That’s what she didn’t say, but it was exactly what was implied.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” My head whips between my new friends, looking for at least one of them to explain why I wasn’t warned that Travis was about to go out and risk his life on the back of a wild and clearly deranged horse. “He’s my husband. Shouldn’t I have been told that?—”
“Your what?” Kali asks with a grin.
“Yourhusband?”Wyatt emphasizes the word.
“You all know we’re married.”
“We also know it’s not supposed to be real,” Anna says pointedly. “Right?”
“I would have told him—” I bite my tongue.
“What?” Cash asks, looking me in the eye. “You would have told him what, Maisey?”
All eyes are on me instead of the cowboy currently fighting for his life in the ring.
I blow out a breath, unshed tears burning my eyes. There’s no point trying to pretend anymore. “I would have told him I love him,” I blurt out before I can stop myself. “I would have told him that I don’t want this to be?—”
My words are lost as the announcer roars into the microphone.
“ARE YOU READY?”
The grandstand explodes. By this point in the afternoon, the crowd is already amped, sunburned, beer-soaked, and hungry for blood. Or glory. Maybe both.
“Because up next,” he continues, dragging it out just long enough to make everyone scream louder, “we’ve got the man everyone’s been waiting for.”
The noise swells again.
“He’s the reigning Canadian Bronc Riding Champion,” the announcer bellows. “Fresh off a first-place win in Las Vegas last month and currently sitting at the top of the standings.”
My heart stutters.
“Known for taking the rankest stock they got and ridin’ it like he was born on bareback, this cowboy doesn’t just show up to win.”
He pauses.
“He shows up to dominate.”
The crowd loses its mind.
“Ladies and gentlemen—put your hands together for Travis Dean.”
The roar is deafening.
It takes a second for me to realize he just saidmycowboy’s name.
I stare at the arena, stunned. I knew Travis had won in Vegas. I knew he was good. But the champion?
I spin toward Anna. “He’s the?—”
“Watch,” she says urgently, grabbing my arm and yanking my gaze back toward the dirt. “It all happens so fast. Watch.”
I turn in time to see Travis astride a horse that looks like it was bred specially to ruin men. Even from a distance, I can see murder in its eyes. The animal is wild, tossing its head and stamping its feet, occasionally bucking up and smashing its hooves into the metal bars.
The horse explodes out of the chute.
The crowd roars, but the sound fades, swallowed by the pounding of my heart. Travis moves with the animal as if they’re one. He’s strong and sure, but watching it from so close up is different.
