Page 2 of Burned & Bound

“You fucker.” I laughed. Buck Hartley lived across town, kept a small ranch, and kept to himself. He also happened to be a retired bull rider—and one of the best too.

“He says I’ve got real talent,” Jackson beamed.

“I bet he says that to all the boys with money,” I retorted.

“Shut the heck up!” He elbowed me. “Mom ain’t paying him. He wouldn’t take it anyhow.”

“That’s cool,” I said. “Isn’t it a little late to just get started? The season starts in like a week or two.”

“Yeah, but Mom made a whole plan with Buck about ways I can ride through small summer festivals. Make a name for myself and all that,” he replied. “He thinks I’ve got a good chance at coming in strong as a rookie in the next year or two.”

“Your dad’s going to be pissed,” I told him.Shit, I couldn’t imagine pissing my father off like that.

“It won’t be so bad.” I felt him roll on his side and did the same. It was damn near impossible to see him, even though we were practically nose to nose. I held my breath, my heart pounding wildly. Sure, this was nothing for him, but it was so much for me. “Mom says I just need to prove I plan to make the ranch important too.”

“I’ll help,” I volunteered a little too quickly. “With ranch stuff and all that.”

I didn’t want to do it but for Jackson, I would.

“Will you be there when I do my first ride?”

“Will I be there to watch you fall flat on that ugly face of yours?” I chuckled. “Hell yeah, I will.”

“You suck.”But he was laughing.The sound did things—stupid things—to my brain. Enough so that I didn’t realize what I was doing until it was too late.

Closing the distance, my lips barely touched his, and I froze. Alarms and red flags fired off in my head. This was such a horrible idea. There was no coming back from it. How the hell did you fix kissing your straight friend?

The truth: you didn’t.

I started to pull back, but to my surprise, he followed. His mouth latched onto mine in an awkward kiss. Between the angle and my retreat, it was a mess. I’d never kissed anyone. I didn’t know what I was doing. I chuckled awkwardly, unable to get out of my head as I broke away from him.

“I’m sorry,” I managed to say pathetically.

“Don’t be,” Jackson said, his voice thick as gravel. His fingers brushed through my hair, sending a tingle down my spine. “But I ain’t done kissing you.”

That hand anchored at the back of my neck and dragged me closer. His lips slid across mine, and I followed his lead.Soft and warm.That’s what he was. Despite his whole rough cowboy thing, Jackson was soft and warm. He kissed me gently as if afraid to break me. My tongue flicked over the seam of his lips, and he opened, meeting me in a greedy battle for control.

Kiss after kiss, we grew bolder. My hands ran down his sides, his leg wrapped around mine.The feel of his hands, the taste of his mouth, the warmth of his body.I was fucking flying.

“What’re we doing?” I asked in a lull as we both stopped to catch our breath.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. His head shook slightly. “I don’t…”

“Tomorrow,” I suggested when he faltered. “We can figure it out tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Tomorrow is good.”

And then his mouth was on mine again. I melted into the cool grass as I made out with my best friend under the stars.

We stayed out way later than we usually did, but neither of us wanted to leave. Somehow making out in a field until we were both rocking the most painful boners of our lives was better than anything else. Also, riding a horse with a boner wasn’t comfortable.

Hours later, I snuck in through the backdoor and practically tiptoed through my house. My father wasn’t a fan of me sneaking out, so I tried to keep it down. With any luck, he’d passed the fuck out with the help of whatever drink he picked for the night.

“Where the hell have you been?”That gruff voice stopped me dead in my tracks when I tried to pass through the living room.The light flipped on and my dad sat in his favorite chair, empty drink in hand and an empty bottle on the table next to him.

Shit.

Harrison McNamara was a beast of a man—something I wasn’t, much to his disappointment. Granted, everything about me was a disappointment. I took after Mom, which made me a reminder of her that he was stuck with. My dark hair contrasted his light hair, my gray eyes didn’t match his brown ones, and he was tall while I was average at best.Yeah, Harrison McNamara would’ve been happier with anyone else for a son.

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