Page 153 of Reckless Hearts

The way Mia says it, like love that big isn’t rare or reckless, makes my chest ache.

I shift in my seat, pulse still fluttering beneath my ribs, but it’s not fear anymore. It’s the weight of wanting something I’m scared I don’t deserve.

“How did you make that work?” I ask, no filter. But Mia just smiles, easy and unbothered.

“Lots of talking. And a little stubbornness.” Her expression turns soft. “I cared about them so much I thought protecting them meant letting them go. Turns out, love doesn’t need protecting when you accept it for all that it is.”

There’s something about her open honesty that’s grounding. Even though we’re strangers, it makes me feel like I can tell her anything.

For some reason… I do.

The words pour out before I can stop them. Every worry that’s been stacking in my chest this summer spills out of my mouth in one breathless rush. The fear. The guilt. Everythingthat happened with my dad. The way he never chose us. No matter how many times he promised. The ache of knowing I’m falling—or, let’s face it,fell—in love with two men whose first love will always be this sport.

Who would risk everything for the ride. Who have risked everything before.

Mia doesn’t interrupt. Doesn’t flinch. Just listens, her gaze steady on mine. She nods along, gives quiet hums of understanding, like she’s holding space for every jagged piece I hand her.

When I finally stop talking, my lungs feel tight, but my shoulders are lighter.

She places a hand over my wrist. “So let me get this straight. The three of you were best friends until your dad died in a bull riding accident. That trauma made you terrified to get close to anyone who rides, so you disappeared for eight years. You came back because staying away hurt too much, and you needed closure, needed to say goodbye. But somewhere along the way, the friendship turned into something more. And now you’re scared to ask if they’d ever give it up for you.”

Well, when you wrap it up that way… I nod, biting the inside of my cheek.

Then her boyfriend Alex leans forward. “Your dad was a fucking asshole, if you ask me.”

“Alex.” River elbows him, a sigh in his tone like this is regular behavior that he’s learned to put up with.

“What? It’s true. He promised he’d quit and then died doing the one thing he swore he wouldn’t. Sounds like selfish bullshit to me.”

My brain stutters, and I have no idea how to respond. No one’s ever talked about my dad’s death without romanticizing it. People love the notion that he died doing what he loved, like it somehow made it all okay.

Alex doesn’t take his side and doesn’t sugarcoat exactly what he thinks of my dad. Finally having someone understand, to acknowledge what he cost me, twists my gut, sending a wave of nausea up my throat. Ever since that day, I’ve never dared hope that I was worth choosing.

“See?” Alex says, looking smug. “She gets it.”

“Not sure that look means she gets it,” River mutters, but Mia continues like she’s heard it all before.

She squeezes my wrist gently. “So now you’re here, and leaving feels like tearing your own heart out, but asking them to choose you over the arena feels like stepping off a cliff and they’ll jump off with you.”

My throat tightens. “Exactly.”

“Are you ready for some tough love?”

No… “Yeah.”

“Why?” Her question is blunt.

It cuts sharper than I expect, and I lay it out there for her to dissect. “Because bull riding isn’t just something they do—it’s who they are. It’s in their blood, their bones. It’s the goddamn sun they’ve built their whole world around since they were kids. What kind of selfish idiot would I be to ask them to walk away from that for me?”

Mia doesn’t miss a beat. “Don’t you think it’s a bit selfish not to give them that choice?”

Stunned, all I can do is blink.

“From the way they both lit up when they saw you up here?” Mia’s voice is gentle, but her words land sharply. “I’d bet everything they love you. That kind of love—real love—it doesn’t come around more than once.”

She glances toward the men beside her with tenderness.

“You know that, don’t you? Isn’t that why you came back?”

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