Page 122 of Burn the Wild

Ruby giggles. “Cat daddy.”

“Been talkin’?” I ask Dakota dryly.

She keeps her pretty face neutral. “Your name may or may not have been mentioned.”

Unable to help it, I glance at the rearview mirror. Reese’s eyes meet mine. Heat sparks. Then, just as quickly, her gaze darts away.

Fuck it.

She can have her secrets; I just want her. I don’t care anymore. If I push her away and she avoids me the rest of the summer…I can’t handle that. Her on my ranch and not in my bed?

Absolutely fucking not.

My thoughts are diverted when I see Fallon with her head out the window. Her lonesome howl sounds throughout the cab.

“Christ,” I mutter. Twisting around, I try to grab her pant leg. “Fallon, get your ass back in here. Stop acting like an idiot.”

With a glare, Fallon slumps back down in her seat. “I’ve already been kidnapped and stabbed. What else can happen?”

“You wanna ease up on the death-defying stunts?” I grump at Fallon. “My brother’s trying to look out for you and all you’re doin’ is giving him high blood pressure.”

“Wyatt doesn’t take me seriously,” Fallon hisses. Her eyes are wild. “He doesn’t think I can ride.”

Dakota’s head slowly swivels to me, a look of shock on her face. An awkward tension fills the cab.

“Hey, Fallon, shut the fuck up,” I say. “That’s not true.”

When Wyatt came to the ranch, twelve years ago, at twenty-two, he was the cocky bad boy of rodeo. Fallon was still a sophomore in high school. I wasn’t around to witness any of their early interactions. But apparently Fallon still holds a grudge.

I give her a long steady look in the rearview mirror. “I’ll tell you right now, on the whole wide world of Wyatt, if he said that he didn’t mean it. And if he did, he doesn’t believe it now.”

Fallon’s face softens momentarily before turning to a scowl. “Whatever.” With a flap of her hand, she says, “Koty, put somemusic on so I don’t have to hear this cowboy’s teeth gnash together.”

Before I can stop her, Dakota hits CD on the player.

Fuck.

Instantly, Reese’s sweet husky voice fills the cab.

My knuckles tighten on the wheel.

A giggle comes from the backseat. Once again, my eyes flash to the rearview. Reese has a hand over her mouth to hide a smile.

“Number One Fan Club?” Dakota asks as Reese and Ruby belt lines from the backseat with invisible microphones.

I blow out a bad-tempered breath as the truck turns into one big karaoke session.

Three songs later, we roll up to the lodge. My brothers are out front.

“Everyone’s back in one piece,” I say as the women pile out of the truck. I look to Fallon. “Attitudes and all.”

She flips me off and storms for the Edens, with Wyatt on her heels.

“You girls have fun?” Davis asks, wrapping Dakota in his arms.

“I did. How’s Squish?”

“Sleepin’ like a baby.” He kisses Dakota. “Which is what we should be doing.”

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