His Stallion Was Hers, But the Plains Had Other Choices Chapter 02
“What?”
Dylan stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “Tessa, do you hear yourself?”
I heard myself just fine.
“I don’t want a horse I can’t break. And I don’t want a cursed marriage.”
Dylan said his saddle belonged to Chloe. Fine. I’d let them have it.
He looked at me for a long time, then sighed. “You’re just jealous of Chloe, so you’re saying this to get back at me.”
“She’s just kidding. She takes Storm out every year.”
“If she actually competed, that’d be cheating. It’s not the same thing.”
I was quiet for a second. “It’s not about her. I’m just tired.”
Chloe’s eyes lit up. She jumped in fast. “Dylan, stop pushing her.”
“She’s failed so many times. Her body’s not what it used to be.”
“What if she falls and really gets hurt? Who’s gonna take the fall for that?”
“You get more careful when you’re older. We should just understand.”
I met Dylan when I was twenty. We planned to marry at twenty-three.
Now I’m twenty-nine. The oldest spinster on the prairie.
My mom never forced me to quit. She just cried every year watching them carry me off on a stretcher.
“Alright, Tessa. Enough.”
“I promise, I won’t let her compete.”
“Storm’s stubborn. Talk to him more these next few days. It’ll be fine.”
“I don’t want to talk to him. And I’m never going near him again.”
I turned and walked away.
Dylan opened his mouth, but Chloe grabbed his arm.
“You promised you’d help me pick out my outfit for Valentine’s Day! No backing out.”
When he hesitated, she pulled him the other way. “Come on. Let him go.”
“Tessa’s just mad. If you chase her now, she’ll just yell at you. No point. She’ll cool off and come back. She always does.”
Dylan listened. Followed her like nothing happened.
Tessa and Dylan had fought over Chloe more times than I could count.
Same ending every time. I’d slink away, and he’d go right back to laughing with her.
One Valentine’s Day, we went to the movies. Three tickets. Three seats.
Two together by the aisle. One in the front row between two guys.
Chloe grabbed the seat next to Dylan and shoved me to the front.
Dylan told me to be cool. “It’s just a movie. Who cares where you sit?”
“Chloe has a thing about germs. She doesn’t like touching strangers.”
I left and stayed mad at home for three days.
Last Valentine’s Day, I broke my right leg. In the hospital.
My mom got in a car crash on her way to bring me food.
I was losing my mind.
Stuck in bed with a cast, I called Dylan for help.
He said, “Chloe’s having really bad cramps. I can’t leave her.”
“Call a cab. Have them take your mom to the hospital.”
That was the first time I actually broke up with him over the phone.
He showed up anyway. Ran around the hospital taking care of my mom for days.
So I let it go. Forgave him again.
When I got discharged, he said he’d pick me up. Left me waiting for three hours.
Said there was a crash. Traffic.
Later, a friend told me the truth. Roads were wide open.
Chloe’s favorite celebrity was doing a signing. Dylan didn’t want her going alone.
Didn’t even text me.
In his heart, Chloe always came first.
