Page 32 of What I Should Have Known

Josh didn’t move. Not a single eye twitched to acknowledge that he’d heard me as the chute door swung open.

Chapter 11

KAT

His jaw set tense and tucked against his chest, Bernie raked his spurs up the shoulders of Popsicle.

With a guttural snort, the appaloosa bucked. His nostrils flared, foam flying from his mouth as his hind end crashed back against the sand.

Veins popped in Bernie’s neck, his determination and raw strength matching the horse’s tenacity.

With an explosive grunt, Popsicle lunged forward, all four legs leaping from the ground and he threw his hind hooves high out behind him.

Like a powerful clap of thunder, Bernie’s heels slammed back into the horse’s shoulders.

There was no fluidness, no practiced rhythm to Bernie’s movements, yet he flawlessly controlled every whip of untamed chaos rising from Popsicle. His thighs, squeezing with unbelievable strength, seemed so much more rigid than his hips that rocked with each buck of the horse.

Sand sprayed.

Hooves flew wild.

In a dangerous dance, they roared like a storm in the desert, pounding through the arena.

Five seconds in, Popsicle flew to the left while Bernie swung to the right.

A gasp echoed through the stadium.

Another buck, yet his hand remained clinging to the handle as his thighs gripped even tighter.

With the next lunge, Bernie hoisted himself back to the center of Popsicle.

Seven seconds in.

“COME ON!” Josh suddenly bellowed beside me.

And I crashed backward off the rail.

With a buzz of pain snapping up my spine and tingling down toward my fingertips, I groaned. “What the hell, Josh?”

He clutched his stomach and laughed as the stars swirled above me and the buzzer went off. “FUCK YEAH!” Josh screamed, launching himself upright.

I pushed myself up, the sand grating against my palms, and scrambled back to the fence. “He made it?” I gasped.

Josh nodded and screamed in support again.

As loud as fireworks on the Fourth of July, the crowd erupted in cheers. I peered through the rails as one of the pick-up men dragged Bernie from an almost spent Popsicle. His tennis shoes smacked against the ground, a wicked grin widening on his handsome face as he scanned for and found Wyatt.

And flipped him off with both middle fingers.

Tipping my hat down, I hid my smile beneath the shadows as the most heartwarming sound pierced through the air. “Kat! Kat! Kaaat!” Emma shouted.

There was no time to analyze the warmth and unusual slickness between my legs at the sight of Bernie as I’d just been alerted to my best friend.

“Kat! Kat! Kaaat!” Emma yelled again.

Spinning around, I grinned widely as my best friend came sprinting toward me.

Blonde hair flew like a river behind her shoulders as she raced toward me, ducking around some cheering cowboys. When she reached me, her arms flew around my shoulders and wrapped me in a hug.

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