Page 10 of Ride Me Reckless
Her name in my mouth felt too big, too sudden. Her voice in my ear made everything else—sunlight, air, reason—fall away.
"Yeah," I said. "It's me."
Another pause. Then, cautious curiosity, cool and clipped. "Something wrong?"
"No. I was just... drivin' by. Saw your trailer."
I didn't addfor the hundredth time. Didn't sayhoping to catch you here. Just kept it neutral.
She didn't speak right away. I could almost hear her thinking, calculating.
"You're still in town?" I asked.
"Few more days," she said carefully.
"You free this afternoon?"
Silence again. Not uncomfortable, just heavy. Weighted with the past. With everything we'd never said.
"Depends," she answered.
I half-smiled. That was her. Always dangling the line just out of reach.
"I was thinkin' maybe we could go for a horseback ride. Catch up."
Another pause. I could hear a dog barking faintly in the background, maybe a neighbor's, maybe Delia's. I pictured her in the kitchen, barefoot, hair twisted up, arms crossed like a woman already regretting this call.
Then: "Yeah. Okay."
I straightened in my seat. "Yeah?"
"Sure. Where should I meet you?"
"I'll pick you up. Twenty minutes?"
"Make it thirty."
The line clicked before I could say another word.
I stared at the screen a moment longer. Let the silence settle before tossing the phone in the cupholder and putting the truck in gear.
She hadn't saidno.
And after five damn years of watching the road behind me, that was enough to feel like a win.
Tessa climbed into the passenger seat like she’d done it a thousand times before.
Like no years had passed. Like no hearts had been broken.
She wore a simple black tank and a pair of worn jeans that fit like they’d been made for her—dusted with road grit andconfidence. Her boots were scuffed, the kind of scuffed that said she actually used them, not just wore them for show.
She looked good.
Too damn good.
She buckled her seatbelt and glanced over at me.
“What?” she asked, catching me staring.
