The rest of the week was slow.

Peyton? AWOL. I called him once and found out that he was in Dallas. And that was all he had to say about that. Well, fuck you too.

Jake was busy at the fairgrounds with the rest of the ranch hands, prepping for the Stock Show. I only saw him twice in passing, and both times, we pretended not to see each other.

Not surprising, considering how we'd left it after that mess at Sonic. He'd started apologizing in earnest as we neared the ranch, all but groveled for forgiveness, really. But I'd ignored him, slammed the car door shut, and walked away while he'd called my name over and over again in exasperation.

And that was that.

Whatever. Who was I kidding anyway? I was no take-charge woman ready to take the bull by the horns. I was just a clueless girl who barely knew her head from her ass.

As for my worries about having to choose between Jake and Peyton, well, that was just delusional. One girl with crushes on two guys, neither of whom seemed particularly enthusiastic about getting it on with her? That's not a love triangle, that's just life.

Apparently, sleep deprivation caused temporary psychological disturbances. WebMD said so, and that was good enough for me.

Time to move on.

Besides, the pageant was only a week away and I had real-life things to do. I was on my way to meet Beth so we could practice my routine. We'd decided on a Freestyle Reigning number to the tune of "La Bamba."

I know.

But Beth was super into it, going out of her way to choreograph the whole thing for me and I didn't have it in my heart to say no.

Left and right lead changes, three rundowns and stops, six spins in both directions, one rollback and some two-tracking. Easy as pie. Apparently, Phoenix was great at circling so she wanted me to try executing small, slow circles with a quick transition to large, fast ones. It was a good idea, that was always a crowd pleaser.

Practice wasn't necessary, I could do all that in my sleep, but I liked hanging out with Beth, so I'd agreed. I couldn't wait to surprise her with my contribution to the program. I'd do it without reins.

Look Beth! No hands!

I couldn't wait to see her face when I showed her. Grinning, I picked up the pace.

And stopped short when I saw Jake.

Seeing him unexpectedly caught me off guard. Seeing him with Charlotte, doubly so.

The two of them stood beside a horse with the most exquisite coat I'd ever seen, a pale iridescent gold that was nearly metallic in its sheen. She was elegantly built- narrow chested and long backed with incredibly beautiful slender legs and low set hocks.

Really, all you had to do was slap on a horn and voila, Unicorn.

As it was, her mane and tail were braided and the poor creature was dripping with multiple collars of middle eastern styling that reminded me of the stuff belly dancers wore around their torsos.

Oh, Charlotte.

Tearing my eyes away from the horse, I focused on the humans. Charlotte rode English style and was dressed in an ivory silk sleeveless button down and tan jodhpurs with knee high riding boots. Flawless, as always. Also, great ass.

Tee-shirt-and-jeans clad Jake fawned over the horse, bending at the knee to check her shoes while Charlotte watched, tapping her riding crop steadily against her boot.

There was a special place in hell for people who used those things on horses.

Get away before she sees you.

Yeah, right. I moved to step behind a stack of hay instead.

And froze when Charlotte lifted the crop and placed the keeper on Jake's chin, giving it a light tap. He grinned and stood, returning his attention to her.

What the fuck?

Charlotte stepped forward and smiled up at him before placing her hand on his belt and playfully tugging him closer to her. Then she said something to him that made him throw his head back and laugh.

My world turned blood red.

Mine.

Y'all. I got so jealous, my vision tunneled. I must have emitted some major bunny-boiling-psycho vibes because Jake looked up and spotted me across the distance. His smile wavered, but didn't drop. Charlotte turned to see what he was looking at.

Crap.

"Layla!" she called out, waving. "Come say hello to my new horse."

I wanted to refuse, but my desire to see her horse up close won over. Steadfastly refusing to make eye contact with Jake, I walked over, my hand rising on its own accord to stroke the her coat.

"She's extraordinary." I said, my voice a reverent whisper. "I've never seen anything like her."

"She is, isn't she? Her name's Noble Elise. She's an Akhal-Teke," Charlotte said. "From Turkmenistan. Daddy just got her for me."

"Mmm-hmmm." With Charlotte, the less I said, the better.

"I had her brought here so Miranda can practice her routine for the Pageant. She'll be riding her." Charlotte tilted her head to the right, letting her gaze travel down my body. "Speaking of, I heard you're competing too, I'm sure you'll do really well."

