Page 31 of The Brave and the Reckless (Bravetown #1)

We’d just filmed a dozen videos re-enacting snippets from the most popular fanfictions in our category.

It had taken Esra only an hour to pull together links, quotes, usernames and screenshots, all neatly organized in a spreadsheet.

She’d died twice– once in Lucas’s arms and once in mine– and I’d stared deeply into Lucas’s eyes for much longer and much more often than I’d ever anticipated.

After the initial awkwardness, theatrically ripping my shirt open, biting down on the stem of a rose and tearing Annie from Kit Holliday’s arms had actually made for a fun way to spend the evening.

The kitsch of it all reminded me of those pulp Westerns the park was based on.

“Look, from where I stand, only half the comments are valid. The ones saying Annie Lou is regressing instead of progressing,” I said, holding open the gate that led us out of the park and directly toward staff housing.

It was the only route out we were allowed to take in costume because it was completely shielded from the public.

“And the other half?” she asked and stopped on the threshold.

“Don’t think brown eyes are pretty .”

“Huh.” Her lips pursed. “Idiots.”

“Exactly.”

“Are you saying you think I have pretty eyes, Young?” She grinned and fluttered her lashes at me, still not moving, keeping us locked in the narrow frame of the gate.

“I’m saying we can do something about how pathetic you look on a horse.”

“Charming,” she groaned and slipped past me.

“Princess, if you want charming, you have to look for a prince.”

“No, thank you. I hear villains are better at giving head.” She cackled and shot a look over her shoulder at me. “So, what? You want to give me riding lessons?”

“Yes, come to the stables tomorrow before the park opens.”

“Seriously? Wait. Riding lessons, or riding lessons ?”

She met my puzzled gaze with a roll of her eyes. Wrapping her fingers around my arm for support, she jumped up to snatch my hat. It dropped loosely over her head, the black brim falling down to her brow.

For just a split second, her intention blazed through me and singed a path down my center, straight to my dick.

The heat was quickly doused by the realization that she wasn’t wearing my hat.

She was wearing Ace Ryder’s hat. She wanted riding lessons from the villain .

I supposed she’d already checked the sheriff off her list .

Just like Bravetown wasn’t actually good enough for a girl like her, I wasn’t enough. She was playing make-believe.

It shouldn’t have bothered me. I still got her writhing and begging under my touch even if it was fictional for her. And yet… that stupid black hat bothered me.

“Give it back,” I rasped, holding my hand out.

“What if I want to ride the cowboy this belongs to?” She grinned up at me from below the brim.

“Esra, hand it over.”

“Oh, okay. Serious voice .” She snorted and flung the hat back at me. “Excuse a girl for trying to be flirty.”

“If you want to go around and collect the hats from all the cowboys in Bravetown, go ahead, but there’s a name for girls like that.”

“What?”

“Buckle Bunnies,” I replied.

Her face contorted. Her button nose crinkled up, giving a perfect impression of a bunny as she processed my words. “First of all, fuck you. Second of all, that’s sexist on a whole new level. What do you call all the men in Heather’s comment section then?”

“Delusional,” I muttered, but it didn’t stop her tirade.

“And third of all, fuck you. You can’t hike up my skirt, slap my ass, fingerbang me into oblivion and then turn around and slut-shame me when I dare suggest we go further than that. Just because you didn’t get your dick wet, doesn’t mean you were any less of a participant in our bunnying around.”

She stormed forward, stomping her feet on the steps up to our house .

“And fourth of all, fuck you!” She slammed the door after her hard enough to rattle it in its frame.

“Did she slap you?” Austin asked from the sofa when I walked in a moment later, his headphones already halfway down his neck. He must have just caught the end of the argument. Esra’s boots stomped up the last few stairs and a moment later another door slammed shut.

“No. Why would she?”

“Damn,” he grunted, “I have twenty on a good slap.”

“You bet on her slapping me?” I asked, strangely grateful for the distraction. If we talked about that, I didn’t have to think about the strange fight I’d just had with Esra, when I wasn’t sure why I’d reacted that way. I didn’t even know when I’d last used the term Buckle Bunny.

“My odds aren’t good,” Austin said. “Too many people agree with me. If you wanted to throw all of her belongings out the window or mix bleach into her shampoo, I’d make enough money to buy a new car.”

“What else did people bet on?”

“Anything from insult to murder, to be honest.”

“I just called her a Buckle Bunny, if that helps your financial aspirations.”

“Not mine, but I believe Vivi just made twenty bucks.” Austin started typing on his phone, presumably to alert whatever group chat had the betting pool going.

“Y’all don’t work hard enough if you have time for stupid shit like this.”

“Why’d you call her a Buckle Bunny?” he asked, not looking up from his phone. I wasn’t sure whether he asked out of genuine interest or if this was part of the bet.

“Her thing with Lucas. ”

“Lucas? Nope.” Austin shook his head and kept typing.

“Lucas tried to bet that he could hook up with Esra, and we all told him that was fucked up. He still whined about being friend-zoned, and Adriana ripped him a new one about the concept of the friend zone. Here.” He turned his phone around for me to see the chat.

I only skimmed Lucas’s message on screen, sent the day he stumbled from Esra’s room. Well, I’d been wrong about them.

I clicked on the chat menu and brought up the list of contacts. “What the fuck? Even Renee is in this pool.”

“She put two hundred on having to reassign Esra to a different house because of you.”

“You need a life.”

“Oh come on. This is the most entertainment we’ve had since that year it took Sanny six months to ask Zuri out.”

I tossed the phone back into his lap and headed upstairs myself. I probably owed Esra an apology. The fact that she hadn’t slept with Lucas didn’t even ease the weight off my chest. It didn’t matter. She could have fucked the whole damn world for all I cared.

I placed the black Ace Ryder hat on my coat rack, right next to my own brown one. From the corner of my eye, I caught my reflection in the mirror, leather holster around my hips and the black bandana slung around my neck.

I’d lashed out, hurling the first best insult at her, because Esra was only into the fantasy. She wasn’t actually attracted to me.

It shouldn’t have bothered me.

I was in so much trouble.