I know every second counts right now, and I’ll never forgive myself if?—
Not gonna think that. Instead, I start CPR—the three letters,C, A, B.Start with chest compressions, then open the airway, then start giving her breaths.
C, A, B.Simple as that.
“Dude, what the hell are you doing?” It’s the bull rider. The wad of dip stuck in his lower lip makes it sound like he’s chewing on the words. “She don’t need that. Let’s wait for the medics.”
What do you know? Get the fuck away from her, I want to growl.
“I got it,” I say instead. No time to explain myself.
I start the compressions. Nothing.
“If you hurt her?—”
“I got it.”
I’m a man possessed. I just—I can’t lose someone again to a tragedy like this.
I won’t survive it.
My whole being is shaking as I open her airway. Then I start mouth-to-mouth.
Billie’s lips are warm. She tastes like—dang it, is that tequila? She must’ve taken a shot before her race to calm her nerves.
I push air into her lungs, silently begging her to come back to me.
Back to us, I mean.
Back tous.
CHAPTER 2
Mouth-to-Mouth
BILLIE
I wakeup on a throbbing wave of pain.
My left elbow has its own heartbeat. Hell, the whole left side of mybodyis lit up with a screaming burn I can only describe as, well, hell on earth. I’m vaguely aware of the sounds of the crowd around me, but inside my head, it’s eerily silent.
Also, someone is kissing me.
The warmth of his lips—their softness, the gentle way they’re pressed against mine—is unfamiliar and really fucking lovely. I can tell it’s ahimbecause of the way his scruff brushes against my skin. Is that popcorn I taste?
Also, why is he holding my nose shut?
Whoever’s kissing me, it’s not Xander. The bull rider is a good enough kisser, but his lips are always weirdly lukewarm.
He’s also never,evergentle. Which I usually like. But this…
It’s new, and I don’t hate it. Maybe because I’m in so much freaking pain? The kiss makes the throb in my body fade away a bit. Just enough so that I can breathe without being in total and complete agony.
Wait, someone else is breathing for me.
The way the air is being pushed into my lungs—it’s different. I don’t have to work for it. Oxygen floods my body, the relief so intense I could cry.
This is exactly what I needed.
