The rodeo grounds are fully awake now, buzzing with activity as the final day’s events approach. Vendors are hawking their wares, spectators are finding their seats, and the air is electric with anticipation. This is what I love about the circuit. The energy. The excitement. The sense that anything can happen.
I make my way toward the main staging area, weaving through the growing crowds, my mind already shifting to the day ahead, to the future that’s suddenly looking a lot brighter.
And then I spot Carter, Kai, and June heading toward me through the crowd. Carter is still looking a bit rough around the edges, but he’s grinning from ear to ear. Kai is practically bouncing with contained energy, his nerves about the upcoming ride manifesting as restless motion. And June is beautiful.
Her smile when she sees me is like watching the sun rise, and everything else falls away. The stress of the morning, the confrontation with Holden, the lingering adrenaline from my encounter with Brutus. None of it matters.
There’s only her.
I meet them halfway, my hands finding June’s waist and pulling her close. She melts into me, her arms wrapping around my neck, and I kiss her. Right there, in the middle of the rodeo grounds, in front of everyone.
“Well, hello to you too,” she says with a laugh when we finally break apart.
“Holden just got arrested.”
Her eyes go wide. “What? When? Tell me everything.”
I give them a complete rundown of everything.
Carter lets out a low whistle. “You went into the pen with Brutus?”
“Wasn’t my finest moment in terms of self-preservation,” I admit, “but yeah.”
“Dude.” Kai studies me with something dangerously close to awe. “That’s either insanely brave or insanely stupid. You need to leave that stuff for me to do.” He smirks my way.
June’s hands slide up to my chest, her face quickly shifting from shock to worry. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt?”
I catch one of her hands and press a kiss to her palm. “More than okay, actually. I’m just glad my charges got dropped. I don’t have to go to court.”
She throws her arms around me again, squeezing hard. “That’s amazing.”
“And my house and business?” The hope in her voice lands like a strike to the ribs.
“That’s with the lawyers now while they investigate, but I’m guessing it won’t go forward,” I say.
She smiles, and I tighten my hold, breathing her in like I’ve been starved for it.
Carter and Kai crowd in, and suddenly it’s a pack embrace, all four of us tangled together in the middle of the bustling rodeo grounds. And with June tucked into my chest and the guys braced at my sides, I know exactly what I’m doing next.
First, I get Kai through Brutus’s ride without a disaster, and then I make the next move, one that ends with June in my home and a family around our table.
29
KAI
Thousands of voices rise and fall in waves, crashing against the metal rails, reverberating off the bleachers, filling the air with an electricity that has every hair on my body standing on end. Dust motes dance in the afternoon sunlight, golden and glittering, suspended in the charged atmosphere. The smell of dirt and sweat and animals fills my lungs with each breath.
Not a single seat is empty. People are standing in the aisles, pressed against the railings, craning their necks for a better view. I’ve never seen the arena this packed, this alive, this hungry for what’s about to happen. The energy is different from that of every other event today. Heavier. More primal. Like the crowd knows they’re about to witness something that only comes around once in a generation.
And beneath it all, a chant is building…
“BRUTUS! BRUTUS! BRUTUS!”
The crowd isn’t here for me. Not really. They’re here for him, the legend. For the black mountain of muscle and fury who’s been terrorizing this town for over a decade. And this is his moment, his comeback.
I’m just the idiot who volunteered to be his dance partner.
My hands grip the top rail of the chute as I position myself above Brutus’s huge back. The metal is warm from the sun, slick with sweat from the handlers who helped wrangle him in here. Below me, two thousand pounds of pure destruction waits, black hide gleaming, muscles rippling with barely contained violence.
