Page 23 of One Last Rodeo

“I wish she'd had her hands inside my chest instead.”

“That didn’t come across the way you think it did.” I make sure there's no emotion in my response, but he knows he's getting a reaction out of me anyway. He's a fucking idiot.

Raf glares at him on my behalf.

“You know what I mean,” Micah chuckles before sitting back in his seat. "She's seen you naked."

"I was wearing a surgery gown. It's not like she peeked underneath it to see my dick. And be respectful. She’s a fucking surgeon. Smarter than all of you guys combined.”

“Still doesn’t mean we can’t look at her. She works for us too, you know,” Joel adds.

I sigh. Already annoyed. Usually, I'd join in on their stupid banter but not at Catalina's expense.Neverat Catalina's expense.

I watch as she turns down the coffee and dessert. “No thanks. I don’t drink coffee.”

I turn back to my teammates. “Don’t you idiots have some buckle bunny you’re chasing tonight?”

“Actually, yeah,” Micah says, standing. “We’re hitting a new bar on sixteenth with the cheap wings and beer. You coming with?”

I don't hesitate. “No.”

Joel pushes to his feet to join him, Rory stands to go work on the press release for the upcoming ride, and Dawson and Lo make the rounds saying goodnight before heading out.

Dawson never comes out with us after events. Not that any of us would expect him to, the man’s happily married. He's been with Lo for five years now, and he's the most loyal guy I know. I swear the man hasn't looked twice at another woman the entire time I've known him.

While the rest of us spend half the year on the road making questionable decisions, Dawson acts like Lo hung the moon. Honestly, it's a little sickening. But in a way that makes everyone else jealous.

Raf stands to join the twins; despite looking like he’d rather ride a bull without gear. I have a strong feeling he'll stay for one drinkwherever they go then head back to his hotel room to sulk in the dark like he usually does. Probably thinking about June.

“She’s never going to go for you, man,” he mutters to me, reading me like a book before squeezing my good shoulder firmly. “She’s a doctor. Her type is above us. And she doesn’t respect you still riding. You know that.”

“She doesn’t,” I admit under my breath, watching Catalina’s shoulders tighten as the server hovers too close again. “But how's that good advice coming from the guy pining after June and too scared to make a move?"

"Fuck off. I already know she'll never want me. I’ve accepted it." He glares at me and stomps off to follow the others. I feel a little bad for my buddy but honestly, he needs to deal with his own shit instead of worrying about mine.

Most people wouldn’t catch the micro-shift in Catalina's posture—barely a twitch, barely a breath. But I do. Because I’ve seen her comfortable. I’ve seen her in her element, unguarded in an OR, right up until I said something—or did something—that pissed her off so badly she walked out on me before she finished my post-op instructions. I’m still wrestling with what happened there.

The memory’s been coming back in pieces, irritatingly slowly, like my brain’s playing the world’s worst slideshow of all the ways I screwed up with her without realizing it. And none of it explains why she still hates me. Unless it’s really because I won’t stop riding.

The guys leave, and it’s only me left at the table. Leaned back in my chair, long legs stretched out, watching her like I’m incapable of doing anything else.

She feels it. I can tell by the way her spine straightens, the subtle flick of her lashes before her eyes cut to mine. Guess it'd be hard to miss considering it's just me, June, and her now.

She mouths to me, "Stop staring."

“No.” I mouth back.

June finally pauses for a breath and then immediately drops her gaze back to her phone, thumb swiping in quick little flicks. Catalina’s voice cuts through, flat and unimpressed as she looks over her shoulder.

“Oh. You’re on dating apps.”

June lights up like someone plugged her into a wall. “Yes. Oh my God, the pickings out here in Colorado are insane!”

Well. Raf will be thrilled to hear this news—if he ever grows the balls to admit he’s obsessed with her just to get rejected.

“I just log in to whatever city we’re in,” she continues, “and go out for fun when everyone’s asleep. I’m a night owl. And if I’m not gaming, making content, or editing photos, I’d rather be out exploring and dancing.”

Okay. Never mind. She’s literally the opposite of Raf’s fantasy girlfriend. He'd rather be in his hotel room. Probably jerking it to photos of June and imagining she doesn’t like to go out and dance or do any of the things she just rattled off.