Page 49 of The Brave and the Reckless (Bravetown #1)

THE SUNSET SHOWDOWN

Immerse yourself in the story of Bravetown and experience the dangers and thrills of the Old West in this spectacular show.

When Ace Ryder and his bandits cause mayhem in town, it’s upon Sheriff Kit Holliday to save the day.

From horseback stunts to pyrotechnics, the showdown will leave you breathless.

For access to the dedicated space for disabled park guests and to find out more about our accessibility program click here.

N OAH

I had barely slept in three nights.

Esra had left the party with Adriana on Friday and not come home.

After weeks of stealing every moment we could, she hadn’t spared me a second to say goodbye, to explain, to let me in.

She shut me out and I didn’t know why. Maybe I had read too much into it, but the way she’d let me touch her in the bathroom had felt like it meant something.

She’d trusted me through the costume, to my core, knowing I wouldn’t hurt her, wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

But when something had happened, I wasn’t the person she’d turned to.

I’d waited in the living room that first night and fallen asleep on the sofa, not caring who might see and draw their conclusions.

I couldn’t care less about some betting pool when Esra was god-knows-where, emotionally riled up, wearing a tiny dress held together by a safety pin.

Maybe I wasn’t who she turned to for comfort, but I’d be ready to give it nonetheless.

Her brother had said something to upset her at his party.

I’d only caught snippets of their conversation, but he’d told her about his plans to work on the ranch with me.

I’d already told her as much, so that could hardly be why she bolted.

Sanny had downed a few too many shots to piece the conversation back together himself.

No matter how often I called, Esra wasn’t picking up her phone. Adriana had texted Sinan both Saturday and Sunday to let him know they were fine, just so he wouldn’t call the cops.

If she’d told him where they were, I would have driven out there myself.

Esra was hurt or angry or sad, and I didn’t know why, and I couldn’t fix it.

My own incompetence stifled every other thought that weekend.

All I could focus on was that she was gone, and I couldn’t bring her back or make her feel better from afar.

She hadn’t just run away from her brother, or from the park; she’d run away from me, and if I hadn’t been worried sleepless, I would have been hurt.

Monday morning, I dragged myself into the kitchen, muscles aching from tossing and turning the third night in a row.

I swiped my finger across my phone screen to refresh my messages– as if that would magically produce a new one.

My gaze snapped up at the sound of cutlery.

Not Austin. Not Lucas. Not any of the other people I’d lived with for years.

A small, hooded creature crouched at the table, and even though I’d known her less than three months, I distinctively knew the ebony shade of the hair cascading from under the hood, and the soft lips closing around a spoonful of cereal.

Esra just sat at the kitchen table with a bowl of sugary, crunchy breakfast as if I hadn’t been calling her non-stop.

She didn’t even look up. Just kept shoveling spoon after spoon of chocolate crap into her mouth and staring into space.

She had a hoodie jacket around her shoulders, but she was still in the same sparkly white dress she’d worn Friday night. Shit. That had to be a bad sign, right?

Adriana’s texts may have said she was fine, but she didn’t look fine. She looked like death with pale cheeks and dark circles under her eyes.

“Esra?” She didn’t respond, so I stepped closer. “Where have you been?”

“None of your business,” she mumbled, still staring ahead and seeing nothing at all.

I’d seen that look before. Many times. In my father’s eyes when he’d remember our address long enough to come home and change.

She wasn’t my dad. She was the girl who put researching horse noises on her to-do list and actually checked it off.

She’d gone through something. Must have.

And if she told me what was wrong, I’d figure out how to fix it.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I asked .

“I’m not hurt.” She grimaced as if I’d just poured salt over her cereal. “Why the fuck is that the first conclusion you jump to?”

“Shit, Esra, I don’t know.” A bitter laugh hiccupped up my throat. “You were gone all weekend. You missed four shows. I had to cover for you with Renee.”

“I didn’t ask you to do that,” she responded without a hint of emotion.

“I did that because I didn’t want you to get into trouble.”

