Hard Ridin' Read Online Free PDF

unconventional—crazy. Let her date both of them and make her choice later.
    The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea. He hated to see Laurel hurt—torn between the two of them. It was the same with Holden. They’d been friends for so long, they were closer than brothers. Jens didn’t want to contemplate the ache Holden was experiencing. Taking away that pain from all three of them was the best answer.
    Wasn’t it?
    Jens doffed his hat and laced his fingers with Laurel’s. “You say you don’t have an answer. I don’t either, and neither does Holden. But I care about both of you and don’t want to see you hurt.”
    Holden stalked toward Jens and Laurel. If he’d had a six-shooter on his hip, Jens wouldn’t have been surprised to be called to a duel. Pistols at dawn. Except Laurel was the one who fired.
    She tore her hand from Jens’s. “You’re talking crazy! I can’t date both of you!”
    “Why not? You can’t stand there and tell me you don’t want Holden. I see it written all over your face, Laurel.” While the thought should have speared Jens with jealousy, it didn’t. He latched on to that—held it close.
    Holden wore a smug expression of satisfaction, and Laurel’s eyes were hooded with want. Jens took both as confirmation that he was on the right track. Besides, in the past months, she’d looked at Jens in that very same way. No one could fake that, which meant he had a fighting chance too.
    He slid his fingers up her arm to the crease of her elbow and thumbed the soft flesh there. “Look, sweetheart. I’m in deep. I want you. But I’m not willing to fight my best friend for you. And I don’t want to rip you in two.”
    “But you’d—share me? That’s insane, Jens!”
    “Why? I’d rather share than lose you altogether.” His voice cracked.
    “I can’t believe what I’m hearing.” Holden bit off the words. He gave a violent shake of his head, as if to clear it of water. “What the hell happened to you while I was in Alaska, Jens?”
    A short bark of laughter escaped Jens. He pierced Laurel in his gaze. “I fell in love, that’s what.” It was the first time he’d admitted it aloud. Witnessing the effect it had on Laurel was the most thrilling moment of his life. His heart jerked and sputtered out of control when her eyes filled with tears, and a tender smile brushed her lips.
    She backed away. “I’ve gotta… I’ve gotta get out of here.” She jumped onto her four-wheeler, threw on her helmet and sped off up the hill, tearing up the turf and throwing shards of ice.
    Ice that brought a pang to Jens’s heart.
     
    Holden paced before the log barn five times at a fast rate and still couldn’t calm down enough to talk to his best friend. Jens watched his progress, a stoic expression on his face.
    Finally, Holden stopped and kicked the field stone foundation. The warm brown rock didn’t budge—it had been here for a hundred years. He wished it were Jens’s ass he was kicking.
    In fact, that wasn’t such a bad idea.
    Clenching his hands into fists, he faced Jens. “What the hell are you thinking to suggest such a fucked-up, sick plan?”
    “Why fucked-up? If we push her to choose, she walks.”
    “Maybe she’d be better off!”
    Jens hooked a thumb in his belt buckle—the one he’d won at last year’s rodeo for being the fastest calf-tier. “C’mon, man. You believe that? Is that why you were so pissed when you came home and found her—?”
    “In your fucking arms?” He puffed his fury, sending a long plume of breath into the frosty air.
    Jens held his own as Holden got in his face. Their chests bumped, but Jens was like a fucking brick wall—just as Holden was. They were well-matched, apparently in all aspects. Laurel certainly seemed to think so.
    “If you really believed she was better off without you, then why did you come back and expect her to be waiting? Why didn’t you write or call her?”
    Holden’s guilt ballooned. On the