Page 30 of What I Should Have Known

Hind quarter flew into the air and Wyatt leaned back, his left bicep locked to the side of his ear as his right hand clung to the rigging handle.

Four.

All four legs rose into the air, and the horse twisted sideways.

Five.

Wyatt slid to the left but the horse went right.

Six.

Dust flew into the air, a cloud of beige as the cowboy hit dirt, and the horse continued lunging forward.

Wyatt’s black cowboy hat lost in the chaos, Dust Devil continued bucking, the pick-up riders carefully guiding the horse over to the side and out of the arena to the left of the chutes.

The announcer’s drawl was a steady drum of unrecognizable tones as Wyatt slammed a hand against his chaps. His jaw clenched, rage seething behind his eyes as he shot his gaze directly over to Bernie.

I followed his line of sight and caught a smirk lifting on Bernie’s face. Something else was going on here. Slapping a palm against the railing, I crawled down the rungs and quickly jogged over to some cowboys who’d been perched on the fence here for hours now.

Shooting daggers at the nearest one who I knew, I noticed his brows raise. “What’s up, Kat?” he hesitantly asked.

“You know something, and you’re going to tell me what it is,” I hissed, jabbing a finger into his thigh.

He rapidly shook his head; his black hair poking out from beneath his cowboy hat waved with the movement. “Not for me to say.”

“Josh, don’t make me call your wife.”

Josh narrowed his gaze, his almond-shaped brown eyes darkening. “You wouldn’t dare. Then you’d also be waking the baby.”

I raised a brow. “For some shit you did.”

He sighed. “Well, fine. You didn’t hear this from me.”

“My lips are sealed.” I glanced to my right as the next bronc reared up and dove out of the chute. Bernie was after this guy, and my heart raced. Nausea built of nerves boiled in my stomach as I peeled my gaze away from the arena.

Josh licked his lips and ran a hand over his round face. “I overheard Wyatt calling that Bernie guy out for something. Believe it or not, Wyatt was the one egging things on, even though Bernie said to knock it off in a very polite but direct manner. It wasn’t until Wyatt said he’d back off from you that Bernie agreed to get on a bronc.”

My eyes widened and my jaw snapped to the ground. “What? I didn’t ask him to do that!”

Josh jerked away from me and threw his hands up in submission. “Don’t kill the messenger.”

“I’m very capable of handling my own shit. Especially Wyatt.”

“I know that. We all know that.”

“Then what the fuck was Bernie thinking?” I shoved my hands on my hips, glaring at Josh.

He shrugged his shoulders, inching away from me. “I mean, he was rather mature about it all. Kinda felt bad for the guy, actually.”

I closed my eyes and tipped my head back. The anger rolling hot beneath my skin sizzled, piercing needles through my veins. “Thank you, Josh.”

He chuckled lightly. “Go easy on Bernie. He seemed to have good intentions. Besides, Wyatt needs a good ego check, and if this guy can actually outride him, it’ll be worth it all.”

“Or Bernie will get himself injured,” I muttered, concern flitting through the rolling frustration.

“Ah,” Josh said, a crooked smile lifting on his lips. “Now I get it. You’ve got a crush on this guy.”

“Excuse me? No, I don’t. Why would me being concerned about someone who’s never even been on a horse at all allude to that?”

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