“That sounds like a you-problem, Young.”

“A me-problem? Are you listening to yourself right now?” I wasn’t sure what was happening with her, but I knew that I’d done this before.

The moment you realized that you were about to be left behind.

It had happened once with my mother, and dozens of times with my father.

I’d known it was coming with Esra, too. I’d just thought we’d get the rest of summer and then she’d breeze off and leave me with enough memories to make the end sting less.

Only a tiny voice in the back of my mind had allowed itself to hope that maybe, just maybe, I’d get a bit more time than that.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” The words came out more vicious than I’d intended, but she was leaving, and I was not okay.

“Right now? I’m incredibly hungover. This guy I have no memory of meeting or giving my phone number to keeps blowing up my phone. And you’re yelling at me.”

So her phone definitely hadn’t been dead the last two days.

She’d just ignored me. She had looked at her phone long enough to see some other guy’s messages though.

I tried to swallow the bitter taste that left in my mouth but couldn’t hold the bite from my words.

“Great, partying and getting blackout drunk around random men, then coming back here hungover when we have to be at work in three hours? That sounds like you made all the right choices this weekend.”

She wasn’t Dad. She wasn’t Dad. She was just a normal twenty-three-year-old who partied with her friends.

I’d seen her hang out with the others and stop after one or two drinks.

She’d made some bad choices this weekend.

Normal people got drunk and made bad choices every now and again.

Maybe she could come back from it. Come back to me. Give me the rest of summer.

“Yeah. I had a great weekend, actually,” she quipped and pulled a feathered pen from her jacket pocket. “I got this from Adriana’s Stallion. They put them down the crotch of their Speedos. I had to pull it out with my teeth.”

My gut twisted with jealousy at the image of Esra’s teeth anywhere near another man’s crotch.

We hadn’t talked about being exclusive, but the last few weeks hadn’t felt casual.

We hadn’t felt like there was enough empty space between us for another person to slip in.

Not some stranger she gave her number to, and definitely no fucking Stallion.

I blinked at the pen, then at her tired smirk. She really was ending it. She had to know that I’d been developing real feelings for her, so she was putting me back in my place. “Do you even realize how many people worried about you this weekend? Missed you? God, you’re selfish.”

“Yes. So what if I am? It’s my life, isn’t it?” She tossed the stupid feathery pen across the table, brows drawn deep. “I should be allowed to live my life however I please. I can go wherever I want and do whatever I want.”

“And apparently do who ever you want. Is that what you want me to say? Do you want me to ask whether you fucked some Stallion covered in body glitter and feathers this weekend?”

“Isn’t that what Buckle Bunnies do?” She pursed her lips.

“I’m not rehashing that with you just because you want a fight. I shouldn’t have called you that. I know you better now. We moved on.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Will you just tell me what the hell is actually going on?”

“Yeah, you know me better,” she bit the words out, teeth showing. “Is it because you actually bothered to get to know me? Or because you talked to Sinan about me behind my back?”

“What?” I’d barely mentioned Esra to her brother. At first, because I’d been too worried about keeping our hookups secret– then, because I was sure I wouldn’t have been able to mention her name without smiling like an idiot.

“I know that my parents can’t handle me. I know that I’m too much for Sanny. But you knew what you were getting into. You can’t fuck Esra and expect to wake up next to perfect little Annie Lou. And Sinan can’t help you turn me into her either.”

It took me a second to follow her train of thought.

Annie Lou was Little Miss Perfect, and she hadn’t been interesting until Esra had breathed new life into her.

This wasn’t really about her role in the park though.

This was about the fact that I should have known all along that she wasn’t here for anything serious.

I’d fucked her and now I got jealous if she went out and had fun all weekend.

I’d fucked her and I wanted commitment. I’d fucked her and I’d talked to her brother about her staying in town.

“Is this because Sinan asked me to give you a job at the ranch?”

Her face dropped into an expression that was too neutral. She was clearly trying not to let it show that I’d hit the spot.