“Fuck,” Hazel said with a watery laugh, sitting straight.
We both looked at each other with tears in our eyes. “We’re quite the pair tonight, aren’t we?” I laughed through my tears.
“Do you want another one?” She shot to her feet, straightening her shorts and picking up our drinks.
“Are you trying to take advantage of me, Miss Miller?” I teased.
“Maybe. You know I love you Larsens,” she teased back, winking. “I won’t make the next one as strong.”
I watched her walk back into the house. Seeing her here seemed like the most natural thing in the world. I wished she didn’t have to go. I wished she would’ve had an even lightersentence. This was going to change her in ways I couldn’t even fathom. Why did life have to be so shitty sometimes?
I couldn’t do this.There was no way in hell. I was bent over, my hands resting on my knees while I tried to catch my breath.
How was I going to get through a whole rodeo weekend with Reed as my shadow?
He did exactly as I had asked, giving me time and space. But now that we were back on the circuit, and he was my babysitter or bodyguard or whatever the fuck he was again, I felt like I couldn’t fucking breathe.
I could feel him stopping with Mushu on the lead behind me. I was supposed to race today. How the hell was I supposed to race when I felt like shit?
“Are you okay, Lina?” he asked.
Just hearing his concerned voice made me want to curl up in the fetal position and cry my fucking eyes out.
I sucked a breath through my nose, blowing out a gust of air before straightening.
“Fine,” I told him, squaring my shoulders and resuming my walk to the gate.
It didn’t help that I was bottom of the fucking draw today. I hated being bottom of the draw, and Paige looked rather pleased about it as she peered back at me from her position on her horse, currently in the hole.
“Bitch,” I cursed under my breath.
Ready to mount, I put my foot in the stirrup and swung up into the saddle, taking the reins, Reed still holding the lead. Mushu was already antsy to run. I could always feel his energy shift the closer we got to the ring.
“Be thinking,” the rodeo staff shouted at me.
My chest felt so fucking tight, making it difficult to take deep breaths. Mushu’s ears flicked to the side. I gave him a pat, hoping that would assure him I was okay. I watched as rider after rider beat each other’s time. It was getting late in the season, so it didn’t surprise me that regular circuit riders would all have close times. Once again, Paige’s time would be the one I’d have to beat. She was my biggest competition with her leading barrel racing horse.
“We’re going to have to drag ass around the barrels, buddy,” I told Mushu, giving him another pat once we were on deck.
Reed unclasped the lead as he helped hold Mushu steady. His closeness as he checked to make sure the cinch was tight caused his forearm to brush against my leg and send electric shocks through me. My body went rigid. I attempted to shake it off, refocusing on Mushu. He was raring to go. I held high up on the reins, preparing myself.
“Up!”
It was my turn. Reed and I exchanged glances, his dark-brown eyes beneath his cowboy hat capturing mine one last time.
“Burn the breeze, sweetheart,” he said before letting go.
35
reed
She was barely speaking to me. The tension was so thick, I didn’t think there was anything sharp enough to cut it. It felt like it did last summer. The few words that I did get out of her were quick and cutting. She was hurt, and knowing Lina, she knew exactly how to ice me out.
“Do you want me to get dinner?” I asked her as she came out of the shower.
Her hair was still wet. Fuck! This was torture.
She was wearing Daisy Dukes and a crop top, showing off more skin than I needed her to right now. My cock twitched against my zipper.
