Page 40 of The Wildest Ride

AJ grabbed a water out of the fridge and then walked over to lean against the counter near where she sat.

“Weird move out there.”

She grunted.

“Made up for your size alright.”

Dry and raspy, she replied, “It’s almost like I planned it.”

AJ tipped his water to her with a chuckle. “Ready for the next round?”

She nodded once. “You don’t usually get a hazer on a ranch.”

Touchy. The short ones always were. “I almost bought a ranch once,” he said wistfully.

She stiffened, but forced a smile. “What stopped you?”

He grinned. “No hazers on a ranch.”

She snorted at the same time as the door slammed open and Hank DeRoy stalked in. Without taking note of the room’s occupants, he tossed his hat on a table, ran a hand through his hair, and went straight to the fridge, from which he pulled out a beer and shotgunned it.

Only then, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, did he finally look around the room. AJ and Lil Sorrow were stationed at one end of the counter. Both looked at him—AJ leaning back and grinning, amused at the fool’s constant obviousness, Lil Sorrow, upright and inscrutable. Neither said a word.

Hank looked from him to Lil Sorrow, then back to him, a frown coming to mar his sweaty blond brow. Slowly, he straightened and retrieved his hat before putting his can in the recycling bin. Hat in place, he strolled over with an exaggerated cowboy swagger.

“Didn’t mean to interrupt your make-out session,” he said cheerfully to both of them before angling his body toward Lil Sorrow’s. “If you ever feel like graduating to a real man, cowgirl, you can always give me a try.”

AJ’s voice was warm when he responded, like he was talking to an old friend, despite the fact that Hank’s crude words had his hackles rising: “Bad run, DeRoy?”

In a way they were old friends.

They’d known each other long enough for AJ to realize the sharp tang in Hank’s voice meant he had been beat.

“Never heard of such a thing, Garza. And I believe the lady and I were chatting.”

Lil Sorrow pushed between the two, moving away from both.

AJ frowned. Hank turned his attention to Lil Sorrow.

“The ladywas just on her way,” she said as she passed.

“Now hold on, we’re just getting to know each other. It isn’t often you meet a woman who makes you envious of livestock.”

Based on his experience with her, AJ expected Lil Sorrow to lose her temper with the man’s forwardness. He was closer to it, himself, than he’d like to admit. But, to AJ’s surprise, Lil Sorrow didn’t rise to the bait. If anything, she looked bored.

Shrugging lightly, she said, “Nor is it often that you meet men who make you envious of feedlot stock, but as they say, ‘there are more things in heaven and earth...’” She turned to AJ. “Trust your horse and focus on the steer, Garza.”

AJ laughed, the reaction more genuine than his typical show of laid-backness. Lil Sorrow tipped her hat to punctuate the insult and walked out without looking back, beaded vest twinkling in the light.

Hank whistled as he watched her leave, hollering after her, “You can throw a punch as well as you rope a steer, princess. But I’ll keep coming back for more—I just love beating a man killer.”

“As always, DeRoy. You’re out of your league.” AJ finished his water and tossed it in the plastic bin.

“Watch it, Garza... We might be peers in the arena, but outside, you’re not just outmanned, you’re outclassed.” It was a well-known fact that Hank came from Kentucky horse royalty, the cowboy with the silver spoon to go with all his shiny silver buckles. Rodeo traditionally didn’t have much room for rich boys, but Hank fancied himself a Southern gentleman and apparently that was a kind of fancy rodeo folkwouldaccept. But only because, lagging behind AJ aside, Hank knew his way around a bull.

Sighing dramatically, AJ said, “A man can only watch the same old thing—be it my name climbing higher and higher than yours in the standings or your terrible game—for so long, DeRoy.”

But instead of another threat, Hank smiled, instantly putting AJ’s senses on alert.