Chapter 28 #2
He made no move to leave, even went so far as to lean against the doorway, crossing his arms over his chest and one foot over the other. “She really fucked the words right outta ya, didn’t she?”
“Cash!” Cheyenne half shrieked, half growled. “Get the fuck out. Now!” She reached for one of the candles on the dining room table and hurled it at him. He caught it easily, that shit-eating grin pulling somehow wider on his lips. Bastard.
“You sure you don’t need my help, I can give a few—”
“Get the hell out!” Cheyenne and I shouted at the same time.
With a final chuckle, Cash closed the door behind him.
She sagged back onto the wooden tabletop, her hands shooting up to cover her face.
She shook beneath me, and for a moment I thought she was crying until soft muffled laughter bubbled out of her.
“You really need to start lockin’ the damn door,” she said, wiping her hands down her face to look up at me.
It was only then I realized I still had two fingers inside her. Ignoring her words, I leaned down, pressing a long, slow kiss to her lips, working up a steady rhythm once more. She melted into my touch, any remnants of shock or annoyance vanishing.
“He’d just find another way in,” I murmured, pulling back to look at her.
She dragged me back down, her lips finding mine once more as she murmured, “less talking, more fucking.”
It was the only invitation I needed.
Her hands clawed at my pajama pants, tugging them down and exposing my cock—hard and ready once more.
She let me fuck her on the table. Let me hook her ankles up around my neck and fuck her till she came apart on my cock. And when I bent her over the table, plowing into her from behind until the oven timer went off, she didn’t even bat an eye.
“Let it burn,” she murmured, as I rained kisses and nips down her neck as I veered closer the edge.
The food did burn…but I ate every damn bite gladly in the end.
Cash had way too much fun telling everyone about mine and Cheyenne’s little hook up the next day. Thankfully, the fact that I was talking again was more of a shock than my actual actions, so that was the main gossip at the rodeo.
“You ready?” I asked, coming up behind Cheyenne and hooking my arms around her middle. She leaned into the embrace, even as she continued to check on Country Road’s tack.
She nodded and spun around to face me. “I feel a little dizzy today, and I have this crazy migraine, but I’m ready.”
I frowned. “You sure you’re okay?”
She nodded, reaching up on tiptoe to plant a soft kiss on my lips. “I’ll be fine, cowboy.”
“You take anything for the headache?”
A nod.
“If it keeps up, maybe you should go to the doctor’s,” I offered. She’d been sick quite a bit this past week. Between the headaches and the queasiness, something wasn’t right.
Another kiss to my lips. “You worry too much, it’s not good for you. It causes frown lines.”
I rolled my eyes, flicking her nose gently. She scrunched it up and batted away my hand, but it served as the distraction I think she intended.
“One more good luck kiss?” she asked.
I was helpless but to oblige her.
Ihadn’t dated many girls who rode. I hadn’t dated very many girls in general, to be honest. Not when I was so hooked on Ashleigh. Ashleigh never cared for riding. She could if she needed to and was comfortable enough around horses, but she never had a passion for it.
Funny, since horses were how we’d met.
Her mom was the therapist Aunt Violet and Bad hired to come help me talk. Her mom ran a mobile equine therapy program, and brought Ashleigh with her to almost every single one of our sessions.
And while Ashleigh could ride a horse—make it go, spin it around, stop it—she couldn’t ride like Cheyenne.
And boy, did she sure ride. Country Road was small and fast. Faster than a streak of lightning.
She tore across the starting line and shot for the right barrel, her and Cheyenne moving so quick it was almost like they were soaring through the air.
The way they moved, it was effortless as she rounded the barrel and headed for the next.
The clock ticked away. The seconds feeling like minutes. With each passing moment, my excitement grew.
“Come on, come on, come on,” I murmured beside Cash and the rest of our group, who all cheered and hollered for Cheyenne.
She rounded the final barrel, but took it too sharp.
Country Road knocked into it, making it wobble before righting itself.
But that little bump was all it took for the two of them to lose their stride.
They crossed the finish line with a 14.169. Not bad at all. But not the 13.9 she needed to win. Reserve Champion was still great, though.
I stood, waiting for her against the pipe-stall as she cooled down Country Road in the warmup arena. Nothing on her face showed even a flicker of anger, but I could see it in the tension in her body. In the way her hands and legs flexed and clenched.
“You okay?” I asked.
“I took that fuckin’ barrel too sharp.”
I nodded. “Yeah. But it is what it is. Second is still pretty good.”
She came to a stop on the other side of the pipe-stall. “It’s still not first, though.”
“But it ain’t last,” I replied with a shrug.
She rolled her eyes but a small, closed-lipped smile quivered to life on her face. “True.”
I nodded, gesturing for her move toward the gate. She met me there and dismounted before the two of us walked Country Road back toward the trailer. “You can’t win ‘em all, Chey.”
She sighed and leaned into me, any of the remaining fight leaving her, so I wrapped an arm around her waist as we walked, enjoying the feel of her warmth at my side. The trailer came into view when she froze in place, a groan escaping her. “Oh god, I feel…”
I glanced over at her, finding her all but swaying on her feet. Her face was white as a ghost, a sheen of sweat coating her brow.
“...I feel dizzy.” Even her voice sounded off. Weak.
I steadied her. Worry shot through me. “You okay? What’s goin’ on?”
She shook her head as if to clear it. “I…I don’t know. I’m probably just overheated. This weather ain’t helpin’.”
I nodded. She wasn’t wrong. Even with it almost being dusk, it was still nearly a hundred out, then add the humidity to it. “Come on, let’s get you some water.”
I let her lean on me as we walked the rest of the way to the trailer before forcing her to sit in one of the lawn chairs.
I stole the reins from her and tied up Country Road, leaving her tacked up for the moment as I grabbed a water out of the cooler, and thrust it into Cheyenne’s hands. “Here, have some of this.”
She drank a few sips before cupping her hand and pouring some into her hand to slather along the back of her neck. She’d already taken her hat off, leaving it discarded upside down in the chair beside her.
What was going on with her? The headaches. The vomiting. Now, the dizziness. I remember being sick for a bit after the fire, but she hadn’t even been in the thick of it like I was either time. And even now, I felt perfectly fine. Could it really be that? Or was it something else entirely?
“You okay?” I asked, wiping a hand across her brow and pushing her curls back off her face.
She blew out a breath and nodded. “I’m okay. A little nauseous, but the water helped. I think I was just dehydrated.”
I pursed my lips. There was more to it than that, but it was beyond me for the moment.
She laughed, pressing her free hand to my chest. “I’m fine, cowboy. I promise.”
Not gonna lie, hearing her say that, the smokey warmth of her voice, the bubbling sound of her laughter, it eased some of my fears. The knot in my chest loosened a bit. Not completely, but a bit.
“Seriously, Maverick…” She leaned in, tilting her head so as not to bump my hat still on my head as she kissed me reassuringly. “I’m okay. Now come on, we gotta get back for the bull riding.”