“You didn’t screw anything up. If anything, you made it better. You’re too perfect to rush this,” I whispered, brushing her hair from her shoulder, lightly kissing her skin there.
“We can totally rush this.”
“Oh, hell no. I’m taking my time with you. There’s no way I’m fucking this up. You, Quinn,”—I kissed her—“are the woman I’ve thought about for months. I’m an absolute fool for you, and I’m treating you exactly how you need to be treated. Adored, savored, cherished, appreciated, admired…” I swallowed. “Loved.” I kissed that same spot again below her ear, and she let out a soft giggle.
“It’s like you opened a Google tab for words to say.”
“I can open another one if you’d like. Words to describe Quinn Compton. Sexy.” I kissed her neck. “Determined.” I kissed her chin. “Carefree.” I bit her bottom lip. “Stunning.” I kissed her lips. “Fucking perfect.”
“Sexy and stunning are the same thing.” She laughed.
“Two different things in my book, and you are most definitely both.”
“You already have me, Wyatt. You can stop it with the pickup lines.” Her smile told me otherwise. She liked the stupid little pickup lines, which made me wonder if she liked them from the start. I convinced myself, right then and there, she did.
“But you said you wanted me to chase you.” My eyes focused on her mouth, stopping myself from kissing her again.
“I do.” She leaned forward, her hands cupping my face. “In my hotel room, preferably naked.”
My eyebrows shot up, and I physically felt my heart begin to thump, thump, thump faster and faster in my chest. I took a long, slow breath through my mouth.
As amazing as that sounded…
“Not tonight,” I whispered, kissing her again. “It’s well past two in the morning, you have a ride tomorrow, and I know you—you want to get to sleep so you can be focused on that.”
“No, I want to focus on you,” she begged breathlessly.
“We have more than tonight, Quinn,” I whispered to her.
“Promise?”
I sealed the promise with another kiss, breathing her in before stepping back, already missing her coconut scent.
“I never break a promise, just FYI. I’ll see you in the morning. Get some rest.” I gave her a wink, and then did the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I walked away from her, only to give her one last glance before opening the door to my own cold, dark hotel room.
Twenty-Nine
Quinn
Wyattgreetedmewitha kiss at breakfast the next morning. He greeted me with a kiss after my ride. He greeted me with a kiss when I got behind the wheel of my car. Basically, whenever Wyatt could greet me, he did so with a kiss. And each time I fell a little harder for him. But even with the shift in us—nothing changed. We went through our normal ready routines, he cheered for me at every ride, and he was there lifting me off the ground, even if I didn’t land a top spot. He was still my best friend. The only difference was that we couldn’t keep our handsoff each other. We were always touching in some way. Holding hands, his arm draped over my shoulders, mine on his biceps, his lips on mine.
But he still wouldn’t come into my room—not even to watchOnce Upon a Time.I practically begged him, telling him he could sleep above the covers again—all I wanted was to be curled up with him and maybe a make-out session where I just happened to lose my top. But he channeled his inner gentleman, telling me we had time, and he didn’t want to rush anything.
I got where he was coming from, but damn, it was hard. With each kiss, each touch, each glance, he wiggled his way into my heart deeper than he already was. So, yes, maybe he was right—we had time. I wasn’t going anywhere, that was for sure. And by the way he was acting, I didn’t think he was either. Wyatt Hartwell currently had all of me, whether he knew he did or not. I was so gone for him.
I made it to the Reno Rodeo Championships, still having the fastest time in the entire event, and they were predicting me to win. Both Wyatt and I agreed I should ride Charming—he had brought in the fastest ride, and if I had any hope of beating that, he was my best bet. I wasn’t expecting to beat it by any means, but if I could think about the prize at the end again, I could get damn close.
The only thing managing to weasel its way into my brain space was that my mother was still around. Kelly had carried the flag each night, and her attendants kept close by her like they belonged in a small high school clique. I’m sure they were all amazing, friendly girls—I just wanted absolutely nothing to do with them.
Nerves began buzzing through my body as Wyatt and I saddled Charming, his hand trailing against my shoulders each time he was behind me, and we walked to the back dirt together. As soon as I was mounted in the saddle, he kicked my boot fromthe stirrup and used it to lift himself into the air, kissing me deeply before he fell back to the ground.
“See you on the other side.” He grinned, waggling his eyebrows at me.
“Compton!” I heard the attendant call my name, and I kicked Charming to move after blowing Wyatt a kiss.
Charming began to walk to the side, his head bobbing as we waited for our moment, and when that moment finally came, I kicked him into full speed, and we flew. The roars from the crowd faded and turned into a blur of colors as my focus rounded on that first barrel. We went left, and Charming rounded it perfectly. I squeezed his body, feeling him gain speed as we raced to the right barrel. My toe flared out, touching the barrel every so lightly—but I could feel it moving. The barrel was going to fall.
Shit, shit, shit…
