Page 37 of Ride Me Reckless

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That's when I remembered my phone.

I pulled it from my pocket and thumbed it to life, expecting a missed call from Joe or Rhett.

But the notification waiting for me wasn't from either of them.

Voicemail: Tessa Walker.

My heart kicked hard in my chest.

I stared at the screen for a long second before pressing play.

Her voice filled the quiet.

"Hey. It's me. I, uh… I won. In Dallas. Thought maybe you'd want to know. I just—yeah. That's all."

The message ended.

I held the phone in my hand like it might say more if I waited long enough.

I should've called her this morning. I'd thought about it. Even reached for the damn phone.

But now?

Now life had handed me something else. Something I hadn't planned. Again.

Still, one thing was certain.

She'd reached out.

And fate… well, she had a twisted sense of timing. Because the fire, the injury, the message—it was all too close, too pointed.

Our lives were circling again.

Maybe it was a coincidence. Or the universe grabbing the reins, yanking us both back into the same damn orbit.

I didn't know how it'd play out, but one thing was clear.

Tessa wasn't done with me yet.

And I sure as hell wasn't done with her.

Chapter Ten

The Turnaround

Tessa

Ihugged Callie for working so hard to close this deal. Then we watched as the ink dried on the signature line, but the weight of what we’d just done settled a lot slower.

"There," I said, capping the pen and sliding the contract across the makeshift desk inside Hale Performance's trailer. "Signed, sealed, and officially too legit to quit."

Callie whooped behind me. "And broke no more, baby!"

Someone reached into the tiny fridge beneath the trailer counter and pulled out a dusty bottle of cheap champagne. The kind we used to joke about drinking when we finally "made it."

We both burst out laughing.

Callie poured some into the uneven paper cups and handed one to me. The bubbles frothed over the rim like they were trying too hard.

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