Free A Wild Ride by Andrew Grey Page B

shirt and smelling like sex. He wished he knew someone he could talk to. Dante laughed out loud, and Jesse stuck his head out of the stall. Dante stroked his nose. “Yeah, I wonder how that conversation would go. Can I try it out on you? See, I’m a bull rider who’s so weak that he gets off when other guys take charge of the fucking. Yeah, that’s a fun conversation.” Dante gave Jesse’s neck a light pat and let the horse go back to his eating. “What the fuck am I gonna do?” Dante asked the universe. “And how am I going to stand having Ryan come back to the ranch? Maybe I just shouldn’t be here when he comes.”

Chapter 6

     
     
    R YAN didn’t get nervous about most things, but he was nervous now and he hated it. “I can’t believe the contact I gave you was Dante Rivers’s grandfather,” Marie said as she settled in the second of Ryan’s office chairs. The first one was occupied by Jacky, who’d stopped in to say hello because it was his day off from the western store he co-owned with his brother.
    “So did you get busy when you saw him?” Jacky quipped, and Marie slapped him lightly on the back of the head.
    “This is a place of business,” Marie scolded and then leaned a little closer to Ryan’s desk. “Well, did you?”
    “God, both of you,” Ryan said, exasperated. Marie and Jacky shared a look.
    “He didn’t,” Jacky said and leaned away, probably in case Marie took another swipe at him.
    “I actually came in here to discuss some work,” Marie said, and Jacky excused himself while Ryan and Marie talked over some plans for a few clients. Then Marie left and Jacky bounced back into the office and collapsed into one of Ryan’s chairs.
    “You know I’d kick you out if you weren’t a client,” Ryan told Jacky with a glare.
    “Yeah, sure,” Jacky began dramatically. “You love me and you know it,” he said as he leaned over and closed the door. “So what’s got you all tied in knots about this guy?”
    “I wish I fucking knew. He’s hot as hell, but I’ve been around hot guys before.”
    “Hello, of course you have, you’re one of them. Just because you’re oblivious doesn’t mean you aren’t hot. No, let’s stop beating around the bush; you’re all tied up in knots because of what happened back in college. You were a kid, and neither of you knew anything about boundaries. Besides, you weren’t even there when Benjamin tried….” Jacky paused, and Ryan saw him swallow hard.
    “See, it even gets to you,” Ryan said, “and I was the one who read him the article.”
    “Yeah, but you weren’t the one that told him to try strangling himself so he could get high when he came. That was all him and had nothing to do with you. I know you decided after that to live your life as vanilla as the next guy.” Jacky stood up and leaned over Ryan’s desk. “I have a news flash for you: you aren’t, nor will you ever be, vanilla when it comes to sex. You’re a Dom, like it or not. Nothing thrills you more than being in control and giving your partner everything they could want and more. That doesn’t mean you need to use whips or paddles, but it does mean you need to be in control. And you need someone who wants to give you that control.”
    “Fuck, I know,” Ryan said.
    “So embrace it, because let me tell you, there’s nothing more pathetic than a Dom who’s down in the dumps.”
    Ryan rolled his eyes. “Let me guess—you’ve been saving that one for a long time.”
    “Maybe,” Jacky said. “But it doesn’t make it any less true. And the reason you’re attracted to Dante is because you think he needs what you can give him. So be yourself and stop trying to deny who you are.”
    “I know. I thought I could up until the moment I met Dante. Within seconds of walking into that hotel room, I knew I’d been fooling myself,” Ryan explained, glancing at his monitor before looking back at Jacky. “I’m not nervous about seeing Dante again or what we might do,