Page 84 of The Wildest Ride

Lil twisted around in the saddle to check the cows before turning to him. “What’s up? You want to switch?”

He shook his head, not losing any of his speed. “No. Lonesome back there is all.”

Lil rolled her eyes. “Get back there.”

“Nah. The cows are fine.”

“And that means you need to be up here because?”

“How else am I going to get to know you better?”

Lil wondered if she could blow out her blush mechanism. Was that possible? Could a human blush too much in a twenty-four-hour span? She didn’t know, but she had a feeling that she’d find out before the day was over.

23

Lil’s face was priceless.

She’d turned beet red and looked deeply insulted that he wanted to get to know her better. It was the cutest thing he’d seen since D’s cousin had had a baby.

“What’s your favorite color?” He couldn’t help himself.

She sputtered, “Whatever color it takes to get you back into your position.”

AJ looked back over his shoulder. The cows were contentedly following along, possibly even in a tighter bunch now that they had two strong leads to follow.

“They’re fine. What do you hate?”

Lil raised an eyebrow. “Hate?”

AJ nodded. “My mom says dislikes say more about a person than anything else.”

The corners of her mouth tugged up into a smile and she said, “Tomatoes.”

He pulled back on his reins. “What? Nobody hates tomatoes.”

Lil let out a full-throated laugh, and the sound of it partially soothed the fact that she didn’t like tomatoes.Who didn’t like tomatoes?

“Careful what you ask for...” she admonished.

“That’s for sure. I had no idea I was riding with a monster.”

She snorted, offering, “You could just go back and watch the rear.”

“You won’t get rid of me that easy.”

She snapped her fingers. “Darn.”

AJ laughed, “It was all a ruse, then.”

“Not at all. I really don’t like tomatoes.”

His shoulders slumped. “Fine.”

“Cheer up, buddy.”

He brightened. “What about pico de gallo?” Hope beat in his chest.

She shook her head. “Not even pico.”

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