Page 93 of Georgia-Blue & Hudson

Every time her name is mentioned, my heart kicks up a thousand notches, and I feel like my chest is caving in. I’m stupid in thinking I could navigate this so casually and actually get away with it. And leaving Georgia like that without any contact? She must think I’m an ass.

“How’s Lily settling in?” I ask Brook when we all take a seat in Gray’s dining area and he’s shuffling the cards. Surely talking about his hobby farm, and the new donkey, is a safe zone.

Brook’s face lights up at the mere mention of her. “She’s doin’ just great, settling in with Sawyer and the other animals. It’s going to take some adjustment, but I think she knows she’s safe now.”

“I’ve thought about rescuing some horses myself,” I say out of nowhere. “We have the old stables from when Snowy was—” I pause because it’s been so long since I said her name. I clear my throat. “Anyway, it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while.”

“It’s not something you’ll regret,” Brook says. “You know you can come over any time and visit my lot. Misty loves you, you haven’t ridden her in a while.”

“That would be great.”

“You wanna get back into riding again?” Gray asks as he deals the cards.

“Thinking about it.”

“Hey, now that I think about it,” Brook raises a finger suddenly, “Koda was talking about Bucko just before he left to go back to Montana.” The thought of Takoda that day over atBrook’s place makes me bristle, though I know Georgia was just being a brat and had no agenda other than pissing me off by flirting with him.

“Bucko?” I balk.

“Yeah, I mean, you know Koda, he hates the rodeo and anything to do with that kinda shit, no offense.”

I pop a shoulder indifferently. I know he’s a big advocate for helping animals and rehabilitates horses on his own ranch in Montana.

“He heard along the grapevine the farm where Bucko resides was just sold and he’s looking for a new place to live. Either that or—” Brook stops and I stare at him over the table.

“Or what?” They all know I tattooed Bucko on the back of my leg as a testament to not only the fucker himself that almost maimed me, but as a symbol that sometimes life’s biggest scares can be your biggest victory.

Of course, I didn’t feel that way at the time. I was destroyed and physically broken. I blamed that damn bull. But time helped me heal.

I also got to spend the last part of my mom’s time on earth with her, and not on the circuit. I gained a lot more respect for nature, and for the animal that I’d worked so hard to defeat. I saw everything differently when I looked at it from his point of view.

Maybe I became the broody beast like Bucko was. Maybe we’re not so different after all.

“Anyway, neither me nor Koda will let that happen. So, are you interested?” Brook gives me a chin lift.

If there’s one thing that was ever going to get my mind off Georgia for five minutes, then it could only ever be the wild bull, Bucko. In the end he was deemed too dangerous to even be in the rodeo — the last I heard he was living a quiet life just outside of Nashville.

Is it my fucking duty to give him a home? Maybe not, but he’s not going to end up in a slaughterhouse if I have anything to do with it. “I don’t know,” I say as my mind wanders back.

It may seem weird to some, but my interest is piqued.

I’m also reminded of how Georgia snapped me out of that nightmare in Florida when I was reliving my glory days and my accident.

I haven’t had one since. Maybe she chased that demon away once and for all.

When I look up, Gabe is staring at me and Brook like we’ve both gone absolutely crazy. “You’d actually house the bull that nearly killed you?” he says, incredulous. “Are you shitting me?”

“Hey, the bull has to live somewhere,” Beau objects. “Not his fault he got roped into a cruel and outdated sport,” Brook adds.

I side eye him.

“Isn’t that taking it a little far?” Gray says, also looking at me a little strangely. “I mean, could you really face him again? He’s a beast.”

“Fuck knows,” I groan. “But does he deserve to be minced meat?”

“Exactly.” Of course, I have Brook’s vote.

Gray shakes his head. “You really don’t hold any animosity?”

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