"Mmm-hmmm."

"Lottie! Help me with this stuff!" Miranda stood at the barn door struggling with a bushel of apples and a bunch of shopping bags overflowing with colorful, sparkly things.

Charlotte excused herself.

As soon as she was out of earshot, I turned to Jake.

"Did you fuck her too?"

He rolled his eyes. "See? This is why we can't be friends."

"Did you?"

"Would you quit asking me questions you don't want to hear the answer to?"

I slapped his arm. "Yes or no?"

He looked over my head at Charlotte and shrugged.

"You did, didn't you?"

He said nothing.

"Disgusting. You are vile," I spat. Then I turned on my heel and stomped away.

"Grow up, Layla!" he shouted after me.

***

"I can't believe it. Charlotte Bishop? Really?" I kicked at a loose stone, sending it tumbling into the grass. "We'll have to re-evaluate doing anything with him now that we know he's infected with Charlotte germs."

We? Who's we? You and the mouse in your pocket? Get it together, Layla, you're falling apart again.

I pouted. More importantly, if she had dibs on him, real or imagined, she was bound to go berserk. You just can't stack that much crazy on top of already-crazy without things getting nuclear.

"Speaking of crazy, what kind of crazy messes with that kind of crazy anyway? He must be out of his mind." I snorted. "And you're worried about me turning into a Stage 5 Clinger? At least I don't have the potential to stab you to death with an ice pick while you sleep!"

Enough.

With a final shudder, I compartmentalized this new curve-ball and filed it away in the deep recesses of my brain. Then, I continued to walk toward the boarding stables to meet Beth. As I passed the barn, Charlotte reappeared.

"Are you leaving already?"

I looked at her and immediately imagined her naked. With Jake. It made me want to tear her throat out with my teeth. "I'm meeting someone."

"Peyton's with Alice."

"Mmmm hmmm."

"I'll walk with you," she said. "I've been wanting to talk to you about something anyway. Would you give me just one minute? I'll let Miranda know where I'm going."

Before I could refuse, she disappeared back into the barn.

I could've left, probably should've left, but curiosity got the better of me. While I waited, I pilfered two apples for Beth's horses and shoved them into my backpack. Technically, it was stealing, but who cared? I'd consider it payment for having to endure her company.

When Charlotte returned, she linked her arm through mine as if we were the best of friends. I flinched when her cold hand brushed my arm and tried to pull away, but she held fast.

"Have you met Alice?" she asked conversationally.

"Briefly."

"She's sweet isn't she? And pretty."

Oh, now I know what you're up to, you Psychic Vampire. You want to use my insecurities to cut me so you can watch me bleed.

When I didn't respond, Charlotte continued to extol Alice's virtues, but I tuned her out. It wasn't that hard to do, I was still stuck on her fucking Jake. Me, Peyton, Jake and Charlotte. What a freaking incestuous circle jerk this could've turned out to be. Good thing I found out before it was too late.

Charlotte tugged on my arm and pulled me out of the haze.

"What?" I actually snapped at her and she drew back a little, obviously surprised. Truth was, a lot of the reason I never stood up to her cruelty was in deference to Peyton. Whatever she was, she was also his sister. But if Peyton was going to be like this, why should I hold back?

An inappropriate level of rage manifested on her face, making my blood run cold. But it disappeared as quickly as it came, her features re-arranging into a mask of placidity by the sheer force of her will.

Oh yeah, I should hold back because she's scary as fuck.

I looked away.

"Do you know why Alice is here?" Her tone was sugar sweet again.

I shook my head.

"Ah. I was hoping that you did."

We walked in silence for a while, excruciating for me, and God-knows-what for her. My entire body was numb except for the place on my arm where my skin was touching hers. That part crawled. She kept her gaze straight ahead, her thin-bridged, perfect little nose leading the way.

"Peyton's a really good friend to everyone, very generous with his time and attention," she said, shrugging. "I think he's a bit heavy-handed with the messiah complex, but I can see why everybody adores him and turns to him when they're in trouble."

She huffed out a petulant little breath. "I have to say though, I am annoyed. I understand that Alice is important to him, but she's a big girl - it's unnecessary to spend every waking moment with her, hovering over her like she's something that can be broken. I swear, I haven't been alone with her for two seconds since she arrived."

