Page 28 of Rodeo Cowboy
“I shouldn’t have sold you the first half.”
“Yeah, but you owed me. Plus, you felt guilty for lying to me. Besides, I waited for you to come home before I touched a damn thing. Besides the horses you bought before you took off.”
“Speaking of which. Here.” He hands me the reigns of his magnificent chestnut-colored horse. “(name) needs a ride. It’s a twenty minute journey to the property. Go say sorry to your best friend so I can get laid tonight without any mention of your name.”
“So this is about you?”
“Yes. Me and my smurftcicles.”
“Shut up.”
He walks backward, facing me. “I’ll be as fucking grouchy as Grouchy Smurf if you don’t get things
Chapter Seven
ALYA
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GLASS SHATTERS.
Metal screeches.
Two vehicles collide and I watch my dad’s black Ford F-150 flip in the air.
Screams pierce my ears. The potent smells of gasoline and burnt rubber sting my nostrils. Twisted metal and debris crunch under my ridiculously high-heeled boots. My bare knees dig into the snowy pavement beside the upside down driver’s door.
Then I see their faces. Open eyes out of focus. Lack of expression. In that second, I know I’ve lost my family.
A scream tries to tear out of me as I’m violently thrown awake from another nightmare. I scratch and clutch at my chest where my screams are buried deep down. They never come out. Never. My heart races so hard it’s all I can hear.
I gasp for breath as I kick away the sheets tangled around my legs. My fingers are drenched in sweat when I yank my pajama shirt away from my heaving chest.
My eyes slam around the darkened room, still disoriented. It’s not my bedroom in California.
