Page 41 of Wild Rivals

I’m happy for Chloe, I really am, but I don’t think what her and Kade have is anything that will ever find me. Especially if I keep sleeping with men like Wyatt.

“Speaking of Wyatt, has he been in this week?” Chloe asks, leaning back in her chair, completely oblivious to the panic that’s creeping its way up my throat.

Did I say his name out loud?

Shit.

What is wrong with me?

“No. Why?” Autumn asks.

I drop my attention to the plate in front of me, afraid that if I look at them, they’ll know my secret. What if they figure out that Wyatt and I had sex? Will they think less of me? God, I hate this. I feel like I’m deceiving them with every second that ticks by.

“Have you seen him, Maddie?” Chloe asks, cutting into my spiraling thoughts.

I lift my head so fast I’m surprised I don’t give myself whiplash. My eyes are too wide, and I can’t control my features, and my voice comes out far too high and laced with my panic when I say, “No, why would I?” I clear my throat, aiming for nonchalance when I add, “I barely see him as it is.”

They haven’t figured it out.

Thank God.

They do share a look, though.

One I can’t quite decipher, before Chloe says, “Okay, well…” She leans in, like she’s about to drop some top-secret gossip. “He’s got a hickey. And he refuses to say where it came from.”

Autumn shudders, a look of disgust on her face when she says, “I can only imagine the kind of buckle bunny that gave him that. He’s going to end up in a single white female situation if he’s not careful and then God help us all.”

I tune out the conversation as heat fans across my chest. The last thing I need to hear is what my friends think of the woman who gave Wyatt that hickey.

For years Wyatt and I have butted heads, pushing and provoking each other until it became second nature. Somewhere along the line, that tension turned into something else. Explosive, can’t-get-him-out-of-my-head kind of chemistry. And in a town like this? That’s the kind of mistake that doesn’t stay a secret for long. Which means that whatever is going on between us has to stop.

25

WYATT

The intoxicating scent of popcorn, fried food, dust and manure fills the air as I sit in the stands of the rodeo arena surrounded by my family. Kade is riding tonight, and so the Wilde clan is out in full force.

Even Mom came, and she never comes to the rodeo. Not after what happened with Uncle Kurt. He used to ride, but nearly twenty-two years ago, he was thrown from his bronc and died. It’s part of the reason Kade kept his riding a secret for over a year.

I, for one, am glad that he came clean—even if it wasn’t by choice—because it means we can be here to support him. It took a long time to quiet the gnawing worry that something might happen to him, but at the end of the day, I want to be here for him, to support him in whatever he chooses to do. Chloe, Avery, and Autumn have made signs to hold up, not that Kade will notice when he’s being thrown around on the back of his horse. It’s the thought that counts, I guess.

The show hasn’t kicked off yet, but there’s an excited energy pulsating in the air as people find their seats and say hello to friends. Coming to the rodeo is a community affair, with people from Coldwater and a couple of neighboring towns turning up for the show. Although I’m only interested in seeing if one particular person is here tonight.

With a beer in my hand, I lean back as the others chatter among themselves. My eyes scan the crowd that’s forming, but I don’t see her. I don’t feel her. I’m like an addict, waiting for his next fix.

“Do you think Wade Maddox is going to be riding tonight?” Olivia shouts over the noise of the crowd.

Autumn lifts a shoulder, shuffling in her seat like she’s uncomfortable. “No idea.” She groans. “Urgh, I wish these seats came with padding.”

Chloe, who’s standing, snaps a couple of pictures of the empty arena floor. “Kade said he’s back to riding properly now, so I should imagine he will be.”

I take a sip of my beer, scanning the crowd as I tune out their conversation. There’s no doubt that Olivia will make some comment about how she’d ride Wade Maddox—a local rodeo star—or that he could ride her any day. It’s the sort of comment I’d make, and I don’t need to hear that from my cousin, who’s more like a sister than anything.

At the thought of riding, my mind drifts back to Maddie and how she looked when she was on top of me on Wednesday. She’s been in my head since I had her. I’ve never been this… hung up on a woman before.

Maybe I need to get laid. And not by Maddie.

I keep telling myself that, and yet I’m not doing it. So, maybe I head out after this or call up one of the many numbers in my phone and see who’s around. It’s the only way I’ll know for sure that she hasn’t broken me.