Page 35 of The Brave and the Reckless

“Ez?” Sinan’s voice crackled through my earpiece.

“Yeah?”

“Break a leg.”

Before I could reply, a whole chorus of voices chimed in, wishing me luck and offering words of encouragement. Maybe Adriana was right. They’d all seen me suck yesterday and they were still cheering me on.

“Thank you, guys,” I muttered.

Alongside Adriana’s words, Noah’s voice suddenly echoed through my head. The whole town needed this park, the show, the characters… This support was a two-way street, and I wasn’t sure I could hold up my end.

“Everyone’s in position,” Renee said, “whenever you’re ready, Esra.”

I wasn’t ready. This was too much. I never wanted this amount of responsibility.

“Have fun out there.”

I blinked at the four words– and the familiar voice they’d come from. Noah Young telling me to have fun? Had I already fallen off the horse and hit my head?

I shook my head, trying to lose the echo of people from my mind.

I was going to go out there in my silly costume and run around and scream and ride a horse. I got to play cowgirl dress-up. Thatwasfun. The rest didn’t matter.

“Here we go,” I sighed and pushed through the doors.

For a moment, I was fine. The bright sunlight drowned out everything else as I stepped outside and skipped down the stairs on to the dusty road like I’d done countless times over the last week. Then the cheering filtered in. People had been waiting for the Pretty Annie Lou, and they greeted her with applause and whistles. And I wasn’t allowed to look. They were all watching from the sidelines of the town square. The weight of their eyes pressed down on my shoulders and lashed around my lungs like a corset. Fighting every instinct to stare back, I focused squarely on Richard, who played Annie’s father, as he called me over and delivered some lines about Bravetown.

The first part of the show ran smoothly. I didn’t have any lines. While the storyline of Ace and the sheriff was set up, I was passing out plastic flowers from my apron to some of the other cast members in the town square.

But then the robbery started. I shrieked at the first explosion because it was twice as loud as the rehearsal.

I wasn’t supposed to shriek. Shit.

I twisted around, trying to find Richard, finding my way back into the story where he hauled us into the bank– instead, I found the audience. Hundreds of people. Watching. Waiting. Staring at us. At me.

I wasn’t supposed to look at them. Fuck.

“Run! We’ll be safe in there!” Richard’s lines and his hand around my elbow snapped me back into the moment. We hauled up the stairs of the bank and through the doors. As soon as we were out of sight, he dropped my arm and gave me a curt smile and nod. A few more people filteredin behind us. Then the doors fell shut and a small orange light above it flickered on. Our signal to wait.

Right now, the bandits were causing mayhem outside. They had stunts that involved knives and fire, and some serious horseback acrobatics, getting the audience riled up.

I closed my eyes and mentally replayed my fuck-ups from outside. At least the horror on my face must have looked hyper-realistic.

Before I had the chance to chicken out and look for the nearest escape route, the door flew open again, and a group of masked bank robbers swarmed inside. They all gunned for the cart of canvas bags with big dollar signs printed on them. Except Ace Ryder, who stepped in last, who stood tallest, and whose icy blue eyes found me across the room instantly.

My insides twisted thanks to the strange mixture of dread and being on the receiving end of such intense focus.

I had to remind myself to breathe when he stepped up right in front of me, those cool eyes the only visible feature of his face.

“All set?” he asked, his voice dropping low between a whisper and a growl that was nothing like Noah. But his hands were all Noah’s when they slid around my waist, the same path they’d taken every day, and he tugged on the metal loops to double-check my harness.

“Sure,” I mumbled.

The rest of the bandits stormed outside again, whooping and hollering. One of them tossed Noah one of the money bags on his way out. My gaze flicked to the orange light glowing above the door. As soon as the bandits andsome of the sheriff’s men had raced off in one direction, I’d get my big moment in the spotlight.

“Ace and Annie in position, please,” Renee’s voice announced on the headset.

“Don’t fuck this up, princess,” Noah rasped.

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