Page 51 of Spurred On

“That is great. Unless there is a huge upset with later rides, you are on track to win the pot today. How does that feel?”

“It feels great,” looking right at Ava, I respond, “I have special guests here today, and it feels even better to get the W with those I love so close.”

“That’s great. Thanks for chatting with us today.” Sarah thanks me again off camera and walks away, and I have a brief moment of second thoughts. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that on live TV. And even worse, what if she doesn’t feel the same way yet? This has moved from nothing to something in a mere matter of months. But when you know, you know.

And I know that I love this girl more than anything. My whole life, the only thing I’ve been willing to lay my life down for is bull riding, but then she came around and made everything better.

“I wasn’t aware you were so fond of Doug,” Ava says, mischief shining in those eyes.

My hands wrap around her waist as her arms link behind my neck. “Oh, big fan. Never loved anyone more.”

“Mhmm.” She squints her eyes at me and grins.

“Well, maybe one person. You might know her. She’s blonde. An occasional pain in my ass. Acts about forty years older than she is.” The last barb will be a dead giveaway, as if the others weren’t.

“She sounds great. You should probably make sure you don’t let that one slip away.” She winks at me, and I feel the lost piece of me snap into place.

“Never.” Leaning in, pecking her lips and savoring the taste of her strawberry chapstick.

She takes a step back but keeps her hands firmly planted on my chest. Her beautiful blue eyes hold my gaze. And I can feel all of the unspoken words. All of the emotion is easy to see right there in those eyes I love so much. The chaos of the arena fades around us, and all I care about is being with her.

“Hey, cowboy?” she whispers.

“Yeah?” My voice has an extra grate to it with all of the emotion spilling out into my voice.

“I love you, too,” she declares, smile lines around her eyes are filled with unshed tears. Relief hits me and I take a deep breath of her in. To be loved by this woman is the greatest honor of my life.

“That's good because I just told the whole world I love you.” My lips crash back into hers, kissing her with everything I have because she is finallymine. She has claimed every bit of me, body and soul, and there's no part of me that regrets it. Everything I am is hers to have as long as she will have me. And if I have it my way, that’ll be my dying day.

Chapter 29

Maverick

Summer heat has officially arrived. Sweat pours off my forehead as we move the last bit of cattle. My ass is numb from sitting in the saddle all day. I look over to Weston and Rhett and see they’re in the same boat. Weston removes his ball cap and wipes the sweat off his brow.

“I think we earned a little riverside swim tonight, boys,” Weston says as he puts his cap back on. This July has been hotter than Hades, and we’re only a couple weeks in. Doesn’t help that I’ve been go-go-go between rides and trying to help the guys around here.

With all that being away, if I have a chance to get Ava in a bikini, then I’m going to do it. “I’m sure Ava and Aspen would be down.”

“Let’s meet at the river in an hour. Bring some snacks and some brews?”

We all hop in our trucks and head to our own little cabins. Each of us has a place on this chunk of land about a quarter mile or so from each other, except for Weston’s place. His is farther on the east side. The beauty of how wide this property sprawls out is that we get to keep our privacy. Pulling my truck up to the front of the house, I close the door and head inside.

Ava stands at the kitchen sink, putting away dishes from the breakfast she made us this morning. “Hey, cowboy. How was your day?”

Kicking off my boots, I hurry to the kitchen, desperate to get my hands on her. Wrapping my arms around her middle, I pull her back into my chest. “It’s about to get a whole lot better,” I whisper into her ear, causing little goosebumps to break out across her skin.

“Oh?” She sets down the dishrag in her hand and turns around, propping herself up against the sink.

“We’re headed for the river to go for a swim. Go change into your swimsuit, and then we can head out.”

“Who is we?”

“All of us. Rhett, Aspen, and Weston. It’s basically a summer tradition.” I’m pretty sure we’ll be swimming there until one of us breaks a hip.

“Well, that sounds fun,” she says. Not knowing that over the years, we’ve decked out our little spot. Hammocks are up, and we have a little rope swing for the spots that are deeper. Summer brings out the kids in all of us. Some of my favorite memories growing up here were times spent there cooling off. And now I get to show Ava a little piece of a country summer.

Ava digs through her small dresser in her closet, while I head to the bathroom to clean up a little. I know we’re about to cool off, but sweating my balls off for the last few hours has me smelling a little too nasty, even for myself.

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