Page 77 of Rough Ride with the Grumpy Cowboy
She hangs up after that, and when I try calling her again, it doesn’t go through. I don’t care for her games, but with what I know now, I know she’s not playing, which only means one thing—her threats are real and they can only be directed at one person.
I abandon Sunny and take off for the one place I know Zane is at right now—his gym, practicing for this weekend’s competition. Please let him be okay.
When I get there, I run into Duncan walking out of the gym with a fire extinguisher in hand. Oh no!
“What happened?” I ask him, looking inside to see it covered in smoke.
“There’s been an accident. Zane’s mechanical bull malfunctioned and kind of blew up.”
No!
“Is Zane okay? Where is he?” I panic, hoping that he wasn’t in there.
“Beck took him back to his cabin.”
“He was in here when it happened?”
“Yes.”
I don’t ask him anything else—once again, I bolt toward the cabin. My mind is running wild, thinking of all the worst-case scenarios. I should have asked Duncan if Zane is badly hurt, but I have to see him for myself.
Please be okay, Zane.
Beck is walking out of the cabin just as I get to it. He takes one look at me and doesn’t say anything, just steps aside to let me in. Dashing across the cabin, I find Zane on his bed, leaning back against the headboard, shirtless, a bandage across his torso but no other visible injuries.
He’s okay. Thank God.
He looks up to see me standing at the door, tears streaming down my face. He reaches out, and I don’t waste time running into his arms. He groans when I crash into him, but he doesn’t let me go and instead holds on tighter.
“I’m sorry. Are you okay?” I ask, pulling back a bit to cup his face in my hands.
He nods with a smile, wiping my tears away. “I’m okay.”
“You do not look okay,” I scold, my eyes trained on the bandage.
“It’s a superficial wound, baby, so very little pain,” he assures me.
I know him well enough to know that he’s downplaying his pain.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. I was doing my usual routine when the mechanical bull went berserk. I couldn’t control it, and it ended up blowing up and tossing me against the wall. Thankfully, Beck was there and helped me back here,” he explains.
“Did you see anyone else in there?” I inquire.
“What do you mean?”
“I think my mom had something to do with this,” I explain, recalling her chilling threats.
“No way—she’s not that brazen, and besides, she’s not allowed on the ranch, let alone this close to our personal space,” he denies.
“But...”
He shuts me up with a kiss.
“I know you’re scared of your family, but being paranoid will do you no good. It wasn’t them—they wouldn’t dare come here.”
I don’t know if he’s saying this to reassure himself or me, but there’s no doubt in my mind that my family is responsible for this, especially after the call earlier.
