Page 44 of The Brave and the Reckless

I grabbed myself an apple from the kitchen to get rid of the stale taste of fried potato chips, and then hit the shower, before heading to my room myself. I laid out my painting clothes for tomorrow, texted Sanny that Esra was home safe and sound, and then finally fell into bed.

I’d never been able to fall asleep quickly, often staring at the minute hand creeping forward on my alarm clock,but just when I was about to drift off, heavy knocks pulled me up again. It took a disorienting moment to realize they hadn’t come from my door.

In the room next to mine, the door clicked open.

“Hey,” Lucas’s voice came from the hallway, “so uhm, I wanted to make sure you’re okay and everything.”

“I’m good. Thank you,” Esra replied, words much clearer than they had been an hour ago.

“I brought your bag.”

“Oh god, you’re so sweet, Lucky. Thank you.”

Bag. Of course, she’d had a bag. My goddamn caveman brain had been too preoccupied with getting Esra home to even remember her bag. And now Lucas was the sweet one even though he’d let her wear his hat, knowing full well the implication, and I was, once again, left feeling like a massive dick.

“Any chance I can persuade you to have a nightcap with me?” he asked.

“Only if it comes with food. I’m starving.”

“I have microwave pizza,” he offered.

“Ohmygod, perfect. I could kiss you right now. Let me put on some pants and I’ll meet you at the microwave.”

I groaned into my pillow at the realization that this girl just opened her door half-naked again. My mind immediately flashed back to that first run-in when she dropped her towel.Mytowel, to be exact. And then again when she’d opened her door to me in nothing but her underwear. The curve of her hip and the constellations of freckles around her navel were seared into my memory. And now I’d have to hear about them from goddamn Lucas. He wasn’t gentleman enough to keep anything private. Not that it mattered.

My insides twisted when Esra’s door banged shut, and her footsteps disappeared down the stairs a moment later.

I’d gotten her home safe. I’d done what Sanny had asked me to do.

She sounded sobered-up enough.

Not. My. Problem.

If she wanted to wear Kit Holliday’s hat, that was her decision.

I tried to close my eyes, but they flew open again, focused on the light coming through the small crack beneath my door. At some point, Austin came home, easily recognizable because he beatboxed on the way to his room. The light turned off. I kept staring. The light turned back on, and two hushed voices came up the stairs, half-talking, half-giggling. I knew that giggle. Esra’s door opened and closed again, but the voices continued, a lot more muffled through wall and wardrobe.

Sourness creeping up the back of my throat, I swung out of bed and shoved my feet into my boots.

It’d be enough to endure Lucas bragging about it. I didn’t need to actually hear him having sex with Esra.

Few places were as quiet as Bravetown at night. Once all the guests left, the rides shut down and even the saloon closed, only a few yellow streetlamps still flickered, and the only other people around were the security guards. They knew I checked on the horses after hours, so they never paid me much attention. They mostly made sure none of the hotel guests climbed the fence for late-night park visits.

Someone else had already done night check today, but I still wandered to the stables. Three of the horses in there belonged to me personally, and while they worked in thepark, I still made sure to keep an eye on them. Tornado had been with me the longest. We’d been forced to sell all the other horses on our ranch, but I’d never been able to give him up. Renee had allowed me to keep him at Bravetown even before I’d started working here. Last year, Cookie and Crumble, both Tennessee Walkers, had been my first investment back into my family ranch. My goal was to add three more over the next two years.

I slipped into Tornado’s stall and he shook his head at me, huffing and puffing. He was annoyed that I was showing up this late, but he hadn’t laid down to sleep yet, so I only felt minimally guilty.

“Sorry,” I whispered for good measure anyway.

He walked over and sniffed at me, then pushed his nose against the center of my chest.

“No, I’m not upset,” I replied.

He knocked me in the sternum again. If I had actually been agitating, he would have pushed his entire face into me. Right now, he was just prodding me to figure out what was wrong. Because he knew thatsomethingwas wrong.

“Just annoyed, okay?” I replied. “It’s none of my business what she does, but with how thin those walls are? I don’t need to hear her conductherbusiness.”

He snorted and lifted his head up, then dropped his chin on my shoulder. It was a particular torture, training your horse to react to different emotional outbursts, and then being on the receiving end when the animal called you out and tried to calm you down.

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