Savior Complex: A Small Town Love Triangle Romance

“So do I,” he says, taking a moment to tug at my hair. I laugh, but inside…fuck.

Then I find out he lives and works on his family horse ranch—a ranch I know very well.

“The Salt & Sea Ranch?” My mouth hangs open as he nods. “I had horseback riding lessons there when I was seventeen. Were you there then?”

“How many years ago was that?”

“About ten.”

A shadow crosses his expression. It’s brief, and he flips a quick smile at me as if to pretend like it never happened. But I saw it.

“I left for college in the fall,” he says. “We might have been at the ranch at the same time, but I tried to spend as little time there as possible. Between football and school, I only had time for my chores.” He relaxes, his smile returning to full beam. “Besides, the girls kept me busy enough.”

“Sure they did,” I laugh. But inside, I’m wondering what Brayden isn’t saying. I know why I was there, and I don’t want to discuss it. Is there a reason he had to leave?

“Where did you go to college? And were you studying anything specific?”

“San Francisco State, and just General Ed,” he says. “I mostly needed a change of scenery. All I knew was the ranch, and this was my chance to figure out if there was something else I was good at, or even interested in.”

“And did you?”

He laughs, then bumps my shoulder. “That’s three questions, Sugar.”

“You can ask me three more then, but I want to know.”

He’s quiet for a moment, and I realize that once again I’m asking him about something that’s obviously too intimate to share with a stranger. I can’t believe I keep tromping on these emotional landmines.

“Sorry, you don’t have to answer,” I say, but he shakes his head.

“No, it’s fine. I really wasn’t the college sort. There was literally no reason for me to go. I had a career waiting for me at the ranch. Because it was my family’s business, it was pretty much a done deal that I would work there full time.” He breathes in sharply, and I can tell he’s struggling. In a bold moment, I take his hand. He looks down at our hands, and I feel his grip loosen slightly. I start to let go, but then he tightens, keeping my hand in his. It feels warm. Comforting. Right.

“Something happened that year that really changed things for my family. I don’t want to get into it, but it was my fault and being around my family became almost unbearable. I hadn’t planned to apply for college, but there I was in my senior year, filling out applications for every college that would accept an average student like me. And college was fine, but my heart wasn’t in it. I passed my classes, but barely. I stayed for a few years, but just before my final year, my dad had a heart attack while riding and ended up breaking his back. He’s now paralyzed from the waist down, and the ranch was in danger of folding if I didn’t come home.”

“Oh my God, Brayden. I’m so sorry.”

“He survived,” he assures me, and I squeeze his hand.

“That’s a relief. But I mean, I’m sorry you had to leave school. You didn’t really get much choice in the matter, did you?”

He shakes his head, but then laughs. “Look at me, moaning over a great paycheck and a set career. You must think I’m such an entitled asshole.”

“No, I think you were laid a hand of cards and told which ones to play without a chance to try your own. I get it.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, family is hard. I know mine is. But the difference is that they don’t even want me around. I’m such a disappointment to my parents because I’m not who they wanted to be. I’ll never be smart enough, pretty enough, or thin enough. They think I’m a spoiled brat who has never had to work for anything, and I guess in some ways they’re right. But they don’t even try to get to know me so they can see the ways they’re wrong. The last time I saw them was Christmas, and my mother spent the whole night telling me…”

I stop myself. My mom ruined my Christmas when she couldn’t stop telling me I looked like a sausage in my new dress. I had been fasting for weeks beforehand and had dropped ten pounds. With my Spanx, I felt sexy and slim, even if I was still far from my goal weight. But the way she spoke to me, I felt like I was thirteen all over again—chubby and stupid.

“Let’s just say my mom isn’t very complimentary when it comes to me.” I wrinkle my nose at him. “Is that how your parents are?”

“No, thankfully. I mean, my dad is a hard ass. Even though he had to give me most of the responsibilities of running the ranch, he still has a way of doing things and wants to make sure I follow them. But he’s a good man, and my mom is literally an angel. I couldn’t do any of this without her—without both of them, really—and even though I didn’t choose this life, I appreciate the ranch so much more now.”

I shiver involuntarily, the cold air finally seeping into my bones through my thin jacket.

“Shit, you must be freezing. We’re probably close to your house, right?” Is that reluctance in his voice, or am I imaging that too? I reach for my phone to check for the time before realizing I don’t have it.

“Just a few more blocks. What time is it?”