’s special cookie recipe while talking about the wedding and horses and me—though I didn’t tell her about Gui’s help. Hannah was happy I was facing my fears, and she could see me becoming quite the Amazon warrior like her. I snorted.

She wanted to go riding, but I wasn’t ready to ride by myself. What if Belle got spooked again? I wouldn’t know how to control her. Hannah thought I could do it, but hey, I wasn’t ready.

Or maybe I didn’t want to because this was something I shared with Gui. For now.

Maybe.

Anyway, all the coming and going made me tired, and by seven in the evening, I was back in my apartment, in my pajamas, and ready for my ice cream.

That was when the doorbell rang.

I frowned, wondering if it could be Gui. But he had a game today. In the afternoon. He couldn’t be back here so fast, could he?

“
Oi
,” Gui said after I opened the door. His hair was damp and he had on fresh jeans, a polo shirt, and a big grin.

“First, why the hell do you always arrive right when I’m opening the freezer to grab my ice cream? And two, what are you doing here?”

“Get dressed,” he said, stepping into my apartment.

“What?”

He closed the door, clasped his hands on my shoulders, spun me around, and pushed me toward my bedroom. “Get dressed.”

I dug my heels and glanced at him over my shoulder. “Why?”

“It’s a surprise. You’ll like it, I promise.”

“I need more than that.”

Gui shook his head. “Sorry, can’t say more or it’ll ruin the surprise.”

“A surprise?”

“Hil, go get dressed, please?”

With those big blue eyes begging me, how could I say no? “Okay, okay.” I disentangled myself from him. “What kind of clothes?”

“Casual. Jeans and some shirt. Blouse. Whatever girls wear.”

“Be right back,” I muttered before slipping inside my bedroom and closing the door behind me.