Page 9 of Ride Me Reckless

Then he turned and walked into the night.

I shut the door slowly.

Callie emerged with a shot glass in her hand.

I didn't ask. I just knocked back the whiskey.

The shot burned going down. Outside, thunder rumbled in the distance, low and rolling like something old had just stirred.

I didn’t really believe in signs, but tonight Lady Luck had a cruel sense of humor.

Chapter Three

Dust and Distance

A Few Days Later

Colt

Ididn't mean to take the long way home. Not really.

But my truck had a mind of its own when I hit the bend past the feed store, and before I knew it, I was easing down Oak Hollow Road—slow, like a man with time to kill.

Like a fool with a ghost to chase.

Delia Walker, Tessa's mother's place, tucked behind a row of old cedars that had been leaning sideways since I was a kid. The porch sagged, the paint peeled in strips, but the place had heart. Always had, like its owner.

Parked right there in the side yard, bold as a thunderclap, was that flame-painted trailer.

Her trailer.

I let off the gas, coasting slowly, my heartbeat loud enough to drown out the hum of the tires.

Tessa hadn't left.

Hell, I'd figured she'd blow through town like always—leave some tire marks, light a few fires, and disappear. That was her way. Always had been. ButReckless—the car, not the bull—was still here. So was she.

I gripped the wheel tighter, thinking back on the last five years. I'd taken this detour more times than I cared to admit, always looking. Never seeing her. I told myself it was a habit. Muscle memory. A shortcut that wasn't. But the truth was, I wanted to catch her.

Just once.

And here she was.

I pulled over half a block past the house. Sat in Park with the engine idling, thumb tapping against the steering wheel. Could've kept driving. Should've. But my hand reached for my phone before I could stop it.

Delia's landline was still saved in my contacts, underMrs. W.from back when I was too green to call her by her first name. I hadn't dialed it in years.

My finger hovered. Then pressed.

It rang twice.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end wasn't Delia's. It was sharper, younger, more tired.

My chest cinched tight. "Tessa?"

A pause.

"Colt?"