Page 147 of Ride the Sky

I take a drag on the joint then lay it in the ashtray. “There’ll be other times, Trouble. Other bars. Other assholes.”

Her eyes flick to mine. “But no more lives, right?”

I snap shut the first aid kit. “With you, hard to say.”

Her gaze finds her cane standing in a corner of the room. Her throat bobs. “I love it so much, Wy. I really do.”

I swallow. “I’m glad.”

“It makes me feel like I can do anything.”

“You can,” I tell her.

She scoots forward, closer to me. “Poor baby,” she says and kisses gently beneath my black eye. When she pulls back, she scrutinizes my face. Her fingertips trace over my jaw.

Her eyes jump to mine. “Why do you fight, Wyatt?”

“Why do you?”

“I’ll tell you mine, if you tell me yours.”

I sigh. “Fine. I fight because I know a five-foot-six blonde in need of an attitude adjustment.”

“Asshole.” She slaps my bicep. “I fight because it’s a way to prove to the world, to men especially, that I deserve to be here.” She grins. “Not to mention the adrenaline makes me feel fucking amazing.” She plucks the joint from the ashtray. Inhales. “Your turn.”

My back teeth grind together. Voicing it has me in a fucking knot. But it’s time to be honest. To get it out.

“Wyatt?” A hand on my shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

I chuckle at how damn perceptive my girl is. It only makes me love her more.

I blow out a breath. “I fight because someone hit me.”

She tenses. “Your brothers?

“No. A trainer.”

Fallon hisses a gasp. “Who?” Absolute destruction rages on her gorgeous face. “I’ll kill ’em.”

I needle my brow. “Fallon.”

On the sheet, Fallon’s hands are pulled to fists. “Tell me, Wyatt.”

“Rand Younger,” I say hoarsely, and she goes stone-still. “When I was fourteen, my parents hired him to give me private lessons. He was the best. And my parents always had to have the fucking best.

“Well, what they didn’t know was he was a fucking asshole. Always yellin’ at me for some shit or callin’ me a fuckup. Thought it was just his style. You know, a trainer, we have to be—”

Her tattooed hand covers mine. “Tough.”

“Yeah. Tough as nails. When really, he was a fuckin’ asshole.” Pressure builds in my chest. I feel Fallon’s stare on me. Hot. Waiting.

“The day it happened, I was in the barn cleaning out the stalls. He didn’t see me in there. I heard him yelling at someone, something, and when I took a look, he was yellin’ at the horses. And then he—” I shake my head, keeping my gaze on her hand wrapped around mine. “He hit the horse.Myhorse.”

Fallon sucks in a sharp breath.

“I came out of the stall, and I told him to leave her alone. I got in front of them, tried to stop him, and that’s when he fuckin’ snapped.” My heart pounds. “He hit me across the face. He beat the fucking shit out of me until I blacked out.”

A vicious curse blasts from Fallon’s mouth.

---