Chapter 4
COLT
The arena sounds different when the races are over. It’s still wild and exciting, but there’s also a sense of relief. No one was hurt, not that we had to call an ambulance for at least, and the animals are milling about, none the wiser that they’re just pawns in these games.
The dirt is torn to hell, and beer cups litter the stands. Kids hang off the rails, hoping to get an autograph, but will settle for a fist bump. The announcer’s voice rolls through the speakers, listing names, places, and winners I’m not listening to.
I lean against the fence, arms crossed on the wood, balancing on my good knee but making it look like I’m just relaxed.
Then I hear it.
“—and your barrel racing winner, straight out of Hearts Bend, Texas, give it up for Levi Callahan!”
The crowd erupts, and I can’t help but huff a laugh as I look out and see my younger brother, grinning like an idiot, hat tipped back and chest out. Dust, sweat, and pride written all over him.
They hand him the ribbon, and he lifts it like he just won the damn Super Bowl. The crowd roars harder. He bows, dramatic as hell, and I shake my head.
What an idiot.
But that idiot’s going to get his dick sucked tonight.
Fuck.
Something settles in my chest, and it’s the same feeling I get every time I see him in the middle of the ring: pride for my little brother. He’s a fantastic rider, tries with all his might at everything he does.
And then that pride turns to something I don’t want to name as I see Lily standing near the rail, across from me, closer to Levi.
She’s not out there with her iPad or phone.
She’s there watching him and clapping, like she belongs here.
She laughs when he bows, and something ugly twists in my gut when he turns slightly and sees her.
“If you’re a nice guy, you’ll get your dick sucked” continues to echo in my head, and my hands clench at the fact that it could be her doing the sucking, yet I still ignore the sharp feeling piercing my chest.
Remember, you don't like her.
Levi spots her and waves, and she waves back. And then she turns her head and looks straight at me. There’s no challenge or smirk there, just her beautiful face looking my way.
Like I’m just another random guy standing here.
My jaw clicks, and I look away first because I don’t like the way it feels when she watches me.
Or maybe I do, and that’s the real problem.
Levi jogs over, ribbon in hand, grinning wide, and it breaks my trance. “You see that?”
“Your show is always hard to miss,” I mutter.
He bumps my shoulder. “Admit it. You’re proud.”
I don’t answer, which is its own answer, and he knows it.
His eyes track past me. “She’s watching you, big brother.”
“Everyone always watches us,” I say.
He smirks. “Sure, they do. But they don’t approach like she does.” He nods in her direction, and I see her walking over. Her body is fit and toned, her blonde hair blowing around her shoulders under her cowboy hat. Maybe if we were anywhere but here….
“Nice run,” she says to Levi. “Clean turn on the second barrel.”
His eyebrows lift. “You actually watched?”
She shrugs lightly. “The barrels call to me. I can’t help but watch.” She laughs, and he joins in.
Levi elbows me. “She grew up racing. Did you know that?”
“Nope.”
His eyes dart to her, and it makes me mad. “Yeah, she comes from a rancher family.”
“Long days make for good runs and–”
“Short nights make it hard to fall!” they both say in unison, and my skin crawls.
What the fuck is going on right now?
“I miss it actually,” she replies easily. “And believe it or not, I miss the ranch work, too. But bronco riding, that’s my love.”
“You ride broncos.” I don't ask it as a question. It’s more of an I’ll believe it if I see it type of comment.
Levi lights up. “Well damn.”
She turns to me with that calm and soft smile. “It’s not that much different from a bull.”
“The fuck it is,” I snipe out, and she laughs.
“What’s different? It’s still eight seconds of the longest and hardest ride of your life. More thrill than I ever got anywhere else.” She smirks. “I’m sure you understand.”
Levi whistles low and smooth, and oh, I’m not letting this go.
“You’ve no idea what you’re talking about, sweetheart.” My eyes drag slowly over her. “And I can promise you, I won’t quit in eight seconds.”
“With a busted knee, it might be all you get.”
“Oh, shit!” Levi barks out and doubles over in laughter.
Her lips twitch, and she keeps on antagonizing me, saying, “What can I say? I like winners.”
I shoot Levi a look, but he does nothing to control himself. “She’s got good taste.” He puffs his chest, throwing his arm around her.
“Don’t encourage her,” I snap.
She tilts her head, giving me that gorgeous fucking irritating smile. “Too late.”
She looks back at the arena, and I study her profile.
The slope of her nose, the upturn of her stubborn chin, her gorgeous blonde hair.
She watches the crowd as they filter out of the stands.
She doesn’t flinch at the dirt flying around or the smell.
And I notice how happy she looks, and it’s beautiful.
And that thought pisses me off.
I let out a gruff sigh. “I’ve got work to do, and now you’re standing in the way,” I mutter.
“Of what?” she asks.
“My peace,” I mutter and try to circle around her, and all she does is side-step in front of me again.
She smiles. “You don’t look peaceful.”
“Exactly.”
“Funny,” she says. “I find peace when people stop pretending things are fine.”
We stare at each other.
Levi clears his throat. “Wow. This feels…intimate. I should leave.”
“Go,” I tell him.
He grins at Lily. “Congrats on surviving your first Callahan confrontation.”
She smiles back. “Low bar, I’m guessing.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” he says as he walks off, still grinning, and I make a mental note to give him a black eye later. Silence settles between us, and it makes me itch.
“You don’t have to glare at me,” she says softly.
“I’m not glaring.”
She lifts a brow. “You’re scowling then.”
“Habit.”
“Try smiling.”
I snort. “Try leaving.”
She laughs quietly. “You’re not very welcoming.”
“I’m not a people person.”
She steps close to me, close enough that I can smell that citrus in her hair and dust on her neck.
“Then we’re both going to have a hard time,” she says. “I’m only trying to help, Colt.”
I look down at her, and she holds my stare, head-on. Before I even realize what I’m doing, I’m reaching out and brushing that stray curl from her face. The instant I realize, I yank my hand back, like she burned me.
And I remember…unwanted, uninvited.
She fits here.
No, the fuck she doesn’t.
“You’re not staying long,” I say.
She meets my eyes. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether you keep fighting everything.”
I clench my fists. “That’s not your business.”
She shrugs like it's just another day in her sunshine world. “Everything here is my business now.”
That should piss me off more than it does, but for whatever reason, it seems to give me a little comfort. And a feeling of protectiveness comes over me. It has to be for my family, my brother, myself, and this place. Certainly not her.
I won’t admit there's any feeling there for her.
She steps back. “Good ride,” she says again, softer this time.
Then she turns and walks away, and I’m left standing here wondering how the fuck she got under my skin so fast.