Page 60 of Stud Ranch

Another shriek blasted from her lungs as the vehicle lurched farther toward the side of the road. Clutching the wheel, she shoved the gearshift into drive and stomped on the gas, but the tires spun in what she now realized was thick black mud.

Loud crashes deafened her. One of the massive pines slammed into the road in front of her, followed by a second one that she could barely make out through the fog.

She was caught in a mudslide on a deserted road.

The back end of the car whipped to the side.

Then she felt the whole thing sliding down…down…down.

* * * * *

“We have to find her. Fuck! This fog is going to get her turned around in the middle of nowhere.” Shaw clamped his fingers on the wheel until his knuckles screamed. Still, he refused to loosen his grip.

“She’s smart. If she can’t see or is lost, she’ll stop.” Dylan serving as the voice of reason only pissed Shaw off more.

“You don’t know Sloane. She has trouble driving in heavy traffic!”

“Try to calm down, man. I know you’re worried—I am too.” Dylan’s fist was clenched on his knee, the knuckles white.

So he wasn’t as calm as he projected. Maybe that was the bull rider in him talking. Or the man who avoided his own feelings and wants like a mountaineer dodged a grizzly attack.

“Of all times to take off, it had to be when the fog rolls in. You know what weather conditions like this do even to locals, Dylan.” He stared unblinking at the road. The center line wasn’t visible. All he could do was go by what he could see of the side of the road to navigate the switchback curves.

“The GPS might not have even taken her this direction,” Shaw muttered, a curse not far from his lips.

“There are several ways she could go. We have to stay positive.”

He jerked his stare from the road to Dylan. “Is that what you do when you’re on a bull? Stay positive that it won’t break all your ribs this round?”

Dylan cocked a brow at him. “Yeah, I do. I hold on to anything I know to get me through the moment.”

“And when you realized you were in love with her—what got you through that?”

Dylan’s chest deflated, and he lifted his fist off his knee, bringing it to his firm lips. For a moment, he didn’t respond. “I do love her. I’m not sure how I fell so hard in only a few days.”

“I do. It happened to me too. First time I set eyes on her, I knew. I’m such an idiot for ever walking away. If I find her, I plan on making it up to her for the rest of my days.”

“When,” Dylan bit off. “When we find her.”

The lump in his throat was so jagged that it almost sliced his windpipe when he swallowed. He drove on. Each mile felt like a hundred. The fog never let up. In fact, it only got thicker the higher they climbed.

“She can’t have gotten this far. We’ve been driving for almost an hour!” He balled his fist and slammed it into the dashboard with enough force that the lights on the clock blinked out.

Hard fingers bit into his thigh. “We’ll find her. I want her back too, Shaw. We’re not giving up.”

Shaw spread his fingers, stretching his abused knuckles. Then he gently laid his hand over Dylan’s where it still rested on his leg. The act of touching a man in such an intimate and tender way felt natural.

At last.

Now to find Sloane and make her theirs.

“We should call her mom,” he choked out.

Dylan flipped his hand over and clenched Shaw’s, hard. “No. Don’t worry her. We’re going to find Sloane.”

“Call the ranch and get the guys on the roads too. The more eyes, the better.”

Dylan reached for his phone. Shaw moved his hand to grasp the wheel again. All of his focus tunneled into staying on the road. But his mind wasn’t in his body—it was on Sloane.

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