Frowning, I studied her closely. Charlotte, this Mistress of Illusions was having an off day, and I could see that her words weren't the usual carefully thought out lines delivered to whatever crazy internal beat she was marching to. No, there was real emotion behind them. She was confused and jealous and maybe even hurt. She also looked tired, the skin on her face paler than usual, her hair not as smoothly finished. There was something human about her and that made me even more uneasy.

What are you up to Peyton?

"Of course, mother is thrilled. If Peyton and Alice ended up together... well, she would be a tremendous asset to him if he were to inherit Albright."

"What do you mean?"

She looked at me and blinked several times. "Don't you know? Alice Huntington. As in Roland Huntington."

She took in my still-blank look and continued. "He's the richest man in New York, owns half of Manhattan. Come on, Layla, he's up there with Bill Gates and Warren Buffet."

"Oh."

I was more curious about her comment on Albright. I knew that Albright was Peyton's middle name, but I didn't know it was a thing. "What do you mean if he were to inherit Albright?"

Charlotte searched my face. "He doesn't talk about any of that stuff with you?" There wasn't any malice behind these words, only genuine surprise. That hurt more.

She tried to look contrite, then gave my arm a little squeeze. "Excuse me, I didn't mean to make you feel bad, I'm just surprised, that's all... I mean, you two spend so much time together... Anyway, you shouldn't feel bad, he doesn't talk about it with me either and I'm his sister. Albright is our maternal grandfather's holding company. There's a lot of conflict about succession rights." Charlotte waved her hand dismissively. "Peyton doesn't want it, but it's most likely coming to him."

Ah. Peyton's life in New York, as foreign to me as life on Mars. I felt the distance between us increase by chasms.

Charlotte dropped my arm suddenly. "Well. I'll leave you here then. If you find out why Alice is here, would you be sure to tell me?"

Not on your life.

"Sure," I said.

She smiled. "Thank you. I'll see you around."

I watched her go until she disappeared into the barn, then gave my head a firm shake to clear it.

A flash of black flickered in the corner of my eye.

I hadn't even realized we were standing in front of Satan's pen, but there he was, staring at me.

After checking to make sure no one else was around, I walked over to him. I folded my arms down on top of the fence and rested my chin on my forearm. This put us nose to nose.

"The world isn't a very nice place for creatures like us, is it?" I mumbled, holding out an apple for him. He took it. When he was done, I looked in him the eye. "For what it's worth, I think you're way more beautiful than that hoity-toity Akhal-Teke from Turkmenistan. Overbred and bedazzled to an inch of her life, I'm sorry, but she looked a little stupid."

I stroked his nose. "I mean, look at you, you're perfection. You're breathtaking in all your natural glory, you really are."

Satan sniffed, catching the scent of the other apple. I gave it to him. Beth's horses probably only ate organic apples watered with morning dew collected from the Himalayas anyway.

Closing my eyes, I let Satan nuzzle my face. "Gross, you're getting your spit all over my face," I laughed and pulled away, wiping my face with the hem of my shirt.

He jerked at my movement, throwing his head back stepping. 

"Shhhhh... Take it easy..." Taking him by the halter, I pulled his face down to mine and looked him in the eyes. "Get it together Satan, they're gonna put you down unless you shape up soon."

Ride me.

I wiggled my eyebrows at him. "Oh really? Why? So you can take me down with you? No thanks, I don't know what your deal is, but I'm gonna live. There's always hope around the corner."

Satan issued his dare again, his ears pricked forward, tail soft, body relaxed. I put my hands on either side of his face and leaned my forehead into his nose, nuzzling him like he did me earlier. "No, you listen. Live, Satan, I dare you. You don't have to let Jake break you if you can't, but you have to learn to pretend. Horses or human, we all have to sing for our supper, you know? And it's not so bad once you get used to it."

You can ride me.

I felt the familiar tingle in my spine, and the itch to ride, really ride, but I shut it down. "I won't," I said softly, running my hands alongside his face. "I don't fall in love with horses anymore."

A/N: EliseNoble - thanks for all the horse help and for suggesting the Akhal Teke. I know it was a long time ago, but I'm still using your advice! ^_^