BrokenHearted Read Online Free Page B

ma’am,” I respond, and the woman smiles; she’s embarrassed but apparently is used to Jackie’s brashness.
    *****
    I make it back out to the stables with coffee and a few bottles of water. It is already getting warm, and I wasn’t sure how Jackie could drink coffee while sweating. But … that is one question I’m not going to ask the mean grouch.
    They are standing outside the stalls appearing to be waiting for me.
    “What took you so long?” Jackie asks.
    “Thank you,” says the younger woman after reaching for the bottled water and opening it to take a long gulp.
    Damn. What in the hell was her name?
    “You ready to get back to work, Ryann?” Jackie demands not really asking.
    “Yep.”
    They turn, walking away toward the stall they were in earlier to relocate the horses.
    “Ryann?” I ask.
    “Yeah?” Turning around not really too concerned about what I was going to ask her.
    “I was just curious. If Maxwell was Mr. Cocky, what was I?”
    “Mr. Intense.”
    “Ah …” I respond. I would say she nailed it.
    “See ya around,” she responds and walks away, leaving me to ponder for a second before I hear my mother calling me from the back door.
    And yes, I watch her walk away … And for a split second, I think about how beautiful she is. But then I remind myself that I won’t ever let myself care for another being, no matter how pretty and kind she is.

Three
    Ryann
    Reflecting back on what really changed me, I realize that it was one person, that one asshole who slipped under my radar. I am just as much to blame because I let him. Isn’t it funny how one person can make or break you? And even worse when all the love you have for someone turns into hate? You think you trust that person with all your heart, and you couldn’t have been any more mistaken. That was how it was with Jake. I had suspected he was up to no good but turned my cheek to it stupidly. Love blinded me. It blinded me when he lost his temper and slapped me a handful of times; it blinded me to myself and to his actions. I chose to see what I wanted to see.
    After the third time Jake had been screwing around on me, I knew the only thing I could do was end it with him. We weren’t living together yet, but I had just gotten a trailer in Dripping Springs to be closer to my aunt Jackie with the help of my mom. I wanted to live closer to the stables to help my aunt. I originally was going to live in an apartment closer to the university, but I really wanted something on my own.
    Suddenly, when Jake made me feel the way he did, it became a priority for me.
    When I first figured out he was cheating on me, I was in a total state of denial. I had suspected the disloyalty, but I needed to see for myself. Sadie, my best friend, had seen him kissing a girl at a club not far from campus and reported it to me immediately to try to save me from more heartache. She had mentioned how I didn’t seem to be happy, and she couldn’t be more correct. I wasn’t. I had completed thirty-six hours and was already getting to the point that I was losing steam. I had realized being with Jake was taking some of my spirit, “my spunk” as my mom would say.
    You know how some people make you a better person?  Not Jake. He brought out the bad in me. He was majoring in political science but was going on a free ride no matter what he studied. His father was a well-established businessman in Austin and had already paved the way for him. He was a spoiled rotten brat. We came from two different backgrounds, morals, and beliefs.
    When we first started dating, I didn’t think we would be anything more than a good time. I was far more attractive than Jake, but he had that something that attracted women. I mean hell, I was. He was charming, to say the least, and showed me a good time, and that was exactly what I needed.
    My mother, Tammy, hated him from the first time she met him, and although I heard her out and knew exactly why she felt that way, I was still