Page 39 of The Wildest Ride

A single eyebrow lifted. “They?”

“Your competition.”

“You mean you,” she reminded him.

AJ raised his palms. “I’m just trying to help you. You might not be a kid, but you’re sure as hell new around here.”

“Why do you want to help me?”

AJ wondered that himself. The woman in front of him was cranky, small, and hotheaded, and it’d be a damn sight easier to give her a wide berth than it was to offer her a hand.

But she also smelled like the future of rodeo. And vanilla.

“You’ve got something special,” he said.

Her mouth dropped open, eyes going wide with shock.

AJ laughed. “Don’t let it get to your head. You’ve still got to ride tonight.”

Her eyes narrowed again. Suspicion written all over her face, she said, “This is you trying to get in my head.”

AJ shrugged with a grin. “Maybe. Or maybe I’m just an old man feeling sentimental on the brink of retirement.” Then he stepped out of her pacing space.

But she was intrigued. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He shrugged. “I got nothing to lose.”

Lil Sorrow shot back, “Except this competition.” But a smile stretched across her face.

It was exactly what he’d come over for, though he hadn’t realized it had been his intention until now.

And then she was up.

AJ watched from above the chute. As usual, she looked even smaller on a horse. AJ frowned. If she was going to ride rough stock, she needed some protein shakes or something.

The steer shot out of the barrier.

The hazer and Lil Sorrow flew out after it as soon as her rope dropped. Lil Sorrow slid down the right side of her horse and leaped at the steer, kicking her heels as they cleared the stirrups. She hooked the steer around the neck with her right elbow and grabbed the horns lightly with her left hand.

AJ frowned, watching even as he saddled up for his turn. Lil Sorrow’s grip wasn’t strong enough to force the steer down, momentum or not.

But then she twisted her body again at the same time as she pushed the steer’s horns upward with her left hand.

The steer’s entire body gave another spin.

Beast and cowboy slid to stop in the dirt, steer on its side, all four feet pointing in the same direction. Three-point-one seconds had passed. Once again, the arena erupted with cheers for Lil Sorrow.

AJ had never seen the little twist move before, and he’d been to a lot of rodeos. The kid had opened the night with flair.

As the second-place contestant, AJ was up next. He didn’t have any fancy new moves to showcase. He was fortunate enough to rely on the old-fashioned way—brute strength.

Once Lil Sorrow had cleared the arena, everything reset to do it all over again—this time with him at center stage.

His steer shot out. He and his hazer followed when the barrier dropped. He took his steer down in classic fashion: right hook and left push. And he didn’t know if it was the adrenaline of having real competition for the first time in years, or simply the thrill of watching her in action, but he got it done in three seconds.

11

AJ left the arena momentarily deaf and headed straight for the green room. Lil Sorrow was already in the room when he got there, of course, sitting at the end of the table by herself.