Chapter 13 No games
It left Alex speechless, all kind of emotions were running through his body. It was something he felt for days and if it hadn't been for Dave he would have gone crazy. But he had seen the final consciousness in her eyes, it finally really got through to her and he knew he wouldn't see her for the rest of his hospital stay. She was gone and that thought brought tears in his eyes. Cause this wasn't a game, so the hurt stayed. The sorrow of a lonely soul.
In the meantime Stevie had her own problems; Riley. Since she returned to Drovers she kept feeling the glances of her friends, who knew what was going on, but a true conversation with the younger bloke stayed away for a few days. When finally she had enough courage to really face him, though she didn't really know what to say.
He was walking on the Drovers' property wanting to get Raylight out of his box for a session in the field. The horse wasn't ready to be ridden yet. 'Riley?' He walked further and Stevie followed him. It was obvious he was ignoring her. It felt like she was playing with his pride, so he figured it was better to put his energy into something else. 'Riley? Please, we need to talk'. He hardly looked aside. 'You didn't want to talk last time, so what's the use of it anyway ... I'm gonna saddle up Raylight.' He was determined to just go to the stables and ignore her, but Stevie wasn't planning to give up.
'You know we need to talk. If we wanna keep this training program ...' 'We don't have to', Riley said quick, 'I'm sure I can get a fulltime job at Killarney ... or somewhere else.' She threw herself in front of him, so he simply had to look at her. Not really impressed with it Riley asked if he could pass through. 'You know you're talking bullshit. You love working with these horses.' 'And ...' Gosh, he could be so annoying, she thought.
She watched him when he prepared the horse, shaking her head. 'Why are you acting like this?' 'Like what?' he said, not looking up. 'Like you don't give a damn.' It sounded hard, and although Riley didn't show it, it indeed hurt him. The way she treated him was like she had used him. He could have known. Why did he sleep with her, while he knew she was upset?
'So?' Stevie was getting a bit mad. Her hands were expressively leaning on her hips. 'So, you don't give a damn?' She said again. Riley leaded the horse outside and mounted. 'Riley! She's not ready yet.' 'Well I decide that she is, maybe you should think about that next time too.' Stevie immediately knew he wasn't aiming at the horse when she saw him ride off.
She sighed deeply, stubborn man.
It was a day later when she checked on Riley while he was training one of the horses. 'I know you don't wanna listen to me, but I just wanna say I'm sorry. Sorry for not talking to you when you wanted to. You indeed have a right to ask for an explanation.' He was standing next to the horse, stroking it, looking closely to his eye. 'Good girl', he whispered. Stevie watched it and noticed her words seemed to be aimed at death man's ears. 'Okay, fine ...', she turned around to walk away when Riley looked at her.
'Wait', she slowly turned around and the two gazed at each other. 'Just wait a sec.' He finished his job, tied the horse and walked to her. Looking down and thinking for a moment he gazed back at her. Stevie touched his forearm for a moment. 'I didn't mean to treat you like that.' She could see Riley was putting down his guard. 'I just don't wanna get used.' She stared away, biting her lower hip. 'It's not like ... I don't regret it.' She had regretted it, but now that she was standing here with him she didn't. 'But I was selfish ...' She gazed in his eyes again. 'Okay, so next time you want to be selfish, just say so. So I know I don't have to expect a thing, cause I'm not a guy that just fools around like that.' She gave him a soft smile.
'Well, I'm not like that either.' She paused. Riley grinned softly and touched her cheek playfully. 'You're one of a kind Stevie', but his face started to become more serious after his words. Stevie could see, once again, that this was definitely not a game to him. 'And I mean it'. She stared, touched by his ways as he walked away.
After that Riley and Stevie got along again, like nothing had happened. Though the glances stayed, the glances that showed more. The girls didn't really spend much attention to it and where glad everything was sorted out between the two.
Stevie could focus on Alex again. Dave had called almost daily and so Stevie knew Fiona had visited him, and found out about that last big lie. She couldn't believe it. The girl wasn't fond of Fiona but this really had crossed the line. Lying about a pregnancy was one thing, but faking a pregnancy while you can't even have kids was ... she couldn't even find words for it. It was beyond words. At least it seemed Fiona and Alex really had broken up. Stevie felt so much compassion for Alex that it made her cry during the nights. She could give him so much more, if only he knew. But for know he just needed to get better and Stevie couldn't wait to see him again. She would tell him everything; she couldn't hide it any longer.