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  He was thick and hard. His white button-down shirt hung long, brushing the tops of his thighs. I attacked it with nimble fingers, undoing the buttons and pulling the material aside, taking in each ripple of his abs and the firmness of his pecs. He went to push it off his arms, but he was so sexy just standing there, chest, abs, and cock visible beneath his open white shirt. I shoved him back toward one of the chairs, and he sat with a knowing smirk.

  “You gonna ride me, Hallie? You want me to be your bull?”

  I straddled him, lining his dick up with my entrance, but not sinking down onto it. His cockhead slipped through the wetness between my lower lips, and he hissed out his agony.

  “Fuck. You’re so wet. I want in.”

  I teased him some more, just like he’d done to me, kissing his neck while his erection bobbed between my legs, getting close to the goal, but never more than nudging against my clit. I ached so bad to be filled, but I wanted him right there with me. I stroked him a few times with my hands, pumping him up and down and taking just the head of him inside me.

  “Oh,” I moaned, my legs wobbling. I wanted more. I wanted everything, and there was no way I could keep this up, no matter how much I was enjoying it.

  I didn’t have to.

  Nate gripped my hips and caught my attention with a blazing look. “I’m gonna fuck you, Hallie. Hard and fast, unless you tell me not to.”

  Pleasure spiked in my core at his promise. I sank down onto his cock, impaling myself fully on his thick, hard length. I screamed his name as he stretched me, and his shouts echoed around the room. I recovered enough to find a rhythm, rocking my hips over him, while his fingers punished my hips. He held me so tightly, guiding my movements, thrusting up into me, our thighs slapping together.

  I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, kissing him passionately, our tongues sliding and moving together, searching and wanting. A greedy need for him took over me while I ground against him, chasing my orgasm.

  I wanted Nate. Not just for tonight.

  There was more here than a fling. My heart swelled along with building orgasm, and just like the last time we’d done this, we switched from straight-up fucking to something more. Our pace slowed. He stared into my eyes and held me just that little bit closer.

  “Hallie,” he murmured.

  To my horror, I found there was a lump in my throat. I tried to swallow it down, but it stubbornly refused to budge.

  This man was going to leave me.

  Right after I’d fallen in love with him.

  I slammed my eyes closed, unable to face him anymore, and tried to bury the moment in the physical. “I’m close,” I moaned, picking up the pace again.

  Nate stilled for a moment, but I didn’t dare look at him. I couldn’t. It was too hard. Mentally, I begged him not to push. I didn’t want to be the girl who embarrassed herself not only at her high school prom, but at her prom do-over.

  Crying in the middle of sex would most definitely be embarrassing.

  Whether Nate knew what I was feeling or not, I didn’t know. But he took my verbal cues and reached a hand between us, finding my clit.

  It was good, his fingers working me there, while his dick filled my core. I moved faster, harder, fighting to lose myself in the orgasm funneling down on me. I threw my head back as the pressure reached boiling point, and with a final hard thrust inside me, Nate threw me off the edge of the cliff and sent me spiraling into oblivion.

  An oblivion where I didn’t have to think about or feel the agony of him leaving me.

  Again.

  18

  Nate

  “Get your arm up higher. If you don’t qualify because you touched that damn bull, I will literally hunt you down and take off your arm myself!”

  The buzzer sounded, and Summer jumped off the back off her bull, landing easily on her feet and sprinted for the fence. She shot me a dirty look from across the other side of the ring. “I’m regretting asking for your help. You’re a worse nag than my dad.”

  I grinned. “Did you forget who trained me?”

  She grumbled under her breath, but when I jerked my head toward the bucking chutes, she pulled her hat lower on her brow and strode off. I could see her lips moving as she mumbled to herself, and her left hand rose into the air while she talked her way through the ride in her mind.

  Frost had taught her that. Just like he’d taught me. She was ready. She was going to kill it at the rodeo on Saturday. I was just bummed I wouldn’t be here to see it.

