Page 35 of Even If It Breaks Your Heart
Winnie stands on the gate, waving her arms wildly. “This way, Case. On three!”
I rush at her, counting in my head. One, he’s just behind me. Two, I can hear the rumble in his chest vibrate down to my bones. Three, his hot breath is on the back of my fucking neck. The gate swings open, and I dive through, somersaulting out of the way as Winnie shoves it closed with a mighty clang.
Charles is vicious, but he’s not stupid. He pulls up short with a powerful snort, and by the time I’m surging to my feet, he’s already turned away as if he wasn’t just about to murder me. I slump back down to the ground, my blood thrumming and my head spinning. I shut my eyes and let out an involuntary groan.
“Holy fuck, are you okay?”
I whimper, my eyes still closed. After a beat, I say weakly, “Pretty sure.”
“Garrett, what on earth? Why were you in there?”
I hear Garrett’s sniff from somewhere in the vicinity of my head. “The wind. It blew my chart into the pen. I thought I could quick-jump in there and grab it and come right back out, but then I saw the bull and freaked out! Oh my god, are you okay, Case? Win, is he okay?”
“Case is okay,” I mutter, even though it’s debatable. But hell, I don’t want Garrett to feel bad.
“Garre, I need you to go ask Kerry for a glass of cold water, okay? Tell the truth, but make sure she knows Case isn’t hurt.”
“Okay.”
After a beat, I open one eye. “Is she gone?” I whisper.
Winnie’s face above me breaks into a droll smile. “You have at least five minutes until they all come running.”
With a grunt, I prop myself up on my elbows and wiggle my limbs to check for breaks, but everything seems to be functioning.
“Are you okay?” Winnie’s question is soft. Softer than anything else I’ve ever heard from her before.
“Surprisingly, yeah. I think I am. I can’t believe I did that. I’ve been staring down that fucking bull for fucking days, and without even thinking, I launched myself inside the pen.”
“Thank you. I don’t… I don’t know what else to say. Just thank you. She could have been killed.Youcould have been killed. You almost were! I can’t…” Her eyes take on a sheen. “Oh my gosh, look at my hands.” She holds up trembling fingers. “I think it’s starting to hit me now.”
I drop back to the ground with a thud. “I’m just gonna rest a second. Catch my breath. Tell me when they get close?”
My eyes are closed, but I can feel the ghost of a brush of fingers across my forehead, cool and calming.
A few minutes pass before she quietly drawls above me. “They’re comin’.”
I sit up again, this time pulling my knees closer to my chest, draping my forearms across, attempting to look casual and not like I ache in places I don’t remember the names of.
Winnie snorts. “Yeah. They’ll never guess.”
“Does this mean I’m fired from babysitting duty?” I ask out of the side of my mouth.
“Hell. It takes more than almost being gored by a psychotic bull to scare us Sutton girls.”
I cringe at her forced lightness. I know I messed up. Royally. “I’m sorry. I swear I was watching her. She was outside the barn on the bench the entire time, and I—”
Winnie interrupts with a gentle hand to my arm. She pulls my focus toward her, and my eyes lock on hers. “Case. Stop running the analytics. Kids are unpredictable. You can never watch them closely enough. You could carry Garrett in your shirt pocket, and she’d still find a way to get hung up in the buttons.”
“I told you to trust me, and I let her wander into a bull enclosure. You’ll never let anyone help again!”
“Please,” Winnie says lightly. “You’re practically a superhero in her eyes at this point. I think you’re stuck with her.”
I look away from her, feeling better. “What about you? Am I a superhero in your eyes?”
She knocks my shoulder. “Super? Eh. Hero? Fuck yeah. I think you might be. But,” she says under her breath, right as her sister and Kerry rush over to us, arms full of supplies. “You tell anyone I said that, and I’ll have to kill you.”
A little while later, after Winnie and Garrett leave for the day and Kerry finally lets me out of her sight after feeding me and monitoring me for a concussion (even though I definitelydid not hit my head), I enter my room and head for my desk. I pull out Walker’s list and a black permanent marker, and when I come to the wordsConquer a bull OUTSIDE the arena, I draw a fat line right through it.
