His lips pulled up into an apologetic smile. There was none of the Cash Mooney flare, no obnoxiousness as he said softly, “Don’t give up on him just yet. He’s been through some shit.”
The way he talked about Maverick…you could tell that he meant a lot to him. I knew they were cousins, and very, very close, but it was deeper than that. The bond they shared…it was different.
I let out a deep, slow sigh. “Haven’t we all, Mooney?” I clapped him on the shoulder. “You go find yourself a fun time.”
And just like that, Cash was back with the usual energy. A confident smirk curved his lips as he winked my way. “Happy drinkin’,'' was all he said before striding for the door.
I huffed a half-hearted response before aiming for the bar.
Chapter five
Blazin’
Maverick
“Hey dumbass!”
I groaned, tilting my head skyward as I blew out a puff of smoke.
What the hell did Cash want? That was such a loaded question. There was no limit to what dumb shit that dickhead could want. Each scenario that played out in my head worse and worse than the last.
“What’dya want?” I muttered, my gaze flicking to him as I pressed the cigar to my lips once more.
“You done fucked up,” he said, sauntering over and smacking me square in the chest halfheartedly.
I batted his hand away. “The hell are you talkin’ about?”
Cash shook his head, a hint of a smirk lighting up his features. “You remember our first rodeo?” he asked, voice casual as he leaned against the wall beside me, stealing my cigar from my hand and taking a drag.
I frowned but nodded. “Yeah.”
Smoke billowed around him as he spoke. “Remember how we were all set up. Everythin’ was good to go. That shoot opened, thesteer shot out the gate. We went tearing down the arena after it, and you just kept swingin’ and swingin’ and swingin’ your rope. You were right there. One fuckin’ throw away from catchin’ it, but you just…kept on swingin’.”
What the hell was he gettin’ on about? He was spending too much time around his dad. Only Bad ever told stories like that.
I shrugged. “Yeah, I remember.”
Cash pushed off the wall and turned to face me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “You just did the same shit right now with that girl.”
I scoffed, my brow furrowing tightly. “You talkin’ about Cheyenne?”
Another smack to my chest. “No fuckin’ shit I’m talkin’ about Cheyenne, dumbass.” He shook his head, his usually playful gaze holding a seriousness it almost never possessed. “Girls like her don’t come around too often. You gonna sit there fuckin’ with your rope and let her get away, or get ya some fuckin’ money?”
I sighed. I still didn’t quite know what to feel about the interaction her and I had just had. I know I’d come off like a dick…I hadn’t meant to. I was justshockedis all. I still didn’t understand… Why me? What about me seemed worth getting to know? Worth wasting her time over? I wasn’t funny and cocky like Cash. I wasn’t inquisitive and confident like Ryder. I was broken and boring. It was hard to think why she’d approach me. Not when she could spend the night with any number of guys. I didn’t miss the way people watched her. Hell,Icouldn’t even stop watching her.
When she’d gotten up close, pressing a hand to my chest, and I’d inhaled her citrusy scent, something had sparked in me. She had an electric touch. One that brought the broken, shattered pieces of my soul back to life for a moment.
That is until I’d pissed her off and she’d walked away, leaving me feeling cold as ice.
I thought of Ashleigh. Had I ever felt that electric touch with her? That…spark? It’d been so long since I’d felt anything but hopelessness with her, I couldn’t even remember.
Stop thinkin’ bout her.We were done. Had been for a while, if I were bein’ honest. I pulled another cigar and my lighter out of my back pocket and lit it.
“Goddamn, Mav. Why you still thinkin’ about that bi—”
A low growl rumbled out of my throat, the protective part of me refusing to let anyone bad mouth Ashleigh, no matter what misdeeds she’d done to me. I wasn’t one to talk shit, and I’d not let others do it about the people I cared about.
Cash raised his hands in a placating gesture. “Sorry… Look I know you don’t wanna hear it, but I’m tired of watchin’ that girl hurt you. Time and time again she fucks you over. And you just take it. Again and again. Not even realizing you got somethin’ way better right in front of you. Cheyenne ain’t the type to chase after someone…and yet she chased after you.”