  Hallie was acting as Summer’s rope man, and Dominic was on the gates. I’d met Dominic once or twice when we’d been kids, and he’d come out here to ride during the summer. But I’d barely recognized the guy now. He was as tall as I was, and just as broad, but where I was blond, he was dark. Since I’d last seen him, he’d acquired a bunch of intricate tattoos that curled out from beneath his rolled-up shirtsleeves and up the side of his neck.

  I shot a glance at Summer’s boyfriend, Austin, sitting on the seats behind the chute. The guy hadn’t even glanced up from his phone once since I’d arrived. I had no idea what he was even doing here. It was clear he had no interest in watching Summer ride.

  Frost appeared from the house and took up a place by my side, just as Summer’s bull burst from the gate.

  “Get your arm up!” Frost and I yelled in unison.

  He chuckled, but then his mouth flattened out into a worried frown. “Something’s come up. You know Dominic’s old man?”

  “Johnny?”

  “Yeah. He’s got some bulls he wants me to go inspect with him in Wyoming.”

  “So go.”

  “Summer has a rodeo this weekend.”

  I peered at him from under my hat. “Yeah, so? She’s twenty-two, Frost. Not twelve. She can get herself to a rodeo.”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets. “She needs to ride well this weekend if she’s going to have enough points to qualify. There’s only a couple more rounds left. I’d feel a whole lot better about leaving if you were gonna be there with her.”

  I shook my head. “You know I would if I could. But the bus picks me up tomorrow morning. I’ll be in Texas by the time she rides.”

  He took his hat off and ran a hand through his short blond hair. He had a few more grays since I’d left, and I’d bet most of them were caused by his headstrong eldest daughter.

  Done with her ride, Summer ran for the fence and caught the end of our conversation. “Don’t be ridiculous, Dad. Go to Wyoming. I’ll be fine for one rodeo without you.”

  Dominic lifted his head. “I can go with her.”

  Summer frowned at him. “I don’t need an escort.”

  “Never said I wanted to be your escort. I just meant as a friend. Not as your coach. I want to watch you ride.”

  Summer gazed down at her feet. “Oh. Sorry. Yeah, sure. You can drive down with us.”

  “Us?”

  “Me. Austin. Hallie, you coming, too?”

  Hallie grinned from the top of the chute. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

  A pang of jealousy lit up my chest. The four of them would be making the two-hour trip together. Probably staying at a hotel that night. I eyed Dominic again. Sure, he was all up in Summer’s grill right now, with his gaze lingering on her long after he thought anyone was watching. But she was loyal to a fault, and she was with Austin. It wouldn’t take Dominic long to refocus on the only other single woman in the car.

  I swallowed thickly and turned to Frost so Hallie wouldn’t see the expression on my face. I wanted her to be happy. I had no right getting jealous. “Seems like Summer has it covered. Go get on a plane. Take a few extra days off while you’re at it, maybe? You look like you need a break.”

  Frost narrowed his eyes at me. “And you look like you’ve got a smart mouth.”

  “Fine. I’m just saying, she’s not your little girl anymore. You can go to Wyoming for a weekend.”

  Frost watched with his lip curled in disgust as Summer walked over to Austin and sat h
erself in his lap. She wasn’t the only one watching. Dominic looked like the scene was ripping him in two.

  Frost huffed out a sigh. “You just wait till you have kids of your own one day. She’s always going to be my little girl.” With that he stomped off into the house again.

  I glanced over at Hallie, who had fallen into conversation with Dominic to avoid the awkwardness of standing there watching Summer and Austin make out. I’d never thought about having kids of my own, not until I’d had to take care of Molly for a few days. The idea of settling down with kids and a family had always felt light-years away.

  But that was before I came back home. That was before Hallie. Now, the idea of kids and roots didn’t seem quite so terrifying.

  In fact, it sounded kinda nice.

  She laughed at something Dominic said, her eyes crinkling in the corners in a true smile.

