Wild Hearts by Jessica Burkhart

yeah,” I said. “It’s nothing but a flesh wound,” I teased, quoting one of my favorite movies and wondering if Logan would get the reference.
    â€œ
Monty Python
,” Logan exclaimed.
    I nodded as we started to make our way over to Holden. “Right,” I said. “I watch way too many movies.”
    Logan started to answer back until he looked at Holden’s face. Holden’s mouth was clamped tight and he wouldn’t look at me. Great, I scared him with my bloody knees.
    â€œHolden, it’s okay,” Logan said, leaving me to hop across the creek and crouch by his brother. “This is my friend Brie. She’s new in town. Remember how scared you were to go to school on your first day because you were new? Brie’s feeling like that, so let’s make her comfortable, okay?”
    Holden didn’t say a word, he just nodded his head slowly.
    Logan prodded him. “Okay?”
    â€œOkay,” Holden whispered. He lifted his chin that had been resting on his drawn-up knees.
    Logan walked back to the creek, darted across and held my hand as I crossed.
    â€œSit here, Brie,” Logan said, motioning to a rock covered with a plaid flannel blanket.
    â€œDo your knees hurt?” Holden asked. He enunciated each word clearly.
    â€œThey did,” I said. “Logan helped me and I’m okay now.”
    Holden nodded and stood. His tennis shoes were scuffed and his jeans looked worn. He had on a thin red T-shirt witha gray zip-up jacket. The clothes looked a size too big for his small body.
    â€œIodine,” he said.
    â€œWhat?” I asked.
    â€œPut iodine on your knees so they don’t get infected.”
    â€œOkay, I will. Thanks.” He gave me a small smile and hopped off the rock. Maybe Logan had a future doctor on his hands.
    â€œWhy don’t you grab the sandwiches from our backpack, Holden,” Logan said.
    Holden headed for a navy-colored backpack a few yards away.
    â€œYour brother is really cute,” I said. “And smart.”
    Logan’s eyes were on his brother as he sat on the big rock next to me. “He’s always been a precocious kid. Sorry for the look he gave you when you and I walked over.”
    â€œIt’s okay. I’m just glad I found you guys. We, um, haven’t really talked or anything since . . .” I let my voice trail off. I didn’t want to come across like one of those girls who counted hours since they last saw their boyfriends. And that wasn’t how I felt, anyway. There was just something unexplainable about a pull that I felt to Logan. But I
had
to fight it. This was the guy who had revved his engine at me when we first met. The son of my family’s biggest enemy. But . . . this was also the guy who took me four-wheeling and liked hearing about where I’d lived and how I got here. Talk about confusing.
    â€œI’ve been a total jerk since our ATV ride,” Logan said. “I should have texted or something. I mean, not that you were waiting for me to text.”
    â€œI wasn’t,” I said, shaking my head.
    â€œThis is the first time since then that I’ve been free of work in town or work at home,” Logan said. He tipped his cowboy hat back and his eyes met mine. “Have you hiked along any of the trails we found the other day?”
    â€œI’ve been too busy,” I said. “You know, working for my dad.”
    The end of my sentence just stuck in the air. I felt as though it formed an invisible barrier between us.
    â€œHave you thought through the things I said about the horses?” Logan asked.
    I nodded. “Yes. But it’s not like I can share them with my dad.”
    â€œI understand that,” Logan said. “I really do. I’ve been talking to some of the locals and I’m trying to get an appointment to meet with someone from the local Bureau of Land Management. I want to ask their permission to move the