Page 63 of Bones

“I haven’t thought about that for years. I was absolutely mortified,” I groaned. “Susana and Darby were such great riders. They made it looksooooeasy, and I thought for sure that I could do it.WRONG! I’d barely taken the reins when that damn horse took off like a bolt of lightning.”

A mischievous smile swept across his face as he snickered, “Ooohhh, I remember.”

“It wasn’t funny, Wyatt.”

“Ummm, yeah.” He continued to chuckle. “It was funny. Damn. Every inch of you was covered in mud. I still don’t know how you managed that.”

“I fell! Ugh! You’re such an asshole.” I gave him a nudge with my elbow. “I didn’t laugh at you after your dirt bike wreck when you were whining about your little booboo on your elbow.”

“I had to get fifteen stitches. It was not a little booboo.”

“But did you die?” I sassed. “’Cause you certainly acted like you were going to. I’ve never heard such.”

“I got a scar,” he huffed. “All you had was a couple of bruises that faded by the end of the week.”

“You’re right. The bruises did fade, but I broke my tail bone and I had to sit on that stupid round pillow for weeks.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot about the pillow.” He started chuckling again. “I never did understand why you got a hot pink one. There was no missing it.”

“It was the only color they had!”

“I would’ve had to go without.”

“You say that now, but break your tailbone, and then, we’ll talk.”

We lay there for hours, cuddling and sharing old stories, and I fell asleep in his arms, feeling like everything was right in the world. But sadly, it wasn’t a feeling that would last. At the time, I didn’t know it, but my whole world was about to be turned upside down, and I would be forced to make a decision I never thought I would make.

CHAPTER16

Bones

“Ijust got word from Stitch,” Cotton announced. “They’ve gone to the addresses you gave them. His shit is still at the apartment, but there’s been no sign of the kid. Same for his folk’s place.”

“Fuck.” Big turned to me as he said, “We can try tracking his phone.”

“Gotta have a number to do that.”

“What about Elsie?” Cotton asked. “You think she has it?”

“Maybe, but if I ask her for his number, it’s only gonna bring up more questions—questions I can’t answer.”

“She’s not new to this kind of thing.”

“No, but this is different.”

“What if I tell her I need her phone?” Big suggested. “I can say it’s an update or something. For that matter, I can give her a new burner and tell her we’re trashing the old one.”

“That could work. Just hate lying to her.”

“You won’t be the one lying.I will.”

“Yeah, whatever. Just get the damn phone and let’s find this guy.”

Big nodded, then grabbed a new burner phone from the lockbox and started out of the room. As soon as he was out of earshot, Cotton stepped over to me and asked, “How you holding up?”

“I’m good.”

“Word is that you and Else are finally making a go of it.”

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