  It would be somebody else who got to do all those things with her. Somebody she met at the bar on a Friday night. Or someone who came to stay at her B&B on a work trip and fell head over heels for the small-town girl.

  Someone who wasn’t me. I couldn’t ask her to wait. I couldn’t ask her to come with me. There was no future there.

  Just one last night, where I would pretend tomorrow didn’t exist.

  19

  Hallie

  Nate wanted to spend some time with his sister and brother-in-law before he left, but when he asked if I’d come, too, I couldn’t agree quick enough.

  He drove me to the hospital on his bike, tucked to his back, arms tight around his middle. When we got off, he linked his fingers through mine, but we walked silently along the halls and up the stairs to Jasmine and Shep’s room.

  He knocked, then opened the door for us, and I poked my head in tentatively, not exactly sure what to expect. Nate had told me they were doing better, but the images of them slumped in their overturned car, cut and bleeding, were still firmly ingrained in my memory. Those scenes were something I would never forget, I knew that.

  It was a relief to fill my head with the image in front of me now. The two of them were still clearly hurting, with casts, bandages, and machines attached to them, but Shep was sitting up in his bed, and Jasmine was reclining in an armchair next to him. I let myself drink in the sight of them smiling, happy, no blood gushing down their faces, or concern that they might not be breathing. They were very much alive and on the mend.

  A lump rose in my throat, and I gave Jasmine a watery smile. “You look so much better.”

  She patted the seat next to her, and I let go of Nate’s hand to sit by her side. She squeezed my arm. “I’m glad you’re here. I wanted to thank you. For what you did for Molly after the crash.”

  “I’m just glad I could help. And that you’re all okay.”

  “We got lucky. But you went above and beyond, and I won’t forget it.”

  I tried to smile, but it was uncomfortable to take in her praises. I’d only done what anybody would have. Okay, maybe most people wouldn’t have stayed at the hospital all night, making sure their baby was okay, but Molly was a little piece of Nate, too, and that wasn’t easy to walk away from.

  I glanced over at him, deep in conversation with Shep. I needed to start mentally distancing myself from him, so I could physically distance myself from him in the morning. But it was so hard, when every time I looked at him, my brain screamed, “He’s it!”

  Jasmine touched my arm. “Will you come for a stroll with me? Just down the hall. There’s some…” She shot a glance at her brother who was frowning at her. “Some feminine products I need.”

  I stood quickly. “I can get them for you.”

  But Jasmine pushed herself from the chair, gathering up a pair of crutches leaning against the wall. “No, I need the practice.”

  When Nate started to argue, she gave him a stern, older sister glare. “Doctor’s orders.”

  I walked slowly while Jasmine swung her heavy cast awkwardly, limping our way out of the room and down the corridor. She stopped for a breather just a few feet from the door.

  “Are you okay?” I peered around for someone to help, but we were still yards from the nurses’ station.

  Jasmine waved her hand. “Fine. Fine. But I don’t really need any feminine products. I just wanted to talk to you alone.”

  “Oh.” I pointed at a set of hard plastic chairs bolted to the floor. “Maybe we should sit.”

  “Before I fall, preferably.”

  I cringed and moved a little closer to her, hovering as if she’d tumble at any moment. She sank into the seats with a groan, completely out of breath from the short walk.

  “What did you want to talk to me about?” I was suddenly nervous, like I’d been sent to the principal’s office. Or like I was meeting my boyfriend’s mother for the first time. Jasmine had the slightly intimidating authority figure stare down pat.

  “You’re in love with my brother, aren’t you?”

  Breath whooshed out of me on a sharp exhale, and I opened my mouth to deny it. I could barely admit it to myself, let alone say it out loud. People didn’t fall in love in a matter of days. Which meant I’d been in love with Nate since we were teenagers. And I hadn’t stopped loving him all these years, despite the fact we hadn’t seen or spoken to each other once. That was possibly the most pathetic thing I’d ever heard. I liked Jasmine. Respected her. She had a wonderful job here at the hospital, and a man who loved her. A beautiful child. In comparison, I was a stupid kid with a killer crush, and a case of puppy love I just couldn’t get over.

