by Elle Thorpe
He traced a finger down the side of my face. “You’re amazing,” he said softly. “You’re beautiful, and smart, and you’re gonna make some guy the happiest man in the world.”
I smiled stiffly. “But that man isn’t you.”
The agony in his expression nearly did me in.
“I want to kiss you goodbye, but I don’t want to hurt you anymore than I already have.”
I nodded. It was for the best. If he took me in his arms now, I might never let go. And I could already see his boss frowning at him from inside the bus. So instead of pushing up onto my toes and kissing the man I’d fallen for all over again, I pulled back and offered him a wave, as if we were barely more than strangers.
Then I watched him get on a bus and leave me behind in a cloud of dust.
23
Nate
I trudged up the bus stairs, hating myself with every inch of my being, and so utterly miserable that I could barely breathe.
I’d boarded without telling Hallie how I felt. Because it had seemed the kinder thing to do, after I’d already hurt her so much. How unfair was it for me to tell her I loved her, right as I walked out of her life? The raw pain in her eyes had been the final straw that clamped my lips shut.
I wouldn’t do it. I’d love Hallie Ryan until my dying day. I knew that, with something deep and gut-wrenching and final. A full-body conviction that I’d just let the best thing to ever happen to me slip away. I’d come back next Christmas and watch her with her new boyfriend. The next year they’d be married. Then one day, when I came back again, still blue with the knowledge she was with someone else, I’d see her happy, with her husband and children. She’d stop me and smile, and we’d maybe reminisce about those few days we’d had, where a fling had felt like forever. She’d go on with her life, and I’d go straight back to hating myself for ever letting her go.
Brad clapped me on the shoulder. “Listen, kid. The Today interview is in less than twenty-four hours. We’re headed straight to the hotel in Texas, and you’ll Skype in. Do you have any photos of your niece? Or your sister?”
I frowned at him. “Why?”
Brad looked confused. “Well, they’re going to want to talk about the crash. This is your big comeback. People love a family tragedy. It’ll make your wins all the sweeter. Maybe we can get your sister and brother-in-law in the stands for the next round…”
“My brother-in-law is still laid up in a hospital bed, and my sister is in a cast up to her hip. Neither of them can even leave the hospital, and you want to get them to a rodeo? Just for publicity?”
Brad folded his arms across his chest. “You know how the game is played here. It’s not enough to be a good rider anymore. You want the sponsorship deals and the big money? You gotta give people more than your talent on the back of the bull. What about that girl you were with out there? Who’s she? Girlfriend? You’re gonna have to call that off. The female fans are going to want you single. Handsome boy and all.”
I gaped at him. I’d heard about the PR stunts this guy pulled to get our sport in the media and fill seats at stadiums. But he’d had bigger riders to concentrate on, so I’d never seen it firsthand. Until now. Now I was it. And this was my new life?
No.
“What’s that?” Brad asked.
I didn’t even realize I’d spoken out loud. But I must have. “I said no.”
“No, what?” The man seemed truly confused.
But suddenly I wasn’t. Suddenly everything was as clear as day, and I was making the biggest mistake of my life. “Stop the bus,” I yelled to the driver.
“What?” Brad pushed to his feet. “What are you doing? Keep driving!”
The driver looked over his shoulder at us in confusion but didn’t slow down. I grabbed my bag and stormed down the aisle. “Stop the bus,” I said again.
This time, the man listened. He put his foot on the brake, and we rolled to a halt.
“You can’t leave!” Brad shouted, the entire bus staring at us. “You wanted this! You signed a contract!”
“Then sue me. Because maybe I did want this at one point in my life. But I don’t anymore.” I stared Brad in the eye. “I quit.”
Shocked murmurs rippled around the bus, but then the door was opening, and I was outside again, sucking in deep lungfuls of fresh clean air and feeling like I finally could breathe again.
I spun around to where I’d left Hallie and found her gaping at me in astonishment. We’d barely travelled five hundred yards, and I hurried toward her, picking up the pace until I was flat-out sprinting. I dropped my bag, lightening my load, and skidded in the dust to stop in front of her.
She stared up at me. “What’s going on?”
I grinned at her. “I quit.”
Her eyes widened. “You what? No, you did not. Get back on that bus and tell your boss you hit your damn head, or that you’re high and can’t be held accountable for the ridiculous words that just came out of your mouth.”
“Nope. Can’t do that, Hallie. Sorry. I quit. And I meant it.”
She huffed out a frustrated breath. “Winning that title is your dream. And you’re closer than ever.”
It was all so clear to me now. I just had to make her see it, too. “It was my dream. It was the dream of a small-town, eighteen-year-old kid who thought the world began outside the county lines. I’d never been anywhere or done anything. But now I have. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve had people cheer my name. I’ve won awards, and made enough money to do whatever I want, at least for a while. Unless of course they sue me, which they probably will, judging from the expression on Brad’s face right now. But I don’t care.”
“But the title…”
“Is a belt buckle. Nothing more. And I don’t want it. Not anymore. I’ve been happier here with you, and my family, and out at Frost’s ranch than I’ve been in a very long time out on the road. I want to come home.”
