Page 57 of Wild, Wild Cowboy

Ten minutes later, I found myself flat on my back, the breath knocked clean out of me. Five blurry faces peered down at me.

“Dude, you killed him,” Seb said in a hushed tone.

“I did not!” Holly protested, shoving his shoulder.

“Didn’t I tell you not to look her in the eyes?” Mateo demanded.

“What’s going on?” Hannah called from the porch swing. I heard it squeak as she pushed to her feet.

In an instant I was scrambling to my feet because fuck the blurry vision and burning lungs, I wasn’t about to let Hannah see me brought low like this. Dizziness nearly knocked me down again, but Jeremiah offered a hand to steady me.

“Easy,” he said quietly.

I would have knocked him off me, but then I’d probably fall injure myself falling back down again, and how would I fuck his sister tonight if I threw out my back?

“Everything is fine!” I hollered. “Stay there. I’m good.” I smirked at Holly. “Not even bleeding, so no points for you.”

She looked almost bored as her gaze drifted over my grass-stained body. “Check your elbow.”

I raised my bent elbow to verify and saw a streak of red. “Dammit.”

“Better luck next time, cowboy.” She swung her mallet over her shoulder and sauntered off.

Liam turned to face me. “Can I give you a few pointers?”

I nodded. “Sure.”

“Blood ball is a combination of chess, rugby, and croquet. From how you’ve played so far, you get the rugby and croquet parts. You’re not bad with a mallet. Your aim is pretty good. You’ve even managed to get in a few tackles, although I’m gonna be honest here, I think it was because they didn’t see you as a real threat. Still, you’re doing pretty good.”

“Thanks,” I said cautiously.

“But you’re missing the strategy aspect. It’s not enough to make someone fall, you have to make them fall on a rock. Aim for something sharp. You know what I mean? You want to make them bleed and get those fifty points.”

“Jesus Christ,” I muttered.

“Strategy.” Liam clapped me on the shoulder. “That’s the part you’re missing.”

And despite my best efforts, I kept right on missing it for the rest of the game. I managed to get in a few decent tackles, but when the points were tallied, I was dead last.

“You held on to the end, and that was more than any of us expected of you,” Mateo said as he headed for the house. “Good game.”

Holly shook her head. “You almost had me. You just didn’t want to hurt a woman.”

I snorted. “I wasn’t even close.”

“Because you weren’t trying.” She paused, looking up at the porch. “Hannah’s waiting for you.”

“Yeah.” I moved faster and broke into a jog.

“Hey,” Hannah greeted me. She cupped my sweaty, filthy face in her palms and looked me over. “You survived.”

Holly, Mateo, Seb, and Liam smirked at us as they filed into the house. I ignored them and wrapped my arms around Hannah’s waist with a smug grin. “Of course I did. No chance in hell I wasn’t coming back to you, duchess.”

Jeremiah was not smirking when he passed us, but he definitely felt some kind of way about seeing his sister’s hands on me. Hannah didn’t seem to notice. She was too busy checking me for damage. “Is your back okay? It looked like Holly took you down hard.”

Yeah, I was going to feel that tomorrow. Hell, I was already feeling it now. “I’m fine. Really.”

I was about to suggest she take me to our room so she could see my bruises without my clothes getting in the way, but Jeremiah returned with two beers.

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