The crowd went wild as we were handed our prize. A plastic gold and silver trophy with two riders atop a horse.
Dylan and I glanced at one another and I forced myself not to giggle. Holy cow, it looked as though the riders were humping each other.
“Ladies, take a bow,” the announcer instructed.
As we bowed, all I could think about was the fact I couldn’t care less about the pomp and circumstance. The announcer said something about all the winners riding some train on Monday, but I had no idea what he was talking about and couldn’t focus. My boyfriend was currently interrogating the man who’d tried to kill us, so as soon as we could escape,Dylan and I hurried back to the stalls.
We arrived to find Wyatt sitting on a bale of hay, his face a little bloody (I hoped from the original confrontation and not from Jake hitting him while his hands were bound), and his expression was tortured as he met my eyes, then Dylan’s. “I’m sorry.”
Dylan just stared at him, shaking her head.
My heart raced at the thought that this man...the manI thought was my friend...would try to hurt me. Or Dylan. “I don’t understand.”
“If you’d just have—” Wyatt started
“If they would have what?” Jake snapped.
I could tell Jake was ready to kill Wyatt, so I nodded toward Dylan, who no longer looked like she was about to rip his throat out.
“I got it,” she said, her expression scarily calm.
“And I got her,” Asher added.
Confident the twoof them would be able to get the full story without killing Wyatt, I pulled Jake away for some privacy. He dragged his hands through his hair and paced the area behind the barn.
I crossed my arms in an effort not to interrupt his processing time. “I’m okay, honey.”
“He could have killed you.”
I nodded. “I know.”
I mean, what could I say? He was right. Wyatt could have really hurt us or Bucky.It was a shitty thing to do and, had Dylan and I not been expert riders, this whole thing could have gone much, much worse.
Jake reached out his arm and I went happily into his embrace. I settled my cheek against his chest and slid my hands up his back, squeezing gently.
“You could have been killed,” he whispered again.
“I know, baby. I’m okay.”
He ran his fingers through my hair. “Do youhave any idea how much I want to kill him?”
“Yes.”
“What a weasel.” Jake let out a rather explicit curse. “I’m taking that asshole down.”
“Can we find out why he did it first?”
Jake stiffened. “I don’t give a rat’s ass about the why, Addison. I’ll call the local department and they’ll come to collect him. I’m gonna make sure his ass is charged with attempted murder, and that he does the timefor it.”
I kept my arms around him, but leaned back so I could meet his eyes. “We weren’t hurt, honey, and if Wyatt wanted to, he could say the girth frayed. It would be hard proving he had a nefarious purpose.”
“He confessed.”
“He confessed to the scary cop boyfriend and lawyer brother of one of the ‘victims.’ He could say he was coerced or bullied.”
Jake scowled. “He does, I’ll—”
“You’llwhat, honey? Beat the shit out of him?” He let out a frustrated breath and I burrowed closer to him again. “We’ll figure out exactly what’s going on and then we can make an educated decision.”