  Jasmine held up a hand to stop my protests. “There’s no point denying it. I can see that you are. You have that same expression on your face that I had when I first met Shep.”

  I gazed down at my hands. “How long did it take you to fall in love with him?”

  She thought that over for a moment, a smile tugging at her lips. “About three minutes. He’s got that adorable accent, and even though he had a raging case of appendicitis, he still managed to charm the pants off me. Quite literally. He had me naked approximately five minutes after he’d checked himself out and was no longer my patient.”

  We both smiled at that, but then she picked up my hand and squeezed it. “The point is, I know what it looks like to love someone. You need to tell him.”

  “I can’t. He’s going back on the road tomorrow.”

  “What if he didn’t?”

  I couldn’t even fathom that thought. “That’s exactly why I can’t say anything. I can’t tell him I love him or ask him to stay. He’s too good for that. Frost always talks about how Nate’s going to be world champion before he’s twenty-five.”

  Jasmine frowned. “Or he’ll fall off a bull and get stabbed through the liver with a horn. Or he’ll blow out his knee or his shoulder. Or he’ll end up with one too many concussions, and the doctors will rule him out permanently.”

  There was fear in her voice. It was the same fear I had whenever he rode. “He can’t not go because we’re scared he’ll get hurt.”

  She sighed. “I know. And I would never ask that of him. But right now, he has no reason to stay. No reason to change his mind and consider another path. One that might just make him happier than the one he’s on now. So what I’m saying is, maybe you should give him one. Give him the option, Hallie. He needs all the information. If he chooses his career, then that’s fine. But right now, he doesn’t see there could be another way to being happy. Because you aren’t telling him how you feel.”

  She didn’t give me a chance to respond. She just grabbed her crutches and limped back to her room, while I sat and stared after her like I’d been slapped in the face with a fish.

  20

  Nate

  When Jasmine returned alone, I raised an eyebrow of concern in her direction. “Where’s Hallie?”

  “She just needed a minute. You can collect her on your way out.”

  I shot a glance at the doorway, and out into the corridor, but I couldn’t see her. “Is she okay?”

>   Jasmine put her arms around my middle and squeezed. “She’s fine. But don’t leave her waiting. You don’t have much longer before you have to leave. I’m gonna miss you, little brother. Don’t be such a stranger, huh? There’s good things in this town.”

  “Like me,” Shep called from his bed. “And the steak at the bar. You can’t tell me you get steak like that anywhere else. You know that feeling you get when you cut into it and how it practically melts on your tongue? Even if you don’t come back for me, you should come back for that.”

  I shook his hand with a grin. “I’ll keep that in mind. Take care of my sister, and my niece, okay? No more nearly dying. You don’t get to do that twice without an ass-kicking.”

  He grinned. “Ride hard. We’ll be watching.” He gestured at his banged-up body. “And not only because I’ve got nothing better to do right now.”

  My phone rang in my pocket, and it was just as well. I gave my sister and brother-in-law a final wave and headed for the door, pulling my phone out as I went. I swallowed down a lump in my throat. If I’d stayed there in that room a moment longer, I might have cried on them like a complete pussy. What the fuck was wrong with me? I’d said these goodbyes many a time and never gotten emotional about it.

  But something felt different this time.

  I didn’t want to leave them. Shep and Jasmine and Molly needed me.

  Then there was Hallie. When I thought about leaving her tomorrow, a piercing pain stabbed through my chest. It hurt so bad I couldn’t stand it, so I’d actively forced myself to stop thinking about it.

  I glanced at the phone screen and blinked at it in surprise. “Brad?”

  “Yeah, kid. It’s me.”

  Nerves trickled through me. Brad Pruitt was the head of the WBRA. He didn’t often call me, and when he did, it wasn’t generally for anything good. I spotted Hallie at the other end of the corridor and moved in her direction while I clutched the phone to my ear.