“One, get your hand in as far as it will go. Then push it in even more.” I wiggle my hand into the handle to show him. “Two, make sure your weight is even over the middle of the horse.” I move my hips side to side. “It may seem like a stupid detail, but if you’re off in here, you’ll fall off out there.” A timer starts beeping in the background, warning me to start my ride or I’ll be penalized. I look at the man outside and give him a dip of my chin. He gets ready to release the gate.
“What’s number three, Mr. Wilder?” Mason is basically falling in my lap in anticipation. I meet his eyes and yell out at him as I nod to the gateman.
“Get a better fucking dream, kid.”
hannah
Isit bad that the first thing I did when I pulled in the lot this afternoon was search for a jet black Chevy truck and it’s surly owner? I held myself back from looking up which rodeos Dean would be at this summer, choosing to leave any interactions up to fate. With the amount of space he is taking up in my head, I’m starting to think that’s a horrible idea. I need to focus, but every time I look around, I find myself searching for a cowboy in all black, with hisfuck youattitude radiating off him in waves. Every time an engine revs and tires crunch over the gravel parking lot, I spin, hoping to catch him pulling in. By the tenth time, Queen shifts beside me, annoyed at my divided attention.
“Sorry, girl,” I mutter against her side, heaving the saddle over her blanket and moving my fingers to fasten it down.
“Hannah, you in there?” Mallory's voice echoes through the trailer. Debating if I should answer, I hesitate, then sigh and call out to her.
“In the back.” Her head pops around the corner a moment later, boots vibrating the trailer as she walks inside. Running her hand along Queen’s side, she slides up beside me.
“Ready for tonight?” Her bubbly personality is infectious, and if I allowed myself to have friends, she’d be my top pick.
“Of course! You?” Maybe if I keep my answers short, she’ll leave.Nope. Reaching behind me, she grabs a brush off the wall and begins rubbing down Queen. I can practically feel her melt into it.Traitor.
“To be honest, I’m a little nervous. Did you hear what happened to Kasey last night?”
My hand stills and I feel a little light headed. “Is he ok?”
She nods and I let out a sigh of relief. “Should be, I heard he got hung up. His wrist got sprained pretty bad. Luckily, it didn’t break. He almost beat Dean Wilder last night. So fucking close.” Humming in agreement, I turn towards her, tugging at the saddle to make sure it’s snug. “He’ll probably sit out for a ride or two, but hopefully he’ll be back at it soon.” With a nod, she tosses the brush back in the bin behind me and walks back. “Good luck tonight,” she calls over her shoulder.
“Yeah, you too,” I yell after her.
As the hours pass and the stadium fills with people and the smell of fried food, I stop looking for Dean under each passing cowboy hat. When the ropers start their event, I tug Queen to a stop and hop off, giving her a rest before we line up. It’s not until I’m sitting on a bench that leans up against a wall outside that I hear his name. My body heats at the rumble of his voice and I jump up just in time to see him push a tall, skinny, redhead up against the side of his truck. Her nails trail up and down his arms, arms that I remember holding me firmly against his chest. I watch on as he dips his head down against her neck and whispers something too low for me to hear. Before I lose my dinner or storm across the parking lot and embarrass myself, I turn on my heel and head back inside. Blood pounds in my ears and my skin itches. How could I be so stupid to believe that he’d only want me? Did I honestly believe that because he agreed tomy idiotic plan that he wouldn’t mess around on the side? Hot tears prick at my eyes, but I brush them away, too proud to let them fall.
“Fuck him,” I mutter as I dip between the railings and hop back up on Queen. A few moments later, I can feel someone watching me. Despite my best efforts to keep my eyes focused on the dirt, they lift and instantly clash with those stormy eyes I’ve been trying to keep out of my head. I wish they didn’t have the same effect on me as they did all those years ago. For a moment, they pull me in, and we stare at each other like no one else exists. He doesn’t smile, doesn’t wave, does absolutely nothing to acknowledge me besides leaning a forearm on the fence and looking right back at me. His eyes heat, the gray in them turning a shade darker before his tongue darts out and wets his lips.The tongue I watched lick another woman's neck a moment ago.That's all I need to snap me out of whatever trance this man inflicts upon me with nothing but those eyes of his.
