Page 133

TJ could barely breathe through the spasms, but he managed a stuttered laugh and, ‘Yes, ma’am.’

But the tears came, and they had nothing to do with his own pain. He reached through a violent spasm and closed his hand over hers, whispered, ‘Don’t ever fucking do that to me again.’

There was a moment of silence, so that when the first person started clapping, it rang through the Equidome loudly. Slowly, the crowd joined in. People started cheering and whistling.

Skye looked around, confused and disoriented. ‘Oh, shit. I fell.’

‘Baby, you ate it. Hard.’

‘Kai.’ Skye spun her torso around, but the moment she saw Kai, standing off to the side, Matthew Savage holding the reins, she placed one hand back on the dirt to support herself. ‘Okay, I’m a little woozy.’

‘Yeah, no shit. You were out cold.’ He took a deep breath, asked, ‘Any pain?’

Skye checked in with her body. ‘A headache. A sprained ankle.’ She raised her fingers to her cheek. ‘And this hurts like a bitch.’

‘Hospital,’ TJ said, leaving no room to argue.

‘Yeah.’ Skye sighed sadly. ‘Fuck, that’s gonna be a DQ. I’m not gonna make the NFR this year,’ she predicted. ‘I’m already too far behind.’

TJ refused to laugh at the fact that a disqualification and the NFR were what she was thinking about just then. But he did ask, ‘How’d a city slicker like you turn cowgirl so fast?’

Skye just reached for her hat. She put it over her dirty hair, said, ‘It’s just a state of mind, TJ.’ And when the sports med team arrived with the stretcher, Skye waved them off. ‘How about we give ’em a show?’ she asked. When TJ looked unsure, she added, ‘I have some pride to recoup.’

He, more than anyone, understood that. ‘Yes, ma’am.’ He braced, added, ‘But you’re gonna have to help me up.’

Skye pushed to her feet. She took a moment to steady herself and then held out one hand for TJ.

He took it and let her pull him to his feet. And when she wrapped one supporting arm around his waist and tucked herself under his arm, he didn’t pull back, despite the raucous crowd. He leaned in, letting her carry him as much as she could.

Matthew brought Kai alongside them, the saddle in one hand.

On the big screen, TJ’s accident replayed, this time on a split screen with Skye’s. Over the speakers, the announcer said, ‘And that, ladies and gentlemen, is rodeo! Cowboys and cowgirls, showing up and leaving it all on the dirt!’

The chorus of ‘How You Like Me Now?’ by The Heavy blared, giving them a walk-out song.

As the staff ran on to hand rake over the accident site and check the barrel’s positioning, their trio walked down the alley. Once they were out of the camera’s range, Skye looked up at him. ‘TJ, I tightened my cinch after I warmed up. It was good.’

TJ’s blood ran cold. He hadn’t even had the time to think about how the saddle had come off. ‘You sure?’

‘Oh, I think we know what happened.’ Matthew hefted the saddle with one hand, showing her and TJ where the leather off billet had been cut. ‘Somebody sliced through your off billet.’ He passed Skye Kai’s reins, and the moment she took the horse, he said, ‘See here. The underside of the leather, before the knot, was cut about three-quarters of the way. But this part tore.’ He showed them the stretched piece of leather that hadn’t been cut but had broken loose. ‘Whoever did this left it attached enough for you to get through warm-up. But there’s no way this would survive three barrel turns.’ If TJ was surprised by Matthew’s matter-of-fact recount, he was more surprised by when he said, ‘And I think I might know who did it.’

‘Who?’ TJ and Skye asked at the same time.

TJ dared to ask, ‘Distinguished-looking white guy in his sixties?’

‘Nope.’ Matthew hiked the saddle higher, asked, ‘Either of you do anything to piss off a kid lately?’

‘What?’ Skye shook her head.

But TJ asked, ‘A kid? Reed thin? City-type?’

‘That’s the one. Saw him outside your rig with the horse earlier. Didn’t think much of it at first, because he was just standing there looking at him. Seemed sad as hell. But when I asked him if he was okay, he turned tail and ran – fast.’

‘We didn’t leave Kai alone—’ began Skye.

‘Except when we were looking for your hat,’ TJ said.

Skye momentarily closed her eyes. ‘Shit.’