Page 57 of Eight Seconds to Fly

Beau looked over at Branch, disapproval evident on his face. He knew how much Branch’s need to think would hurt me, because Beau knew me. “Branch-” he started but I laid a hand over his mouth before he said something he’d regret.

“It's okay, Beau. He deserves time to think. I wouldn’t want to rush him into something like this. He needs to be sure.” I turned to the rest of the guys. “Who wants another beer?”

24

Iwas off my game that weekend. Two consecutive buck-offs in under four seconds. I cursed myself out, even though it was useless now. That was bull riding, learning to take the failures with the same grace as the wins.

The week had been too much, but that was the way I was. One hundred percent foot on the gas. Life was too short to play it safe. Time was the only thing that was uncertain in life. You could work to make more money. You could learn to love again. You could grieve and heal. But when your time was up, it was up and that meant running at life head on.

But sometimes, just sometimes, I wished I had a little more patience. Maybe I’d rushed Branch. Hell, maybe I’d rushed them all. Maybe in three months time, when we weren’t all stuck on the circuit, they’d realize they’d made a mistake.

We’d headed off cross country to Lexington, the next rodeo, with nothing resolved. We’d stopped for a couple of nights in Kansas City because Lexington had the Sponsorship Gala. Well, that's what we called it. It was the annual charity gala, where they invited all the riders and the major sponsors. But it meant I needed a dress.

I walked around the mall with Beau and Frankie looking for dresses in the boutiques. Dylan and Branch were off at some famous outfitter, looking at a new range of vests. Apparently they were lighter and ex-military tech. You could be run over by a tank and it would tickle.

It was also expensive as hell, but Daddy had always said that you don’t buy the best gear you can afford, but buy the best gear there is. If you can’t afford the best, then you can’t afford to be a bull rider.

“What about that one?” Beau pointed to a red gown, sequined and with a huge slit up the side.

I screwed up my nose. “I’d look like an electrocuted Jessica Rabbit,” I said, pointing to my curly hair which was even wilder with the humidity today.

He nuzzled my hair. “Exactly.”

I rolled my eyes, but walked into the boutique anyway. The girl behind the counter looked at me in my dusty boots and Wranglers and visibly screwed up her nose. Then her eyes caught on Frankie and Beau, and her smile was wide and welcoming.

“Well, hello there. What can I do for you?”

“I need a dress,” I said in the same fake falsetto.

She laughed like I said something hilarious. “Well, you came to the right place. Do you need help with sizing? I’m sure we have something that will fit.” Her voice said she was sceptical.

Was she messing with me right now? I balled my fist, my teeth grinding. Beau, bless him, stepped in. “Oh no, we are fine. We’ll just have a look around, Ma’am.”

He pulled out that good old boy southern charm and Miss 5’9 and size 0 visibly preened. Beau steered me away towards the racks.

“Hey Nugget, you remember that time you punched Samantha whats-her-name in the nose in ninth grade?”

Yeah I remembered. “She was spreading a rumor that you and Branch were gay and thats why neither of you would date the cheerleaders and that you were diseased and going to hell.”

Beau raised both eyebrows. “Really? That’s what it was over?” I nodded. “We aren’t, you know. We were, I mean are, just close. Branch decided that I was his family, and he took the poor motherless ranch brat under his wing when we were two.”

I rolled my eyes in his direction as I flicked through the racks. “Duh, Beau. I knew you guys better than I knew myself. I knew you weren’t gay, not that I would have given a flying cats ass if you were. For a while, until you turned into hormone-ridden assholes, you were my best friends. That was why I punched Samantha. How dare she take something so sacred as your friendship and try to sully it? She deserved the broken nose.”

It didn’t hurt that I’d seen her kissing Branch the week before.

Beau shook his head, pulling me to his side. “I forgot how amazing you are for a moment. Anyway, I was there the day you hit her, and I remember the indignation on your face. Your wild fury. I was pretty sure that was the moment I regretted letting Branch call dibs on you when we were barely old enough to know what we were calling dibs on. But I had nothing but my word, and I held to it. Until a month ago.”

My heart fluttered in my chest. “What does that have to do with today?”

Beau grinned. “I just think that jealous Tessa May is damn beautiful.”

I slapped his arm and stomped off, Frankie following along behind me laughing. Every now and then he’d grab a dress off the rack until he had an armful and I had nothing. “Come on. You can try these on and Beau will tell you that you are the prettiest girl he’s ever seen in every single one.”

He kissed my head and I could feel the shop girl's eyes burning into my back as we made our way back to the changing rooms. Frankie hung the dresses and ushered me in. “Need a hand getting your clothes off?” he murmured suggestively and I bit my lower lip. Mmm. I have a flash of Frankie and Beau in the changing room with me, pressed between their bodies, trying to be quiet as they fuck me senseless.

Blood rushed to my face. “Uh, I’ll be fine.”

The devilish sparkle in Frankie’s eyes told me that he knew exactly what I was thinking. I closed the velvet curtain between us before he got any more ideas. I stripped out of my boots and Wranglers, and peeled off my shirt.

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