Page 53 of Rough Ride

He wasn’t the only one smiling. All three of them were. “What?” I demanded.

“Sawyer was just tellin’ us an exciting story,” Eli explained. “About a girl who was nearly crushed by a barbell at the gym, before he rushed in to save her.”

“Apparently he was quite the hero,” Johnny added, eyes sparkling with barely-contained laughter.

I groaned. “I wouldn’t use the word hero.”

Sawyer raised an eyebrow at me, but said nothing.

“You just wanted to grind against my ass,” I teased. “Because you made damn sure you were all up on me while helping with the barbell.”

His grin twisted into an angry sneer. “That’s what I get for helping someone who was about to break her fucking neck. Accusations of harassment.” Sawyer turned and left the bar, shouldering through another customer who threw his hands up in surprise.

“What about your whiskey?” Eli called after him. He turned to me and said, “I was gonna buy him a whiskey. Guess he lost his thirst.”

“Did he really help you at the gym?” Johnny asked.

“You sound surprised.”

“Because it damn sureissurprising,” Eli said. “Sawyer’s the most independent man in the whole damn rodeo. He once saw another cowboy get his foot tangled in the stirrup. Instead of helping, he watched the cowboy get dragged halfway across rodeo camp. Never raised a finger, even though he was right there.”

Johnny had a mischievous look in his blue eyes. “I think he’s got the hots for you.”

“Can you blame him?” Eli said, giving me a wink.

I could see Sawyer across the room, leaning against the wall near Whiplash Willie. The girls from the bachelorette party were still trying—and failing—to ride Willie on what looked to be the lowest setting. I felt bad for accusing him of only wanting to grind against my ass. Hehadsaved me, after all.

I poured a whiskey and said, “I’ll be right back.” Then I left the bar and weaved through the crowd until I reached the scowling man in the black cowboy hat.

“Here,” I said. “On the house. For saving me.”

He looked at the glass of whiskey. “I didn’t save you. Apparently I only wanted to grind against your ass.” He bit off every word.

“I owe you an apology,” I said, forcing myself to make eye-contact. “I was embarrassed about failing my set, and even more embarrassed about needing to be saved, so I lashed out. It was shitty of me to accuse you of just trying to grind against me. I’m sorry.”

Sawyer searched my eyes for several uncomfortable seconds. It was like he was trying to determine if I was being genuine or not.He must have decided in my favor, because he finally took the whiskey out of my hand and knocked it back in one long pull.

“You’re welcome,” he said.

“Welcome for what?” Eli said as he and Johnny joined us.

Sawyer raised an eyebrow at me expectantly.

“I was thanking him for saving me at the gym,” I admitted to the others. “It was very kind of him.”

“Heroic, even?” Sawyer asked.

I glared at him. “Don’t push your luck.”

The tiniest hint of a smile curled at the edge of his full lips.

“What are we doing over here?” Johnny asked, glancing at the mechanical bull. “Getting pointers before doing the real thing at the rodeo?”

“Not much skill going on tonight,” Sawyer said as one of the girls fell off the bull. It was on the lowest setting, indicated by a neon number one on the scoreboard above the ring; hardly more than a boat rocking on waves.

“You should show them how it’s done,” I suggested.

Sawyer snorted.

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