My Cowboy Freedom by Z.A. Maxfield

Author:Z.A. Maxfield
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2016-11-02T14:15:58+00:00

Chapter 21

Sky

I was still picking apart the scene in the doctor’s office.

The Texas sun was merciless. The air was so still you could hardly breathe. Even the hint of a breeze would have been welcome. Fortunately, the trees along the streets that bore their names, Elm, Oak, and Poplar, were mature and leafy, so we walked along in dappled shade.

“How come Chandler thinks he can tell you where to go to the doctor?” I asked, finally.

Rock’s words came out choked in the already thick air. “He...just...can’t tell me that.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

He ticked each item off on his fingers. “I’m on my parents’ medical insurance. He’s their friend so he tries to be their enforcer. I got struck by lightning so I’m too dumb to know what’s good for me. And I’m obviously disturbed because I like men better than women. For sex, I mean. Women are fine, but I fuck men.”

I fought my smile but some of it escaped. “All that?”

“Also Sterling doesn’t speak ‘no.’” He gave an already busted seedpod a vicious kick, and the cottony fibers burst out.

“Mm.” It takes one to ‘no’ one.

“I came to the Rocking C with my parents’ permission. They can revoke it.”

“How?”

“It’s expensive being me.” He shrugged modestly. “Room and board, medical care. Maisy and her bills. I make a decent wage at the Rocking C, but what I earn doesn’t begin to cover everything. I need their help. And they know I need it.”

I wanted to touch him, but I settled for letting my hand swing between us, where sometimes I could brush it against his or bump his shoulder with mine. “How else can you get what you need?”

“What do you mean?” Sunlight picked up glints of gold in his brown hair and eyelashes. “Money?”

“Yeah, for insurance and dog food and stuff. If you didn’t have your parents to help you, how else could you get those things?”

His brows drew together. “I wouldn’t get them. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I couldn’t have those things because I can’t afford them without my parent’s help. You think I like being dependent on them?”

“I never said that.”

“Yeah, but you’d never let anyone tell you what doctor to go to. Is that it?”

“Fuck off.” I gave his arm a gentle swat with the back of my hand. “Who are you talking to right now? It’s not me, ’cause I haven’t had a say in shit for eight years.”

He tilted his head back and stared up. “Sorry.”

“All I’m saying is—”

“I hear what you’re saying.” He let his backpack slide from his shoulders so he could dig out a collapsible dog bowl and a bottle of water. Maisy got her drink before he spoke again. “But you don’t know the whole story, so I don’t think you can judge.”

Well that was clear enough.

What did I care where he went to the doctor, anyway?

I’d forgotten my plan was to keep my head down and do my job. I could do that without complicating things by trying to make friends with everybody.

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