Page 101 of Untamed
I laugh. “Just because your name is in there doesn’t mean you’re not one of a kind. I’ve never met anyone like you.”
“While I appreciate that, you haven’t exactly met many people in your life, babe. You’ve never been outside Washington.”
“Not true. I’ve been all over the south now.”
Haylee laughs. “True. We’re wandering souls now.”
“I think he loves you,” Haylee notes when we’re almost to the arena.
“Why would you say that?” My heart beats faster at the words, wondering how she could tell.
“I see the way he watches you. I think that’s what scares him,” Haylee says, keeping her eyes on the road. “Ty says love scares Grayer because he can’t choose between it and riding.”
Yeah, clearly it does. “Too bad he can’t figure out what he wants.”
Haylee sighs. “I’m sorry, honey. Want me to knock some sense into him?”
“No, that’s okay.” We’re late getting to the arena and once we’re inside, Britany finds us, without Wyatt. I guess her parents are watching him this weekend.
Grayer’s in the chute getting ready for his ride. I tell her what happened and see her face.
She wraps her arms around mine as we take a seat, same front row seats we always have. “I’m sorry. Grayer doesn’t know a good thing even if it punches the fucker in the face.” When I watch Grayer in the chute, my heart aches so badly. He looks conflicted and I wonder if he’s thinking about what he said to me and if he regrets it. Maybe he’ll take back what he said?
Not likely.
And then he looks up as if he knows I’m here, his eyes immediately finding mine in a crowd of thousands. The look he gives me rips my heart out. Like I really am a distraction. The reason he can’t concentrate.
He shakes his head at a question from Reid, gives me one last look and then nods. The bucking shoot opens and Catcher barrels out into the arena. He spins and rears once, twice, and then comes down hard and Grayer’s thrown over the side of the bull, landing on his knees. You can see he’s in obvious pain, slow to get up but then he looks at me like he’s telling me with that look that he’s nothing when I’m here. Without turning back around, he heads toward the arena fence.
Pulling in a shaking breath, tears roll over my cheeks as I turn and walk up the steps. It’s clear he really doesn’t need me around.
