Page 29 of Let Her Buck

“W-what did you…” I trail off, too exhausted to continue.

Laney instantly wraps her arms around me, gingerly pressing me to her chest. “You don’t have to say anything, West. You’re fine.”

I can feel her heart pounding through her chest in the same erratic rhythm as mine. She wasn’t lying. There’s no restraint in those gorgeous green eyes of hers. No hesitation.

She loves me.

And God help me—I love her right back.

The medics are trying to push her back, but she clings to me like I’m the only thing tethering her to earth.

“I can’t lose you, West,” she whispers desperately as they lift me onto the stretcher, her voice breaking slightly at the end. “I already lost him. I don’t—I can’t lose you too.”

Him. Her papa.

It hits me all over again, what this must’ve felt like for her. The way she ran. The look in her eyes before the fall. She’s not just scared of losing me. She’s reliving every second of her worst heartbreak.

Damn it. I shouldn’t have asked her to wait. No—I shouldn’t have taken this second ride.

I’m a selfish bastard who doesn’t deserve an angel like her.

I cuss myself all the way to the medical tent even though I know that won’t change a damn thing. I lie still while a red-faced doctor pokes around my body.

“You got lucky, Mr. Holt,” he says, smiling kindly at me. “With a fall like that, a lot could have gone wrong, but you’ll be up and about soon. A couple bruised ribs, sore muscles, and a swollen ankle from landing wrong, but no breaks, no concussion, no permanent damage.”

Right. No permanent damage.

Just a hard reminder that this sport doesn’t care how good you are or how much you’ve got to lose. It takes what it wants, when it wants.

Just like it took Laney’s papa from her. It could have taken me too…

Laney hasn’t left my side, even as the doctor and nurses move about administering treatment, and finally the last of them leaves.

Now, she’s sitting beside me, curled up in the tiny space next to the bed with her knees drawn to her chest, like she’s trying to make herself small but still here. Her hair’s messy, face blotchyfrom crying, but she’s the most beautiful damn thing I’ve ever seen.

I reach over and brush my thumb over her knuckles.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” I say quietly. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

She doesn’t answer right away. But then she unfolds, slowly, like something is uncoiling deep inside her. Her hand slides into mine.

“I thought I was gonna lose you,” she whispers. “And I didn’t realize until that moment how much that would destroy me.”

I swallow hard. “Laney…”

“I love you.”

The words hit me. Harder than the first time. I wasn’t expecting her to say it again. As much as I wanted it to be true, I couldn’t seem to get rid of the voice in my head that told me she only confessed out of panic, that a girl like her would never want to be with a guy like me…

But then she said it again, and her eyes hold the same conviction as the first time. I stare at her, heart thudding.

“You love me?” I ask, wanting—needing—to hear it again.

She nods. “Yes, Weston. I love you.”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, tightening my hand around hers. “I love you too, Laney. I’ve been falling in love with you since the moment I saw you on that stage. And it’s not going to go away. Never.”

No matter how much I tell myself that I’m not right for her. One thing I’m sure of is that I’d never intentionally hurt her. Not after today.

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