Page 3 of Let Her Buck

Sadie gasps like I’ve confessed to a felony. “You? Forget the words? You’ve sung that song in your sleep since high school.”

I manage a small smile. “Guess my brain had other plans.”

She exhales, dragging me toward one of the folding chairs behind the curtain. “You were killing it, Laney. I mean, people were watching you like you were about to levitate. And then the blackout? Honestly, kinda iconic. Like the universe didn’t want you to finish because it couldn’t handle the talent.”

I huff a quiet laugh, but I’m still not really here. My eyes drift back toward the crowd, toward where he was. The stranger. The one who looked at me like I was a question he’d been trying to answer for a long time.

I don’t mention him to Sadie. I don’t know why, considering the fact that we literally tell each other everything. Maybe because I don’t have the words yet. Or maybe because it feels like if I say it out loud, it’ll lose its magic.

“Did Evan see the whole thing?” I ask instead, trying to steer us back to safer territory.

Sadie shrugs, smoothing her dress. “If he did, he probably thought the power outage was some dramatic stage move. You were up there glowing like some wild country goddess before the lights cut out.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Country goddess?”

“I said what I said.” She nudges my boot with hers. “Seriously. I know you’re freaked out, but you were incredible. You’ll get another shot to sing once they get the system back up. Just breathe, okay?”

I nod, even though my mind’s still spinning in another direction entirely. His face. That scar.

Those gray eyes.

“I’m breathing,” I whisper.

But the truth is…I’ve never felt so winded in my life.

Chapter Two

West

The wire gives beneath the blade with a softsnick.

I tuck the pocketknife into my back pocket just as the lights cut out and the mic dies with a pitiful crackle. Around me, the crowd murmurs in confusion, some boo, a few laugh…but all of it fades beneath the sound of my pulse hammering in my ears.

No one notices me. Not really. That’s the beauty of a crowd. They’re looking at the stage, not some cowboy loitering near the power box like he belongs there. And if anyone does get curious, well…I’ve been in tighter spots than this.

I didn’t mean to stick around long. Was just passing through Sweetheart Bend—another speck on the map with dusty roads and wide skies. Rode in for the circuit, planned to be out by the end of the week.

Then she opened her mouth and everything changed.

I’d never heard a voice like that—sweet, low, and full of something that cracked me right open. Like homesickness and heat lightning. She looked like she’d stepped straight out of a dream I didn’t know I was having. Brown hair catching the light, green eyes flicking around like they were trying to find something steady to hold on to.

And then they landed on me.

For half a second—hell, maybe it was less—I forgot who I was, where I was, what I was doing.

She looked at me like she saw something in me. Not just at me—throughme. In me. I saw the same forgetfulness happening on her face. And I couldn’t let her freeze up on that stage, not when I could help.

So I cut the damn wire.

The power’s back on now, just as quick. Some tech guy with a clipboard and a sour expression has already reset the breaker. The lights blink to life, the mic hums softly, and there she is again—back at the mic, guitar slung over her shoulder, a touch more fire in her eyes this time.

She starts over. Same song, but different.

Now she owns it.

She sings like the words were meant for her mouth, like they were stitched into her bones.

I have NEVER heard a voice like hers…

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