Page 129 of Here With Me

Every moment of Lyla rock climbing comes back to the surface. I was overly confident in what I knew she could do, but the moment I let my guard down, I failed her. I should’ve been closer, not let her go so high, and fuck me, I should’ve caught her.

“I probably woulda. The name alone sounds dangerous and stupid as hell.”

“Wilder, being the obnoxious dumbass he is, did a cannonball and forgot to push his legs out after the first bounce. Instead of landin’ on his feet, he flew right into a tree. Got himself a concussion, lots of bruisin’, and a broken rib.”

“Jesus Christ. I seriously don’t know how your parents have survived this long.”

“And the bad part is, that didn’t even slow him down. A month later, he went to Blackhole Granite and jumped into the quarry. Nearly drowned when he couldn’t swim back up in time. Landen and Tripp had to rush in and pull him up. Waylon gave him CPR until he finally coughed up water.”

I shake my head. That boy has no fear or reality of risks. How he’s survived this long is truly a mystery.

Noah sits back down, does a few easy moves, and then dismounts. My hand instinctively goes to her lower back until her feet are planted safely on the ground.

“There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” She smirks, grabbing Donut’s lead rope.

“I’ll let ya know when my heart rate goes back to normal.”

I should be immune to taking risks and seeing people do stunts on horses, but when it comes to Noah, every little slip or bump has me on edge. I constantly remind myself how talented and skilled she is, but every morning when I meet her in the training center, I have a mini panic attack.

Each day, she gets braver and pushes herself a bit more. She even teaches me some of the stunt names she does—one-foot stand, shoulder stand, vault, the lay-up, forward fender, spin the horn, and more. Donut tolerates it all, and I appreciate how well behaved he is, so I only have to focus on her movements. After a few days, she speeds up, and Donut gallops faster. I keep as close as I can, and even though I’m a nervous wreck, I’m also impressed as hell.

Noah came into this with minimal knowledge, but she did the research ahead of time, put in the time to practice, and continued to do the moves until they felt right. She might not be an expert and wouldn’t be performing anytime soon, but she’s grasped the basics in just a week’s time.

“Pretty soon, I’ll be gettin’ fit for a sparkly outfit and travelin’ to rodeos!” She does a little spin around Donut, and he just stands there, unamused.

“How ’bout ya let Delilah do that, and you stay here where you belong?”

“Where Ibelong, huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

We’re only a couple of feet apart, but the air between us is tense enough to slice through.

“Nothin’, it’s just, I prefer you on the ranch where I can still see you every day.”

Her brows pinch together as if she’s not sure how to take my words, but she doesn’t argue or ask me to clarify.

“I’d miss bein’ home anyway, but it’d be fun. Kinda jealous Delilah will get to travel to rodeos and feel all that excitement in the arena with the crowds cheerin’. I bet it’s an adrenaline rush each night.”

I nod along because she’s not wrong. That excitement never dies no matter how many times you do it.

“When are you signin’ her on?” I ask, assuming she will since she’s been practicing.

“She’s scheduled to come this weekend. I’ll watch her and see where she’s at, then I’ll give her a quote, and we’ll go from there. I don’t suspect she’ll need me more than a month or two.”

“I don’t doubt it. You’re pretty good at this.”

“Pretty good...” she muses with her hands on her hips.

Pulling out my phone, I check the time and see it’s close to nine o’clock. That’s usually when we wrap up so I can get to work, and she can get started on her training schedule. Though I enjoy every uninterrupted second I get with her. Things are no longer awkward. We’re back to being friends, and no one suspects a thing.

I fucking hate it.

I want to rip off her helmet, wrap her in my arms, hold her tight, then steal all her kisses.

But I can’t, so I settle for what I can get—heated glances and soft touches.

“You done for the day?” I ask.

Laney, Ayden’s wife, went into labor last night and gave birth early this morning, so I know she’ll want to go visit sometime today. Right as we were starting, Serena and Mallory burst in here to tell us the exciting news.