Page 24 of Eight Seconds to Ride

Feeling eyes on the side of my face, I turn my head, finding Daisy looking quizzically at me, clearly catching me watch Sterling. “Someone’s looking a little sassy tonight,” she teases, making my blood boil.

Sterling has the nerve to laugh. “I’ll say,” he drawls, the evidence of how much he’s had to drink right there in his cadence.

“I know you’re not fucking talking to me,” I spit back, narrowing my gaze.

He chuckles. “You’re the only one sitting here with a permanent scowl etched across his face.”

“We’re just calling it like we see it, brother,” Daisy chimes in beside him, an amused lilt in her tone. She giggles, and it grates my nerves.

“Shut the fuck up, Daisy. Who asked you anyway?”

She rolls her eyes, and there’s collectiveoohsfrom around the circle. “You’re such a dick when you lose.”

“It has nothing to do with me losing,” I retort. “You both are just fucking annoying.”

Sterling’s mouth drops open, a whisper of a laugh coming out as Daisy grits out, “Fuck off, Shooter. If anybody here is annoying tonight, it’s you.”

I finish off the rest of my beer, standing up, shoving a finger in her direction, well aware that I’m acting like a total jackass. “No, why don’t you fuck off, Daisy, and get back to flirting with Sterling all night long.” A sardonic laugh slips past my lips before I add, “Or better yet, why don’t you both fuck off together, and go screw like we all know you want to.”

“Shooter,” Cope hisses from beside me, but I ignore him. I ignore everybody as I storm over to the cooler, grab another beer, and set off into the woods, along the trail that I know leads down to the water.

I need to fucking cool it before I say—or do—something I regret in the morning.

Nobody follows me. Not that I thought they would. It’s better this way, anyway. The anger bubbling up inside of me feels so foreign. So misplaced. What the hell is it about him that drives me so fucking bat-shit crazy?

I’ve never met anybody who’s brought out this side of me before. He makes me feel… I don’t even know how he makes me feel, but it’s fucking confusing.

Bending down, I pick up a rock, tossing it into the water. It doesn’t skip. Cool. Can’t ride a bronc properly tonight. Can’t not be a fucking asshole to my sister. Can’t even skip a fucking rock, it seems. I’m basically useless today.

“Shooter?”

At the sound of my name, my shoulders hike up to my ears, my spine going ramrod straight. I don’t even have to turn around to know who it is. I’d know that voice anywhere.

Heaving a sigh, I say, “Probably should just leave me alone, Sterling.”

11

Sterling Addams

Iknow I shouldn’t be out here. I shouldn’t have followed Shooter. Shouldn’t be entertaining this toddler-style temper tantrum. Shouldn’t be encouraging Shooter by spending any more unnecessary time with him after that kiss we shared.

In the very back of my mind,I know.

Yet, here I am, standing no more than five feet from him, looking down at where he’s sitting on the beachy area near the brim of the water. The moonlight is illuminating it and him, and I can’t help but wonder how I keep finding myself in these moonlit situations with Shooter. Can’t help but wonder what it is about him that gets under my skin. I’m sure he wonders the same thing about me.

At any given moment, I never know which version of Shooter I’m going to get. Sometimes he’s flirty. Sometimes he’s forward. And sometimes, like tonight, he’s an unpredictable, bubbling volcano bordering on the verge of destruction. This time, destruction won.

“Why are you out here?” he asks me, voice harsh, words full of malice.

“Because you’ve been drinking, and nobody should be wandering around in the woods alone, under the influence.” It’s a partial truth.

He huffs out a laugh, tossing a rock into the water. “Such a fucking saint you are.”

My brows pinch. “Being a decent human being doesn’t make anybody a saint, Shooter.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t need you to be a decent human being to me.”

“Oh?” I ask, stepping closer, frustration already flaring to life. His blue eyes dart up to meet mine. “And what is it,exactly, that you need, then?”

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