“So. You gonna tell me what that whole bull thing was about?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said:Ride the bull, check it off my list.”
“Wow. Memory of a cowboy god.”
“Why do I get the feeling you see me as some loser cow chaser who can’t count past five?”
“Hmm… hadn’t thought of that before.” She grinned. “Do cow chasers ride bulls well?”
“We ride them best.” I leaned in a little. Close enough to count her freckles. And hell, that wasn’t all I wanted to count. “And that’s not all.”
“Oh boy, here comes another Cash fairy tale.”
“I object.”
“You’re always full of something—hyena attacks, midnight disasters…”
“Not my fault you didn’t do proper recon before launching your great mechanical bull mission.”
“Okay, point taken. So what’s the‘not all’part? Let me guess—you’re the mechanical bull champ of Dalmore? Or wait, the entire state of Montana?”
“Mmm… not that far off, considering you’re just guessing.”
“What?”
“Yeah. Just replace the wordmechanicalwithreal.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“Nope. This dumbass cow chaser you keep mocking? Held the Montana rodeo record. Six years.”
She stared at me, mouth slightly open. And God help me, I melted under that look. I took my chance—reached across, touched her hand. Soft. Warm. She didn’t pull away. Maybe still in shock. Maybe not.
Either way… walking around half-naked suddenly didn’t feel like such a bad life choice. Should’ve chopped that firewood shirtless too.
“Okay, your turn. So?”
She didn’t flinch. Didn’t pull her hand back. Just looked at me and said it.
“I had a list.”
“A list?”
God, I loved that about her. No drama, no build-up. Just honesty, straight through the touch of her fingers on mine. This woman was messing me up.
“Just a list,” she said with a little shrug. “Compared to your championships, it’s nothing. Totally stupid.”
“Now you’ve really got me curious.”
“It was kind of a bucket list. And by the time I turn twenty-five—which is in two days—this was the last thing left on it.”
“Riding a bull?”
“Riding it… and staying on for at leastthree minutes.”
I saw the flicker of embarrassment cross her face. She dropped her gaze.
