Page 38 of Buck This
Now the thought of caring deeply about him, and his success, and his story didn’t steal her breath away.
It felt exciting instead.
Chapter Nine
What had just happened?
Buck staggered to his feet and was immediately shoved backward.
He took a swing at the person tackling him, but Quickdraw ducked neatly and shoved him behind a panel into a Changing room. “You’re good, you’re good. There’re cameras out there.”
“Where’s…where’s…” Buck frowned, his head spinning. “Where is she?”
“Torrey is coming in right now. I can hear her trying to fight everyone out there.” There was a chuckle in Quickdraw’s voice. “Hey,” he said, easing Buck down onto a seat. He knelt down in front of him. “You didn’t suck tonight.”
Relief washed through him. Buck huffed a laugh. “There’s always tomorrow.”
Quickdraw snorted and set a plastic bag beside him. “Eat before you come out here. I’ll get everything settled out there.”
“Everything settled?” he asked, trying desperately to clear his head after the intensity of that Change.
“You’re in a different world now,” Quickdraw said mysteriously. “You’ve got five minutes with Torrey and then I’m coming back in here.” Quickdraw roughed up his hair and then shoved his head to the side before he left.
Buck closed his eyes and blew out a steadying breath. He hadn’t sucked for once. This was a new feeling.
Torrey peeked her head around the corner. “There you are.” She made a little squealing sound and collapsed onto him in a hug that banished the remaining fog from his mind.
“Ninety-four,” she uttered.
“Holy shit,” he whispered, hugging her tightly against him. Hell, what was this feeling in his chest? What was it? It felt so good having her here in this moment, hugging him like this.
“Ninety-four, Buck.” She repeated it as she eased back and cupped his cheeks. “You’re a monster.”
“If that’s true, you would be scared,” he said softly.
Her pretty blue eyes filled with excitement. “You followed me right into the chute. You didn’t charge me. You followed me. Your monster doesn’t aim at me. He goes for riders,” she whispered. “You’re still in it. Annabelle and Raven both said so.”
And Quickdraw had said he didn’t suck. That was as close as he would ever get to a compliment from that burly old legend.
“Here,” she said breathlessly, digging around in the plastic bag beside him. “Quickdraw said you have to eat something.”
Her hands were shaking, and he didn’t like that. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Did someone mess with you?”
“What?”
“Your hands. You’re shaking.”
“Oh, I was so nervous for you!” She squatted down beside him, pulling sandwiches and protein shakes from the bag, but gripped his calf and grinned up at him with the prettiest smile he’d ever seen on a woman. “That’s what I wished for.”
He frowned. “What did you wish for?”
“For you to buck well tonight. That was my wish. I want you to win. I can say it now that it’s over.”
She’d used her wish on him?
Something about that touched him deeply.
“You’re up,” Quickdraw said from around the corner. “Get dressed and slam a protein drink and let’s go.”
