Page 44 of Drifter’s Heart

“Yeah, yeah.” Dustan runs his hand along the bull’s side. The damn thing lets him.

I stare.

“The hell is he doing?” Dallas clambers over the railing, hanging by one hand as he takes in the sight before us. “Do I need to prep an ambulance? Get your girl in here with a stretcher?”

I wince at the reminder of Winnie’s profession. The mere mention of her wrecks me. “Nah. We seem to be good, for now.” Maybe I should get one on standby. Dustan seems to have a death wish on more than one front today, poking the proverbial bull as well as the actual one right in front of him.

Actually he’s kind of petting the damn thing like it’s his favorite toy.

“He’s not your friend, kid.” Dallas whistles softly, gaining Dustan’s attention. “Get your ass over here.”

Dustan comes reluctantly, crossing the gravel-and-sawdust cordoned-off section of the yard. “He’s pretty.” His eyes glow with the sort of addiction that I know well. I’ve seen it on more than one rider, but the one that I know best turned out to be the rider who won everything.

I stalk away while Dallas and Dustan talk softly, providing background noise for my crises. My forearm braces against a stack of worn tires that pile higher than me as I rest my forehead against them.

“He’s wearing you down, huh?” Dallas’s voice at my back should startle me, but he doesn’t.

I shake my head and stretch. “Nah. Not him.” I hold Dallas’s gaze but then turn to watch Dustan. Thankfully the little fucker has his ass planted back on the rail, where he should be, eating the sandwich I packed for him like I’m his mother.

“So it’s her, then.”

I stiffen. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

Dallas cackles. “That’s fuckin’ obvious. You’re out here pining like you’re a lost puppy. Go home or go to her. Get your shit sorted.”

Changing tack is the best way to get the old man off my ass. Not that he’s old. Maybe he has a handful of years on me. “How’s your girl back in Valiant Peak? After the dire wolf catastrophe at the house, I never thought you’d leave.”

Dallas says nothing, and I know I’ve dug up a gold mine of distraction-worthy material.

“What was her name? Eva? Evelyn?”

“Aveline. Who you won’t be talking about.” He fixes me with a hard eye. “You worry about sorting your own damn backyard, you hear me?”

I hold up my hands out front, the palms spread wide open. “I got it. You gonna help me get that kid ready for the invitational? We’ve got, what, two weeks to go?”

“One week.” Dallas is back to his regular two-word answers.

“Shit.” I hadn’t realized we’d come that close. Cord would be hightailing it to get the arena ready. I hadn’t been back to Valiant Peak in so long that I wondered if anything had changed. Or maybe nothing at all. “I’ll take Dustan up and get him on the list, then.”

Dallas folds his arms, muscles bulging out damn near everywhere. “Yeah, you do that. Sort your shit out with Cordell while you’re up there. Otherwise you’re gonna have more problems than a dirty rider on the night. You understand me?”

My jaw locks in place. “Yeah. I understand you.”

“And get your butt to your girl.”

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll get her. She’s not going anywhere.”

“Isn’t she?” Dallas cocks his head to one side. “Didn’t you say she’s dating some doctor at the hospital?”

I frown. “No. I didn’t.”

Dallas shrugs. “Well, then.” He walks away like he’s just solved world peace.

But my head tells me that nothing’s been settled.

Nothing at all.

The overpriced bouquet of wild weeds I bought for Winnie rests heavy in my hands as I knock on her door for the third time. I’ve come close to shouting and considered camping on her stoop for the day more than once in the last fifteen minutes. That would be fine, except for the fact that I have one overexcited bull rider packed in the back seat of my truck, raring and ready for the drive out to Valiant Peak.