“A lawyer?” It’s Ryder’s turn to scoff. “Nah. That’d be too easy for you. Too boring. You’d win every case, and then what? I see you as more of a…”
My heart pings around my chest cavity. “What?”
“Washed-up barrel racer.”
I’m laughing again, and it still hurts like hell, and the medics are asking me to tone it down so I don’t mess myself up even more as they load me into the ambulance. But I don’t care because Ryder climbs into the vehicle beside me.
He’s actually coming.
He’s actuallystaying.
I may be in a hell of a lot of pain, but part of me still wonders if I’m actually in heaven, because this…this is everything.
“You sure you’re okay to go?” Colt pokes his head inside the ambulance.
Xander steps up beside him. “I don’t like this.”
Ryder cuts him a nasty look that makes my skin feel two sizes too tight. “No one asked you. Colt, we’ll meet you at the hospital?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
I’m in pain. A lot of it. Even now, I feel nauseous at just theideaof being poked with needles in the ambulance or in the hospital. I also worry that I’m never going to be able to race again because this could very well be a career-ending injury. Even if that’s not the case, there’s a good chance my parents won’t let me race after seeing tonight’s shitshow.
Let this be your last hurrah, they said when I told them I wanted to give barrel racing a try.Then it’s time to settle down and focus on your future.
Thing is, I love this sport. Everything about it speaks to me: the mix of speed and skill, the delicate balance you need to strike between being fearless and being in control. I alsolovethe excuse to hang out with Ava and Sally. I feel like I’ve been starving for girlfriends for my entire life, and two really great ones fell into my lap when my parents hired them to work onthe ranch. Racing makes me feel like I’m firing on all cylinders. That’s so different from how I feel at my day job on the ranch.
I’m a good accountant. I work hard. I’m just slowly dying of boredom and frustration, and no one seems to give a shit.
Maybe that’s why I don’t want to let Ryder go tonight. He seems to legitimatelycareabout, well, me. He was the first one to reach me after I fell, wasn’t he?
Usually I’d tell myself not to read too much into how quickly he must’ve had to move to be at my side like that. That’s just what people do in our little corner of the world—we take care of each other.
But fuck that. Right now, I’m reading into it.
I read into the fact that Ryder keeps his hand wrapped around mine as the ambulance begins to move. The pain and the fear and the uncertainty I felt seconds ago fade bit by bit until I feel almost…relaxed. Calm.
I like you, Ry. What I wouldn’t give to have you like me back.
My parents are always telling me to keep my feet on the ground. But for tonight, I let my head live in the clouds, if only so I don’t literally die from anxiety or a broken body.
I let myself believe that tonight is the start of something I’ve dreamt about for a long, long time.
Cowboy, I’m gonna make you mine.
CHAPTER 3
Brass in Pocket
RYDER
“So you’re not family.”The nurse glances up at me from her tablet.
“No, ma’am.” I run a hand over the back of my neck and look toward the door.Where the hell is everyone?We got to the hospital twenty minutes ago. Granted, we were able to run some red lights.
Still, shouldn’t Mr. and Mrs. Wallace have arrived by now? I imagine they weren’t driving the speed limit either.
“And you’re not her boyfriend.” The keyboard clacks as the nurse takes notes.
