Page 48 of Reckless Hearts

My voice is raw, guttural as the words force their way out.

“Why did you disappear?”

She flinches, then drops her head so I can’t read her face.

Hiding from me.

I can’t let that happen.

“I’m sorry.”

Her cheeks are wet when she lifts her head.

And it’s not from the water.

It punches the breath from my lungs.

I want to take it all back.

I want to tell her to forget it, that she doesn’t need to explain, but I need to know what made it so easy to leave me.

“I want to… I really do… but I don’t know how to.”

Her voice wobbles, broken.

“I can’t stay here. I can’t live this life. I belong far away from here, somewhere no one knows anything about bulls, rides, or championships. Somewhere none of that matters.”

She looks at me, eyes full of regret. “Butyoubelong here. This is your dream, the thing that drives you.”

Her hand lifts, gesturing to the trucks lined up in the parking lot, the logos, the gear, the unmistakable life of riders.

“I didn’t leaveyou,” she says softly. “I leftthis.”

Her words slice me open.

My spleen’s been ruptured.

Bones shattered.

Organs bruised beneath a one-ton bull.

None of it compares to the tearing sensation ripping through my chest right now.

It’s hard to breathe.

Impossible to think through the agony.

Anger’s always been there for me but this time, it can’t mask the hurt.

Because I could never stay angry with her.

It’s torture, having her this close.

Knowing the season will never be long enough.

I want to shake her until it knocks some sense into her.

I want to fall to my knees and beg her to stay.

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