Page 22 of Ride the Sky

And I definitely didn’t keep Fallon.

The heart in my chest tightens painfully. “So? What’s your fuckin’ point?”

“Our fuckin’ point is,” Ford growls, “we let you sulk for long enough. It’s time to snap out of it.” He grins, the picture of innocence. “You need a slump buster to get you out of your funk.”

I bristle. Another woman? Fuck that.

“Fuck you,” I tell Ford, giving him what he wants. A reaction.

A muscle tics beneath Davis’s eye. “Our fuckin’ point is…we all fumbled it with Fallon. We should have—”

“Tied her to a fence until she saw common sense?” Charlie drawls.

“Something like that.” Regret creases Davis’s face. “I should have done something. She’s my sister-in-law. She’s my responsibility.”

I bristle. She’smyresponsibility. But I grit my teeth and keep my fat mouth shut. Davis wants to play hero? That’s fine.

“The point is,” Charlie says, watching me carefully, “we’re all to blame. Not just you.”

“Something you want to say, kid?” Ford smirks, and I wonder who made him the damn expert in love. “You gone for the girl? Name on boots?”

“Asshole,” I mutter.

I say nothing, because there’s nothing to say. All of my brothers have had their secrets. So why shouldn’t I?

Watching me struggle for an answer, Ford laughs. “Well, while you’re busy lyin’ to us, maybe we got something that’ll help you.”

Charlie tosses an issue ofWestern Horsemanacross the table. “Open it.”

I do.

My eyes scan the article.

Competing in the Rock ’n Ride Rodeo, a new reality show competition, is Fallon McGraw. McGraw, who’s currently living at El Toro Ranch in Gila Gulch, Arizona…

My mouth goes dry. My heart hammers. “She’s in Arizona?”

“Looks like it,” Charlie says.

Vic LaVoie’s ranch.

“I don’t believe it,” I say, reading. Pride and dread hum beneath my skin. “The pompous prick did it. Pappy got her to the big leagues.”

If she wins this, the payout, the accolades, the fame could be huge.

Charlie chuckles. “Glad to hear that she’s still as impulsive and slightly insane as I remember.”

Davis’s deep voice rumbles. “Well?”

I shove up from the couch. There’s a buzz like neon in my head, my heart.

I can already feel her gravity pulling me in. My busted heart’s on a leash that’s still tied to Fallon McGraw.

I tear a hand through my hair. “Fuck it. I’m going.”

Charlie chuckles. “Hell, you ain’t gonna have all the fun.”

The offer startles me, but I grin at my brothers. “Then let’s fuckin’ go.”

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