She clamped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide.
I pulled her into my arms. “I want to come home, and I want to build a life here. With you. I love you, Hallie. I have for a long time, and I was just too stupid to see what was right under my nose. I don’t want to spend every day missing you, when I could be right here beside you.”
“But what will you do?”
I shrugged. “I’ll ask Frost for a job. Or I’ll work on your house with you. I don’t know. I just know that I don’t want to ride anymore. I don’t want a tour. I want a home. A relationship. I want you.”
Without even thinking about it, I dropped down on one knee, in the dust on the side of the road, with a bus full of cowboys watching on in stunned silence. “Marry me, Hallie. I don’t have a ring, because I didn’t plan this, but I love you, and I want you to be my wife.”
Hallie’s mouth fell open. “Are you insane?”
I laughed. “Yeah, maybe. But I mean it.” I glanced over my shoulder at the bus stopped down the road.
My friends had all piled out of the bus and were standing in a group, huge grins across their faces. “Get her, Nate!” somebody yelled, making me chuckle.
I turned back to Hallie. “Now’s your chance to get me back,” I whispered. “You could turn me down in front of all these people.”
A tiny smile crept across her face. “I could, but I’m not as slow as you.”
I grinned. “So is that a yes?”
She launched herself at me, sending my sprawling back into the dirt. “It’s a yes, cowboy. It’s a big hell yes.”
I let out a whoop of delight and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her mouth down to mine. And when I kissed her, I knew it right to my soul.
This cowboy was home.
Epilogue
Dominic
Squished into the backseat of a tiny Volkswagen Beetle, with Summer Hunt pressed against my side, was agony in more ways than one. At six foot four, my legs were not made for small spaces, and my knees rammed Hallie in the back. But she didn’t seem to notice. She smiled happily across th
e stick shift at Nate, who she’d let drive her car, her fingers combing through the hair at the nape of his neck.
The two of them were disgustingly happy, making lovesick eyes at each other when they thought no one was watching.
They were at complete odds with the couple crammed into the backseat with me.
Austin sat on the other side of Summer, glued to his phone. While Summer stared straight ahead, gazing out the windshield. She barely moved, her breathing deep and regular.
I nudged her. “You nervous?”
She started from her trance and glanced my way.
Fuck, she was beautiful. Every time she turned those big brown eyes in my direction my heart slammed against my chest. This was why sitting so close to her was such agony for me.
All I wanted to do was kiss her. Bite her bottom lip, slide my tongue over her mouth and taste her. Plus more. There was so much more I wanted to do with her.
“Summer, look at this apartment. It would be perfect for us.”
Austin’s voice was like a bucket of cold water over my head.
Without answering my question, Summer turned to her dickhead of a boyfriend and peered over his shoulder at his phone.
“Apartment?” I questioned, straining to see as well.
Summer’s floral scent filled my nose, and I backed off quickly before I did something stupid, like run my nose up her neck and whisper in her ear how good she smelled.
“Where is that?” Summer asked. “There’s no apartment buildings around here.”
Austin scoffed. “Of course not. There’s nothing but cows around here. It’s in the city. Not that far really. Only about a two-hour drive.”
“Two hours?”
I frowned. “You’re moving away?”
She shook her head while Austin nodded.
Austin glanced at her, his face filling with frustration. “You said you’d consider it.”
Summer’s body went rigid beside me. “I said I’d consider it if I didn’t make the pro tour.”
Austin waved his hand around. “Right, yeah. Whatever.” He went back to searching apartment listings, his thumb flicking over his phone screen rapidly.
I clamped my teeth together as Summer returned to staring out the window, completely withdrawing into herself again. She’d agreed to move in with this dickhead? I mean, I could understand that. From what I’d heard in snatches of conversations between our parents, she’d been with him ever since their high school prom. She was twenty-two. It was understandable she’d want a place of her own.
But the city? That wasn’t Summer. Hell, I barely knew her, only getting to see her every couple of years when my family came out to Georgia to visit. But Summer was a small-town girl through and through. Her life was these bulls and the riding school she helped her father run. She fit in the city about as well as I did. Which was not at all. The place gave me hives.
As did Austin, and his smarmy fucking attitude. Had he seriously written Summer off before she’d even begun? If he thought she wasn’t making the pros then he was about to be proven wrong. Pushing my luck, I put my hand on her arm and squeezed it before quickly moving it away. She glanced over at me, and our gazes collided.
Doubt clouded hers, and that made me want to reach across and strangle her boyfriend. Because it was him who had put that doubt there. Nobody else in her life doubted her ability for one second.
“Hey,” I said softly, my voice barely audible over the grumble of Hallie’s car engine and the radio playing. “You’re going to nail this ride today. And you’re going to make the pros next year. It’s your time. I know it.”
A tiny smile lifted the corner of her mouth. “Thanks.”
I knew my words hadn’t really helped her any. But I couldn’t let her go out in that arena, without reminding her that at least one person in this back seat was rooting for her to succeed.
