Page 49 of One Reckless Moment

“Shirt off,” Walker barked as he picked up the bottle of whiskey and unscrewed the cap. I dropped my hat in the dirt and stripped my shirt off before taking the bottle from him and taking a long pull.

So what if the sun was barely above the horizon? Guess it was going to be an all-day affair…

Twenty minutes later, my right hand was duct-taped to the mustang’s saddle and obscene words were written across my chest. I’d had about half of the bottle of whiskey and my stomach was already starting to churn since I hadn’t eaten anything since last night.

Walker slapped the horse’s ass and he took off, running in a circle around the ring. My body thrashed around as I tried to gain control with my one free hand.

“You go until you throw up,” I heard Walker shouting as I went in circles.

I knew they were going to make this a slow process so I settled in for a morning of pain.

It took two hours and the rest of the bottle of whiskey, but eventually the guys had me on my knees, hurling up the limited contents of my stomach. I flopped onto the hard ground, attempting to catch my breath, and willing the sky to stop spinning as the sun shone in my eyes.

Walker stepped in front of me, blocking the sun and casting me in shadows. He huffed, but offered me a hand, hauling me up to my feet as I coughed and continued to dry heave.

“Welcome to the family, fucker.”

He clapped me on the back as Axle and Reid cheered—the guys had cracked their own bottle so now we were all appropriately drunk at nine in the morning.

“That’s it?” I asked in disbelief. I mean, this was not a fun activity but it was a hell of a lot better than broken limbs.

“We love Paige and she loves you, so.[-” Reid shrugged.

“Let’s get one thing clear, though.” Walker met me eye to eye. “You hurt her, cheat on her, or lay a hand on her in the wrong way, and there are parts of these mountains where a body would never be found.”

“I promise I will never hurt her,” I said sincerely. I would literally rather walk on hot coals than hurt Paige Brooks. That didn’t mean she didn’t have the ability to hold my heart in her hands and crush it to dust when this all ended in a few months.

“Pony up, boys,” Tweety said, approaching us.

Walker, Reid, and Axle groaned as they fished their wallets out of their pockets.

I turned to Tweety and clapped him on the back of the head.

“You bet on me?”

He flinched and rubbed where my hit landed. “I bet you’d last longer than an hour. I had faith you were tougher than they thought you were.”

“You all have a fucking problem.” I grabbed my shirt and headed back to the rec room.

23

FAKE SMILES AND SHEER PANIC

PAIGE

We’d been in the car for an hour and my mother had yet to tell us exactly where we were going. When she informed me we were going shopping, I assumed she meant we’d be heading to Main Street in Ashton Creek.

Instead, she pulled onto the interstate toward the closest city.

She turned into the parking lot of a white building, and my stomach sank when I read the sign above the door.

“We’re buying your wedding dress!” my mom announced with a shimmy. She was so excited to do all these wedding things with me, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her that it wasn’t real. I couldn’t burst her bubble or let Cash down, but my heart was breaking.

The bell on the door chimed above us as we walked into the bridal boutique. The store was chic, with white walls and gold accents. There were multiple stations set up for girls to take selfies and celebrate buying their dream gown. Rows of white and blush pink gowns lined racks around the room. In the center of the small store was a cream colored velvet couch in front of a platform surrounded by mirrors.

I tried to calm my racing heart and forced a smile. I could do this.

“Welcome, welcome!” A cheery sales woman came waltzing out onto the sales floor. “I’m Callie and I’ll be helping you all today.” She shook all our hands before turning to me.