I don’t give him another look as I push Queen into position. Our names are called, and I release my hold on her, letting her fly towards our first barrel. Time stands still, the crowd silencing around me. It’s just me, my girl, and three barrels. But just like he has since that night he picked me up out of the dirt, Dean Wilder lingers in my mind. From a distance, he emanates anger and uncertainty, he’s all rain and stormy weather. In all honesty, rain has always been my kind of weather. But when he lays those eyes on me, I feel safe. And Lord when those hands run over me, it feels like I’ve landed again. The thunk of metal into soft dirt pulls me out of my thoughts, and I glance behind us as a cloud of dust settles around the fallen barrel.Damn him!Another thing ruined all because I couldn’t get that man out of my head. Not only did he hurt me without knowing earlier in the parking lot, but now he’s hurt my winning streak. And I’m pissed. More at myself than him, but still. Damn that cowboy.
I didn't stay and watch any other riders. Didn’t even hide out and watch Dean ride. I was so angry at myself for letting him distract me that I stormed off straight to my trailer after our ride. I blast Sleep Token as loud as I possibly can while I wipe down Queen and put all our gear away. Replaying the ride over and over in my mind, I try to remember the exact moment our ride went wrong. It’s impossible to remember every detail through the fog that Dean had me in. I stomp around, trying to stay busy. When everything is put away and I can’t delay the inevitable any longer, I step out of the tack room, lock everything up, and open the door to my sleeping quarters, wanting nothing more than to collapse in bed and forget about tonight.
Before I can close the door behind me, it’s whipped open, and the devil himself steps inside, angrily closing the door behind him and flipping the lock. Ripping my headphones out, I shove him back against the door. He stumbles, reaching out to grab the wall for support. A stupid ass grin crosses his face before he rights himself. Lord have mercy, this man is a wet dream. When he sets his hat on my counter crown side up, I notice the ends of his brown hair are curled with sweat, his chaps coated in a thin layer of brown dirt. The black pearl snap shirt he always wears is opened a few snaps down, giving a glimpse of those tattoos I’ve been dreaming about. My core aches to rub against him, but my mind thankfully stays firm. Crossing my arms across my chest in defiance, I lift my chin and square my shoulders, ready to face off.
“Get out.” His fingers curl around the edge of my counter, fingers that have me biting my lip as memories of how they feel curled inside me flit relentlessly through my mind.
“You seem like you’re looking for a fight, darlin’.” When he crosses his arms across his chest, that damn shirt seems to scream out in a desperate attempt to contain him. “What’s got you all worked up? I thought we had a deal.”
“I’ve changed my mind,” I say simply, popping out a hip and raising an eyebrow at him.
Darkness passes over his features. He pushes off the wall, and in an instant, has my throat held tightly in his palm. My breath hitches, waiting for what he’ll do next, my pussy already dripping in anticipation.
He pulls me forward, leaning into my space. Tension and heat pour off him. “You don’t get to change your mind when it comes to our arrangement,” he whispers just before his tongue sweeps out and over the shell of my ear.
“If I don’t get to change my mind, you don’t get to fuck other women.”
His grip loosens, and he takes a small step backward, giving me a confused look. His hand never leaves my neck, though. “What are you talking about?”
I try to take a step back, but pause when his grip tightens, holding me close to him again. When I don’t respond, his fingers tighten around me. “I saw you tonight,” I gasp, “in the parking lot with that woman.” Just remembering it sends me into a spiral of embarrassment and jealousy all over again. I expect him to deny it, to shrug it off or make a comment about how many women he can pull on any given night. What I don’t expect is a deep laugh and his hands falling to my hips, spinning us so he’s sitting on the edge of my bed, pulling me between his knees.
“Is that what’s got you all upset?”
“I don’t expect you to give up your man whore ways, Dean.” I try to push off his shoulders and walk away, but his grip on the back of my thighs tightens, pulling me closer until the front of my legs brush up against his center. “I just thought that maybe...” I trail off, not wanting to sound desperate. In an instant, he stands up, towering over me, his hands finding their place on my hips yet again. The air in my trailer is sucked out, replaced by a thick tension that ripples around us.
“Let me make one thing clear, darlin’.” He rests his forehead against mine, and the gesture is so delicate and simple that I feel weak. “This…agreement we have. It’s a solid thing. As far as I’m concerned, you're mine.” I tremble in his hold, and when he leans down and whispers against my neck, I forget why I was upset to begin with. “And you better start understanding that I am yours.Onlyyours. You may have seen me with another woman, but you don’t know anything about it.”