We pulled up in the dirt lot of the arena. It was just a small outdoor one, nothing like the places she’d ride when she made the pros. But there was a big crowd already milling, waiting for the gates to open. This was one of the qualifiers for the next pro tour, and people wanted to see the young guns fighting it out.
We all piled out of the car, and Hallie and Nate both hugged Summer and wished her good luck. I didn’t know her well enough to hug her, but I gave her a grin and nodded at her. I’d already said my piece in the car. We all turned to Austin, and for Summer’s sake, I wanted him to step up. I wanted him to kiss her and tell her she was going to nail it.
He jabbed a finger into his phone and then put it to his ear. “Gotta call this real estate broker, babe. They might be able to get us a viewing this weekend.”
“I’ve got to go,” Summer told him. “I need time to get ready.”
Austin nodded distractedly. “Sure, babe. Go. I’ll see you after.” He gave her a one-armed hug, but whoever he was calling must have answered the phone, because then he was stalking off, asking something about bathroom fixtures and bedroom sizes.
Summer watched him go for half a second, then spun on her heel and took off in the direction of the bucking chutes.
Hallie’s face morphed from sunshine and smiles to seething anger. “It’s a good thing Austin walked off before I punched him in his face.”
I blinked at her. “You don’t like him?”
“Do you? Does anyone? You heard him just now. I can’t stand the way he treats her.”
She wasn’t the only one.
“Let’s just go before he comes back. Maybe we can lose him in the crowd and not have to sit with him.” Nate threaded his fingers through Hallie’s, and I followed the two of them toward the stands. We weren’t lucky enough to lose Austin completely, and he caught up to us as we sat down. I was the dumb fool who had to sit next to him.
“That apartment sounds so good,” he said to me, as if I was actually interested. “Summer is going to love it.”
He didn’t know his girlfriend at all.
Or maybe he did, and he just didn’t care.
The loudspeaker crackled to life, announcing the first rider, and a jolt of anticipation shot through me when I realized it was Summer. Hallie, Nate, and I all jumped to our feet and hooted and hollered.
Austin barely lifted his gaze. “Oh, she’s first?” He looked at his watch. “Awesome. Maybe we can get out of here early and get some proper food for dinner.”
Hallie stared at him.
But I was fucking done being polite. “Are you for real?”
“Huh?” Austin frowned at me.
“No seriously, are you for real right now? Your girlfriend is possibly about to make history, by becoming the first woman on the WBRA tour, and you don’t even give a shit?”
“How is that any of your business?” Austin eyed me like I was a piece of trash. “You don’t know anything about Summer. I don’t even know why you’re here.”
I balled my fingers into fists, and it took everything in my power not to smash one into Austin’s face. The only thing that stopped me was that Summer was getting on the back of her bull and I didn’t want to miss her ride when security threw me out.
I also hated that he was right. It wasn’t my business. I was barely even Summer’s friend, so it wasn’t my place to have an opinion on her dickwad partner.
Nate clamped a hand down on my shoulder. “Okay, my friend. You’re going to sit over here now.” He guided me to the other side of him, so he and Hallie were both between me and Austin. I sat down hard, fuming, but focused on Summer.
We’d scored the front row, and I was grateful for it now, because it meant there was a metal barrier in front of me that I could white-knuckle. This ride wasn’t the be all and end all for her. There would be other chances to qualify, but she needed to ride consistently well. At the very least, she needed to hang on for the eight seconds and get points on the board.
She shifted forward, her fingers clenched around the ropes. Then she nodded.
The gates flew open, and the timer started.
“She looks good!” Nate yelled, shifting his weight forward on the seat to grab the railing, just like I was.
She didn’t just look good. She looked fucking perfect. Her form was amazing, and she was so clearly Kai Hunt’s daughter. She rode just like he did, and he’d been one of the greats.
Summer would be better. I could already see it. One day, she’d break all her father’s records.
“Go, go, go!” Hallie screamed.
I had no idea what Austin was doing. I couldn’t take my eyes off his girl to find out.
His girl.
The thought curdled my stomach. He didn’t deserve her. He had no respect for her talent.
One day I’d make her realize that.
The bull spun in the opposite direction, and Summer corrected, managing to hang on, though she slipped to one side.
I glanced at the clock. Two seconds to go.
“Come on!” I yelled.
The bull spun again, sending Summer listing even farther.
My heart hammered against my chest. She just had to hold on!
The buzzer sounded, and we jumped to our feet, cheering her name right along with the rest of the crowd.
The bull kicked out, and Summer went flying off his back, landing in the dirt.
The bull’s hooves came down right on top of her.
And a scream of agony echoed through the suddenly silent arena.
* * *
TO BE CONTINUED… Preorder Dominic and Summer’s swoon worthy romance here. Coming January 18th, 2021.
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Want more hot, dirty talking cowboys while you wait? The original generation, including Frost and Addie’s romance, starts with Talk Dirty, Cowboy. Read on for a sneak peek!
Sneak Peek at Talk Dirty, Cowboy. Available now!
“He’s a single dad and a dirty talking cowboy. I didn’t stand a chance.”
