But I don’t care. Sawyer made it.
‘Yes, Nash!’ Wolfman yells, howling afterwards.
Sawyer leaps off the bull – but it follows him, catching one of his legs with its horn. He tumbles into the dirt, head smashing against the ground before he rolls awkwardly. A couple of bullfighters try to coerce the beast away from him, another running to Sawyer’s aid.
Sawyer scrambles to pull himself out of further harm’s way, seeming to give up once the bull is taken out of the ring. Then, he just lies there, face down on the ground, head in his arms, as the bullfighters begin to surround him.
The silence as we all watch is deafening.
None of us has let out a breath since he hit the floor.
My heart rattles in my chest.
Cherry’s fingers grip my forearm tighter, still having notlet go. She might be the only thing keeping me standing right now.
Several brutally long seconds stretch out before Sawyer suddenly springs to his feet, wolfish grin appearing as he waves to the crowd, enjoying the drama of the moment far too much. He laps up the tsunami of applause that follows as he circles the arena.
Relief crashes through me like a wave.
Cheering and music infiltrates my senses again.
I can finally breathe.
Fliss and Rory are hugging, Wyatt and Wolfman have grabbed each other’s shoulders as they bounce. I don’t know what comes over me, but there’s so much emotion brimming inside me that I suddenly wrap an arm around Cherry, tug her into my side, and plant a kiss against her silky hair.
She instantly freezes, her celebratory squeal coming to a halt, which cuts my own cheer off, realisation of what I just did dawning on me.
Cherry’s wide eyes blink up at me, her dark-red lips parted. When my gaze lingers on them for too long – mostly because I’m trying to figure out my next step to save myself from this situation – her teeth bite down on her bottom lip.
I’m out of choices and hate that my next move is to drag Cherry towards Rory with the arm still wrapped around her, pulling Rory into our embrace too. I press a kiss this time to Rory’s cheek, laughing as I do, hoping that it stops her from thinking too far into what just happened. That I like to kiss all my friends when I’m happy.
Which everyone here knows I definitely donotdo.
And I’m not looking to start showering Wyatt and Wolfman with smooches any time soon.
Rory receives the hug with joy and peppers both me and Cherry with kisses on the cheek too, squeezing us tighter together.
‘Oh gross, get off me,’ Cherry grunts, but she laughs through every word as she squirms to push Rory and I away with plenty of force. She shakes her head at us before falling back into her seat, and I chuckle to veil the breath of relief I want to let out.
‘Oh, you love it, really,’ Rory jests back, attempting to smack another big kiss against Cherry’s cheek when she drops to the seat beside her.
I don’t know why I even worried about Cherry’s reaction – she gave me the exact same response she would have to Sawyer or Wolfman. Because I’m just another of her brother’s annoying friends. Exactly how it should be.
I finally settle back down into my seat ready for the next bull rider, keeping my hands in my lap, away from the edge of my seat where they might brush Cherry’s again. When the next rider climbs into the chute, we stay silent, and I send up another prayer. Except this time, it’s for me, asking for the strength to survive this last summer with her.
6
Cherry
‘Feeling alright?’ Duke asks, resting his thick frame against the metal fence beside me after sauntering over. The woody, cypress scent of his cologne swirls around me. My eyes dart to the tattoos covering his arms, the way they shift over his corded muscles as he rests.
But I quickly force my gaze back to the pen ahead of me, where I’m reaching out and stroking the beautiful chestnut filly down the white blaze on the bridge of her velvety nose. I let my fingers filter through her silky, lighter forelock and scratch behind her ears, relishing the way she angles her head further into my hand, as if to say,more, please.Just being in the presence of such a sweet creature kneads away any tightness in my body, fishing up golden memories of being free-spirited, riding along the trails around Willow Ridge with the hot sun beating down.
Before everyone started worrying that I’d fall again.
Before I started to believe the same story.
Regardless, right now, it’s serving as the best way tokeep me distracted from the reminder of how Dukekissedme in celebration merely an hour ago.
