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Then again, with all the practice I have at keepingbronco is going wild beneath ht—I don’t tend to stagger, even when I’ much that I’et

The creeper doesn’t appear to be taking the lady’s shove seriously The barkeep leans across and shouts at hiirl’s face, his lips parted in a sneer When I stride close enough to hear their conversation, it only stokes the fire in my blood more

“—just trying to pay you a coht to be polite when a man tells her how sexy she is”

“I don’t need a , much less that,” the wo God, I love a country girl Especially one like her with ht flannel shirt Not to s?

I shakeher

“I bet you’d put out for the other guys in here, bitch,” the

That’s when my fist collides with his face

I hit hih withbackwards, crashing over a chair and into the bar, which catches hiht The roo frorab at my shoulders, but I shake them off

I’ et This bastard who thinks he can touch women without their permission, call the

My target shoves back off the bar and throws a punch I block it, but my movements are slow, uncoordinated fro up to my system

Dammit I shouldn’t have downed that last drink

I dodge another punch he throws, and land one in his gut He doubles over, groaning I knee hi on one leg I stagger to the side, feel rip me, and this time, I don’t have tiain His head collides withany wind left in my sails

We collapse onto the sticky floor of the bar,across s it down to collide withat him anymore

The last thing I see before the world fades to black is her face, peering over his shoulder, expression aabout her eyes, baby blue eyes that snag ut

At least if I have to die like this, undignified, on the floor of this griirl before I go

Then the asshole’s fist connects, and everything goes dark I hear my father’s words, some of the last ones he ever spoke to me Words that have hauntedup to the out the life he’d want for me

“Find a good wo else is just noise You find her and you hold onto her for dear life”

The words still echo in my head as the darkness takes over

2

Sheila

I watch the coffee percolate and rub ht still unfortunately too fresh in my memory

All I’d wanted to do was stop by that lousy local dive for one last drink beforeup with this crap for the next couple of months was likely to dooff stea before I wanted it to

Rudolph Ruckus

Watching him sleep on my motel bed, sprawled across the sheets with his plaid shirt half unbuttoned froood Sexy, if I didn’t knohat kind of a wild man lay underneath that chiseled tan torso and tousled black hair, ht spent passed out on a bar floor, then being carried into a truck and hoisted up here

I paid a few of the guys at the bar to help me carry Ruckus, after he lived up to his naoddamn brawl in the middle of that dive Luckily one of them had a flatbed truck, so they were able to lift him into the bed of it and then carry hiover and injuries

Less fun was paying off the creeper Ruckus attacked The ot wind of who’d punched hies “This bastard has a reputation for going after anyone he likes in bars,” he snapped “I want to be coures that creep would read the damn tabloids

I cole one hundred dollar bill When he tried pressing me for more, I re hies on you for sexual harassment, you know,” I said “Just re Ruckus’s naodforsaken town a living hell”

He shut up real quick after that Scampered off with his hundred dollar bill and his tail tucked between his legs

Not going to lie, there was so Ruckus punch that asshole That was, until said asshole started to punch back, and I realized how blind drunk nht, even if he did have common decency on his side

I sigh and go to pour myself a cup of coffee The motel room is tiny—barely room for the bed, the kitchenette, and a crappy lazy-boy chair where I spent the night, curled up under the spare eency blanket froo as I sip aze down at

the man on my bed

He shifts in his sleep, groans a little under his breath, and his shirt falls open farther I catch a gliht in the dark while the guys froht that filters through the cheap motel curtains, I trace the shape better, and understand what it is A stallion, right over his heart Its front legs rear up toward his bicep, and its hind ones curve down his ribs It’s beautiful, delicate work that’s still strong and uess

Makes sense for Ruckus who built his career on riding and roping

I step closer and switch aze travels up his chest to his face now To the bruises he sustained punching that guy His eye has already darkened to black Shit We’re going to have to explain that toet to town for the next shoonder if we can spin it Claim he fell down some stairs