Page 55 of Hidden Memories

Not now. Not ever.

I drop my head. “I’ll be late tonight and I’ll be quiet. Don’t wait up.”

I open the door and step out, but as I walk away, I feel her in my blood, my bones—a memory I never buried deep enough.

That night at Julia’s, she cuts me open all over again.

This time, with the truth.

Chapter Thirteen

PAST

For the firsttime since my mom died, I have hope. Not the quiet, gentle kind, but the kind that rattles in my chest like a caged animal, restless and wild. The most beautiful, creative, natural woman in the world chose me. And I chose her.

Now, all I need to do is deliver this bag, conquer a bunch of bulls, and bring home enough money to start our lives.

Then I can finally have what I wanted since the moment I laid my eyes on Katinka Castellanos.

I’m gonna grab my girl and hit the road. I’m gonna marry the shit out of her in some tacky Vegas chapel and watch her paint the Rocky Mountains when we visit my family in Starlight Canyon. We’re going to go to the Kentucky Derby and bet on the underdog and splurge on lobster in Maine, then climb the Empire State Building because we’re too broke to afford the elevator ticket. We’ve got dreams.

This is what it means to be crazy in love.

But we aren’t there yet. There’s an ocean of distance between what I want and what I can give her. I glance at the backseat, at the stuffed leather duffle, zipped up tight like it’s hiding a secret big enough to swallow me whole. My heart pounds violently, an uneven rhythm of thrill and regret, both warring for space inside me.

This was a mistake.

I should turn back. I should dump the bag in the middle of the desert, leave it for the buzzards, and pretend I never met Victor.

But I won’t.

A few days after Kat and I made our plan to take off together, I met a guy I should’ve walked away from. I was at a crappy little rodeo, killing time, when Victor approached me. Face tats. Diamond chain. Drove a Mercedes S-Class. Not exactly the type to be hanging around a backwater rodeo with a purse small enough that they don’t even write a check.

I knew he was trouble.

But good God, does love make you blind.

It wasn’t my smartest move. Hell, it might be the single dumbest thing I’ve ever done. But when my recklessness collided with my desperation to take care of Kat, I agreed to take this duffle bag to Reno for a price.

I didn’t ask what was inside. I didn’t want to know.

But that doesn’t change the fact that I crossed a line. A big one.

I can almost feel my mother watching me from above, shaking her head. This isn’t how she raised me.

But what was I supposed to do?

Kat and I are about to be on the road for a year, living off whatever I win on the circuit. What if I get injured? What if I don’t win enough? What if I drag her into a life of uncertainty, where we can’t even afford a tank of gas, let alone a motel room?

Delivering this bag is insurance. A safety net. A down payment on our future.

One job. That’s it.

Then I’ll go back, get my girl, and never do anything this stupid again.

I tighten my grip on the wheel, knuckles white. The endless highway stretches ahead, dark and empty, but it feels like a tunnel closing in.

My gut twists.

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