Page 2 of Reckless Hearts

“That ride wasinsane!” The kid’s enthusiasm is infectious, pulling a grin from me despite the exhaustion creeping into my bones.

“Keep cheering for me, you hear?” I laugh, tousling the kid’s hair, earning a toothy grin from him.

“I will, sir! Maverick Kane doesn’t stand a chance against you.”

I stiffen, then place the hat on his head, giving it a little squeeze. “He sure as hell doesn’t. Stay out of trouble.”

The kid beams and nods. “Will do!”

A few more people stop me, congratulating me on my ride. Their voices overlap like a chorus.

“Thought that bull was gonna eat you alive, Colt!”

“You showed ’em!”

“Damn good ride!”

I nod and smile, letting their words wash over me, feeling the exhilaration stretch into a satisfying ache. My body’s sore and bruised, each step a reminder of the wild dance with the bull, but I keep moving toward the dressing room, where I’ll be able to catch my breath.

Bone-deep exhaustion is settling in by the time I push through the swinging locker room door. My hat’s pulled low, my neck too tired to hold my head up. That fall definitely took a toll on my body, and it’s making itself known.

Then I hear it, a soft chuckle.

I freeze at the sound of the sweetest voice I haven’t heard in years, and my head snaps up, and there she is. “Oh fuck.”

She gives me a shy, tentative smile. “Is that any way to greet an old friend?”

Callie Harper.

Her back’s against a wooden beam, trying and failing to look casual. Her hands fidget, wringing together as if she doesn’t know what to do with them.

Eight years.

I blink, trying to breathe past the punch to the chest her presence delivers.

“Callie?” Her name comes out like a question, laced with disbelief.

She finally looks at me. Those hazel eyes. God, those eyes, warm, familiar, devastating.

The sight of her here, in this world we once shared, knocks the wind out of me more than any bull ever has.

The woman in front of me, because that’s what she is now. All curves and seduction. Every inch of her calling to be touched. Her copper hair spilling out from beneath a black Stetson like something out of a dream I never expected to wake up to.

The last time I saw her, she was fourteen in a sundress, disappearing into the back of a black town car leaving a hole in my chest where she used to be.

I understood why she had to leave. Her dad had just died. She needed space.

I just didn’t think it would be forever.

“Are you just gonna stare at me, or are you gonna say hello?” Her voice wobbles at the end, like she’s not sure she belongs here.

“Hello,” I say dumbly.

God, I sound like an idiot.

Reduced to a singular word, still stunned, not quite sure if she’s actually here or if I hit my head harder than I thought. I’ve waited for her over the years, expecting her to come back from school for the summer. But she never did. If those memories of our friendship hadn’t been seared into me, I would have thought I made them up. There was a time Callie and Maverick had been like family. Now, even the thought of Maverick twists my stomach and makes me want to throw shit.

Her gaze darts around the room, landing everywhere but on mine, her teeth sinking into her lip. “I know it’s been a while… I probably should have let you know I was coming. If you’re busy, I get it.”

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