Savior Complex: A Small Town Love Triangle Romance

“Brayden, I have had a really crappy couple of months. Years, to be honest. Talking dirty with you feels like the highlight of my life.”

“Happy to be of service,” Brayden says, tipping his cowboy hat.

Fuck, this job is going to be both heaven and hell. And I’m here for it.

Chapter Fifteen

Brayden

Tonight’s tour is probably the best one I’ve ever led, and it has everything to do with Nina. Just being around her makes everything better, but especially on this tour, I can see how well she fits in.

First off, she doesn’t shy away from helping out. I love that she jumps into working, ready to pitch in wherever an extra pair of hands is needed. Like now, as she rides next to this young boy and talks about her favorite Nintendo Switch games. I didn’t even know she played games, but it makes me want to learn just so we have something else we can talk about.

Watching her with him ignites something else inside me. She’s a natural with kids. She talks with him like he’s an adult, and he’s totally feeding into it. I’d noticed him early on, how he was fighting his parents on just about everything. I was ready to wring his neck, but Nina stepped in and somehow diffused the situation.

She also diffused the bachelorette situation. This kind of thing happens almost every weekend, if I’m being honest. But I heard Nina’s tone when she corrected the girls. She was jealous.

Of course, I don’t know that for certain. It’s possible I’m reading way too much into it because I’m crushing on Nina in completely inappropriate ways. If Jordy knew how I felt about her cousin, she’d straight up murder me. She’d make me fire her, even though hiring Nina was her idea. If she knew the thoughts that go through my head just seeing Nina on a horse, in those tight jeans that show every one of her luscious curves…

I’m leading the pack, but it doesn’t stop me from glancing back every few minutes. I say it’s to check on the group, but really it’s to look at Nina. She’s busy making friends with the family, but she never fails to catch my eye every time I look at her. It’s as if she knows I’m watching her, like she can feel my eyes on her.

She’s a natural at riding. She’d been nervous yesterday, telling me how she hadn’t ridden in almost a decade. But seeing her now, it’s like she’s been riding every day of her life. Nina belongs on a horse. She belongs on a ranch. She belongs here, with…

With me.

I shake the thought from my head. It is not wrong to find other people attractive. I’m sure Jordy has thought other guys are attractive. Hell, I work on a ranch of single guys that gain plenty of attention from the women who visit here. I’d be a fool to believe Jordy didn’t think they were good-looking.

But is she obsessing about them? Is she considering what a future with them might look like or how amazingly well they might fit into her life, like I’m thinking about Nina? Is she wondering what would have happened if she’d turned right instead of left?

I can’t let my attraction to Nina get in the way of our working relationship. I wanted to find a staff member that would work well with my mom after Hazel went to college, and I needed someone who could fill in as needed around the ranch. Nina is both, and the way she’s working now, I know she’ll fit in even if I no longer manage the ranch.

We catch up with the other tour at the end of the beach, and I dismount and help the guys tie off the horses. Nina helps the young boy, who I assume has a crush on her by now with the way he’s watching her. Me too, kid.

“You can use my knee when we get back on the horses,” she says as she helps him down. I’d heard him arguing before, but there’s no argument now. In fact, he seems to be a huge fan of that idea.

“Looks like you have a new boyfriend,” I whisper to her once everyone has dismounted and are gathered around the beach fire Levi lit in a makeshift pit.

“Well, Levi is taken,” she says, nodding at the swarm of bachelorettes that have stuck by him since the beginning of the tour. “And you’re off the market. I mean, not that I need you on the market. I mean…” She trails off, looking like she wants to sink into the sand.

“You mean, what?” I tease her, pulling her down with me so that we’re both sitting in the sand. She leans on my thigh for a moment, regaining her balance, but she lingers for just a few seconds longer than necessary. Rather, it’s very necessary. I want to feel the weight of her whole body on mine.

“I mean a platonic gaming buddy who’s here with his parents is pretty much my speed right now. Dating is so overrated anyway.”

“Wait, aren’t you dating someone now?” I ask, even though I know she isn’t. But I still can’t help teasing her. She tilts her head in confusion, and I bite back a smile.

“You know, Sebastian?” I prompt her. I can’t believe I remember the name she said at Jordy’s parents’ house, when she went on and on about the guy who could do funny things with his tongue. Even joking, I want to murder this imaginary dude.

Nina continues looking confused, but then a light bulb goes off and she bursts out laughing.

“I seem to remember I mentioned several guys that evening. Sebastian. The throuple. Hell, I was getting ready to bring up the whole San Diego Chargers lineup before my mom shut me down.”

“That’s impressive,” I laugh, nudging her. “You’re obviously popular.”

“It’s the only way I can get my mom off my back,” she says. “My mother seems to think I’m either one huge project because I can’t find a guy, or she thinks I’m a whore. There’s no in between. She will never think I’m thin enough, pretty enough, or worth anything until I settle down. But I don’t want to settle down, or rather, I don’t want to settle. I find guys to be…” She stops, looking out at the ocean, and I can see a shift in her features—a hint of emotion. It’s gone in a flash, and she looks back at me with tired resignation. “Guys can be really disappointing,” she finally says. “I’ve learned it’s just better not to trust any of them.”

You can trust me, I want to tell her. But to what end? I can’t be with her, so defending myself against her experience of men would be wasted and inappropriate.

“I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with such dipshits,” I tell her instead. Her eyes widen, and she places her hand on my arm. It’s warm on my skin, even as the air is turning cooler.