Page 90 of Downpour

The woman sneered. “That wasn’t a compliment, honey.”

“Oh?” Brooke plucked the woman’s hand off my thigh, promptly removing it before coming to stand between my parted knees. “Because it sounded like you think I’m hotter than you are. So, yeah. If being hot and getting laid by a bull rider who fucks like a god makes me a buckle bunny, then give me a belt and some rabbit ears, sweetie.”

I… I had hallucinated that, right?

Brooke slid her hands up my chest and draped her arms around my neck. She looked over her shoulder at the gaping redhead. “Feel free to pick your jaw up and leave when you’re done staring at my ass.”

And with that, she tilted her head to the side and kissed me as she raked her hands through my hair.

I barely noticed the woman stomping off. “You are something else,” I murmured against Brooke’s mouth before going in for another kiss.

Her grin was feline. “No one touches my man.”

It had been a while since I’d fallen. But this time, I didn’t mind. My gait and stability were no match for Brooke. Because just like that, I fell.

22

BROOKE

The band was incredible. The beer was half-decent. The food was great. The company was bar-none.

I stood between Ray’s knees with my bottle in the air, screaming the words to an old Travis Tritt song. His hands were warm and strong against my waist as he moved with me.

Ray looked absolutely sinful in a tight black t-shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots. He usually wore sneakers, but the boots did something to me. It was like seeing him in his natural habitat.

“You gonna get another drink?” he asked when I finished off my beer.

I shook my head. “No,” I shouted over the band. “Just one for me so I can drive us back to the motel. Do you want another one?”

“Nah. I shouldn’t drink that much with my meds.”

As great as the band was, I was still unfairly horny from him teasing me before we left for the bar. “Do you want to go?”

He smirked. “Not yet. I like watching you.”

I leaned up on my tiptoes. “You could watch me naked back in the room.”

Fingers slid across my bare midriff and ghosted over my sides. “I like watching you here.”

The lead singer on stage announced they’d be taking a break, and the lights switched over to the padded ring where a mechanical bull sat in the middle. I felt Ray stiffen behind me.

“You sure you want to stay?”

“I’m fine,” he grunted.

I didn’t quite believe it, but I didn’t have the right to argue with him either. If he was fine with watching some mechanical bull riding, then I had to trust that he was.

I leaned backward, and Ray slid his arms around me. “Did you ever ride mechanical bulls or just the real ones?”

He chuckled. “Only when I was really, really drunk.”

I laughed. “I get the feeling you were the wild child of the Griffith brothers.”

“I used to be.”

“Is it different? Riding a machine rather than an animal?”

“Yeah. Same mechanics. Different applications. Different stakes.” His mouth grazed my ear. “But, uh… bull riding here is a little different.”

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