9
I walk fast, away from Wyatt and the weight of his heated gaze. From whatever the fuck that was.
Asshole . To let him get to me with one touch—unacceptable. No man is worth my toes curling in my boots.
My core’s aching, the breath stole from me. Wyatt’s smug, dimpled grin flashes in my mind. Did you miss me?
I was pathetic, so close to saying yes. To giving him what he wants.
Well, what I want is for him to go back home. To take his cocky smirk and his charming swagger and leave me the hell alone. Because he does something to me whenever I’m around him. He makes me care, and I absolutely cannot have that.
The sooner this is over, the sooner we stop being fools.
Still, it’s not to say I won’t take his advice. Despite being an arrogant cowboy, he’s still one of the best riders on Earth. I’d be an idiot not to listen to him.
Wyatt’s words to those reporter’s echo through my brain. She’ll ride as good as any man.
For so long, I’ve craved those words. Craved him seeing me as an equal. As not just a girl. As someone he respects.
So yeah, for one long second, those words turned me to mush. But I’ll never let another man get the drop on me. And that includes Wyatt Montgomery.
Hardening my heart, I shove Wyatt out of my mind. I have to focus on this ride. Steady my nerves.
Sure, I have nerves. Vic will be watching. Dakota. Goliath Jim is monstrous. One of the biggest bulls I’ve ever rode.
Straightforward and vicious, the Rock ’n Ride competition is one round, best score wins. A single night of weeding out the worst from the best. The higher I rank, the more significant the payout. I want the money. I want to beat Cole Weston’s cocky ass.
Women deserve to be here, and I won’t stop riding until they have a place.
In all those little girls screaming for joy, I see myself.
I elbow my way through the cowboys crowding the entrance to the chute.
“Fallon!”
I turn my head. There’s Tripp and his damn water bottle. Hydrate. He’s as bad as Dakota and her worrying.
Face red, he hustles up to me, wiggles his brows. “One more for the road?”
I scoff and reach for the water bottle. “You’re such a nag.”
“You know me, I take care of you.” He laughs. “Hell, I gotta pull my weight. You think I want to go back to Resurrection?”
Like me, Tripp did everything he could to dig his way out of our small town. Volunteering as a rodeo clown, working winters at Zeke’s Hardware, and then eventually hooking up with Pappy to help me out on the road.
“Fuck that,” I blast drily. “We’re not going back there.”
“Deal.” He grins. “In it together.”
Chuckling, I close my lips around the bottle and drink.
“You got this,” he says when I’m finished.
I throw him a cool look. “No shit.”
With that, I take the stairs up to the platform.
There’s a dull throbbing in my head as I don my helmet.
Heart racing, I lower myself onto Goliath Jim.
Steady movement around me as the chute workers tighten my bull rope.
Above me, Pappy and Goliath Jim’s stock contractor stand on the platform at the top of the chute.
I see Pappy smile, hear his boisterous laughter as he shakes the contractor’s hand.
I tune them out. Tune everything out. No distractions. No noise. My heart hammers. I take a deep, slow breath and wrap the rope around my right hand and lift my other.
You be sure when you nod, Fallon. Really fucking sure.
Wyatt’s thick rasp worms its way into my thoughts.
I squeeze my eyes shut.
Damn that cowboy.
Per usual, he’s right. Not like I’d ever tell him that.
I have to be sure. I have to make this count. I have to matter. No time for fear or doubt. Never again.
And when it’s over? Will I be proud? Will I feel better? Will that ache that’s consumed me for the last two years stop eating me alive?
I look into the stands, spots dancing in my eyes thanks to the stadium lights.
Beneath me, Goliath Jim shifts. Massive, brutish power. He snorts.
I feel the tremor of his muscles. Pent up energy like the calm before a storm.
He’s ready, and so am I.
A calm settles over me.
I open my eyes.
And then, I nod.
The gate swings open.
The arena erupts as I explode into it.
It feels like whiplash. Goliath Jim leaps, thrashing violently. A dizzying dance of power. Savage muscle. Rage. We’re one, we’re together.
Liquid , I think. Make my body liquid, like the Elk River running through town. Like Vic’s steady voice grilling me. What happens if you get knocked off balance. If you lose your center?
You find it again.
That’s the answer. It’s always the answer.
Wyatt’s now. Centered. Keep yourself centered .
Centered.
Goliath Jim spins like a cyclone. I grip the bull with my spurs. Years of training. All of this is what I’ve worked for. Yearned for.
Hope, warm and rare, slices through me.
In that moment, I have him. I’ll stay on. All eight seconds.
Eight seconds of my life.
And then—
The world blurs.
My tongue feels numb. My body has no roots. Sounds and color kaleidoscope.
Fuck.
The bull kicks his hind legs.
My grip on the rope slackens as all the lives I’ve lived flash before my eyes.