Rhett
As promised, Linc clears a path, and I rush through the gate, weaving through the back pens and ignoring the announcers and fans calling out for me. My head spins with all the places Mo could be, and I just want to find her and hold her and tell her how much I love her. I also need to apologize for getting back on Lucifer.
I’ll do whatever it takes, because now I know for sure that all I want in this life is Mo’s happiness.
I turn a corner and run right into her.
“Mo.” Relief rushes through me, and I yank her into my arms. “God, baby, I thought you left. I looked up in the stands, and you weren’t there.”
“I’m sorry.” She shakes her head, and I notice the tear stains on her cheeks. “I tried to watch, but I just couldn’t. I think your dad realized that, because he came and got me.”
“Wait. What? My dad came and got you?”
She nods. “I need you to listen to me, Rhett. I know this is what you do…what you love, but it was so much harder to sit there in the stands than I thought it would be.” Her words come out in a rush, along with a few fresh tears.
I wipe them away. “I know, baby.”
“No.” Her head shakes. “You don’t. It’s different than when we were younger. When we were sixteen, we were invincible, with the entire world at our feet. I don’t see things like that anymore.”
“What do you see?”
“I see a future. I know we’re not there yet, but I see babies and a tire swing in the front yard. I see family dinners and a golden retriever and teaching my daughter how to ride a horse. But when they announced the special event, all of that went away. All I could see were the ways that future could be ripped away from us. I had visions of you getting thrown off again, kicked in the head, trampled on, and I realized I can’t do this.”
Her voice splinters, along with my heart. She tries to pull away, but I don’t let her.
“I can’t sit here and watch you put your life and our future on the line.” Brushing the tears from her face, she blinks up at me, her big, beautiful eyes full of so much love and pain.
All the blood drains from my face. A wave of dizziness washes over me, and I reach for her arm. “What are you saying, Mo?”
“I can’t ask you to walk away before you’re ready, but you can’t ask me to watch.”
Oh, God. She’s leaving me.
“No!” I shout, my grip on her tightening. “You can’t leave me. You don’t have to ask me to walk away. I’ll just do it. I’ll walk away and never look back. I’d do anything for you—you can’t break up with me again.”
“Break up with you?” Confusion clouds her eyes.
My words continue to come out in a rush, my brain not exactly processing her question. “My life doesn’t work without you, so if bull riding is a hard limit, I’ll stop. I’d do that because I love you.”
Mo sweeps a hand up my cheek, curving her fingers around the back of my head. “What did you just say?”
“I love you. I’ve never stopped loving you, and I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner, I just—”
Slamming her lips against mine, Mo shuts me up. And when she steps back, she’s smiling like she won the lottery.
“You love me?”
“More than I’ve ever loved another human being.” I press my lips to her forehead, lingering there while I catch my breath.
Mo grabs my hands and brings them to her heart. “The first time you gave me your heart, I broke it, but I swear it won’t happen again. And I know that means my life is going to change, but I want that, I’m ready for it. Dad and I talked a lot this week, and there are some things I want to run by you when we get home.”
Home. “Does that mean you’re sticking with me? Because I don’t think I could handle life without you. When I climbed on Lucifer and didn’t see you, all I could think was what would happen if I got hurt and never got the chance to see you again, or tell you I love you, and that scared the shit out of me. I’d rather get trampled by a thousand bulls than feel the pain of not having you with me.”
She smiles. “You’re stuck with me, cowboy.”
The weight on my shoulders lifts, finally making it easier to breathe. “But you said you couldn’t watch me put our future on the line.”
“I can’t,” she says. “Every time you climbed on one of those bulls, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I left the stands because I couldn’t physically watch anymore. I support you, and I will be here for as many shows as I can, but I can’t be in the stands. I’ll wait in the wings. The less I see, the better. Your dad said your mom was the same way. It’s one of the reasons she doesn’t come to your events.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“That’s okay with you, right? If I’m here but not in the stands?”
“That’s more than okay.” I kiss her once, and then again. “But that doesn’t change what I said. Your support means everything, but I want our future, too. I want us to move forward together, make choices about my career together. I promise not to shut down when you offer your opinion, and when we get home, we’re going to talk about my retirement.”
“Rhett.” Her eyes widen. “I don’t want you to give up your dream. I would never ask you to do that.”
“I know you’re not, and I’m not giving up my dream. I’m adding to it. I finally have reason to heed the doctors’ warnings. Everything I do moving forward I’ll do for you—for us.”
“Oh, Rhett.” She tangles her fingers in my hair. “It’s not going to be easy, and we have a lot of things to work out, but I’m going to start living my life again, make the choices that are right for me—for us.”
Warmth flows through my veins as a smile stretches my face. “You’re worth so much more than the buckle or the bull or the adrenaline rush. I can live without those things, but not without you. You’re it for me, Mo.”
“Rhett.” She chokes back a sob. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too, baby. I promise I’m listening. We’re in this together, all the way.”
“Together.” She presses her lips to my heart.
I take a step back because I’m covered in dirt and sweat, and I probably smell like a damn bull. “Careful, baby. I’m dirty.”
“You’re sexy.” With her arms around my neck, she hops up to wrap her legs around my waist. I catch her, cradling her ass in the palms of my hands. “And now you’re going to take me home, and we’re going to make dirty, sexy love.”
“I like the way you think.”