****
In the two years since Dean met Marisol, he never knew her to miss a night of the rodeo. From what he understood, she’d never missed a single night in her life, and yet, he didn’t see her in her regular spot at the far end of the arena. She didn’t meet her father after the fireworks, and there wasn’t a trace of her at the food truck. Anna had been there, though, and the look she gave him could have withered grass.
Ralph and Waldo won the team roping event and they were fired up. “Come on! Let’s get a drink. Let’s have some fun for once. It’s dead boring around here at night.”
“Go out if you want.” Dean didn’t feel much like socializing. He’d been thrown from the bull after only three seconds. His winning ride was long forgotten by him and everybody else.
“Man, what is up with you lately?” Ralph asked, his eyes creased with irritation at his older brother. Waldo was a silent, perfect shadow of his twin. “You act like having a little fun is some terminal sin.”
“I’m trying to stay focused.”
“No, you’re dwelling—and worse, you’re repressing. You know you shouldn’t do that. Remember what happened—”
“I remember,” Dean said curtly. “I’m going for a walk.”
“We’ll just go have a drink then,” Waldo called after him.
Three seconds and he was on his ass in the dirt. He could do better. He had done better. He would do better in the future, and it did no good to dwell on it, but three goddamned seconds. Maybe it was for the best that Marisol was nowhere to be found; he sure didn’t want her to see him go flying.
“Dean!”
Dean turned at the sound of his name, trying, and failing, to stop the smile from breaking across his face. He always enjoyed the sight of her, but tonight she seemed a little different, somehow more alluring. She bounded towards him and he barely had time to react before she threw herself at him. He reacted automatically, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against his chest in a tight hug.
For a moment, the world stopped.
She felt so good against him, soft and warm and so inviting. He held on for longer than was strictly necessary, closing his eyes and inhaling the warm scent of shampoo and Ivory soap, but eventually, he had to pull away, as much as he loathed the idea.
“Where were you tonight?” Dean asked. “I didn’t see you.”
“Oh, Mom gave me the night off to work on some things for school. Do you want to hang around here? I thought we could go for a drive.”
Dean’s first inclination was to say No, I’m sorry, I can’t. They had no reason—no friendly reason—to go for a drive, and how was he going to keep his hands to himself when they were completely alone? Alone. Away from his obnoxious younger brothers and her watchful parents. Away from town and civilization and the few things that actually kept him from kissing her the way she damned well deserved. Alone was a very bad idea. He knew it, but he still couldn’t quite convince himself to believe it.
“Yeah, I think a drive would do me good. My truck’s parked over there.”
He turned and she took his arm like it was the most natural thing in the world. Truth be told, Dean couldn’t remember if they’d ever walked arm-in-arm before. It seemed very unlikely, and yet, walking with her like that felt so familiar. Like they held each other on every stroll they ever took together.
“I didn’t get a good ride in tonight.”
“I heard.”
“You’re not disappointed, are you?”
“One bad ride doesn’t mean anything. You know that. Especially not after the purse you won the other night.” She nudged his shoulder and smiled. “One more win like that and you’ll have your card.”
“And I’ll have one more win like that very soon,” Dean said.
“When?”
“The 4th of July.”
She nodded. “Yeah, that sounds right. You’ll show them all how it’s done.”
“You seem awfully sure of that.”
“I’d be willing to bet on it.”
“How much?”
Marisol looked up at him from beneath her lashes. “A kiss.”
“So, if I win the purse, I’ll also get a kiss from the prettiest girl in the arena?” Dean asked.
“Not if. When.”
He grinned. “Well, now I have a reason to really kick some ass.”
Marisol sighed. “I hope I’ll be there to see it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, um...school. I hope I don’t have school that weekend.”
“On the 4th of July weekend?”
“Yeah, it would be pretty silly to hold class on the 4th. That’s a good point. So, I guess I’ll be around to see you after all.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” They were at his truck, but he hesitated to open her door. “That’s why you weren’t around tonight? School?”
“Um, yeah. School.”
“Do you realize you always say um before you tell a lie?”
Her gaze instantly darted away from his face, to the area above his right shoulder. “I’m not lying.”
“What’s going on, Marisol? I don’t need to know why you weren’t there, but I would like to know what possible reason you’d have to lie about it.”
She sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly. “It was… the bear attack.”
It felt like she’d cinched a rope around his ribcage. “Bear attack?”
“Yeah. You didn’t hear about him, that poor guy? He was only a few miles from the arena. They said he was...mostly eaten.”
“What? I hadn’t heard he’d been eaten.”
“Well, my mom must have heard that part. Or worse. Because she set an eight o’clock curfew.”
Dean frowned. “Then why are you here?”
“I didn’t want to stand you up.”
“You could have sent me a text.”
Marisol finally met his eyes again and he almost wished she hadn’t. They were twin shards of warm amber and his resolve weakened. “I wanted to see you.”
“Marisol—”
“Come on, let’s drive.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Oh.” She licked her lips, and though her features barely changed, he felt her pulling away from him. “I see.”
“I mean, it’s late, and if your parents catch you out of the house, what will happen then?”
“My mom will lose her shit,” Marisol admitted.
“And then she might keep you from going to the Independence Day celebrations and I won’t get my kiss.” He commented with deliberate lightness, like he wasn’t already imagining what it would be like to have a new buckle in hand and Marisol in his arms. He was still more than half tempted to take her for that drive and damn the consequences. He might have given in to that temptation had she pressed, but she simply nodded.
“You’re right. I wish you weren’t. I’m twenty-two, I should be able to come and go as I please. Like you. It must be nice.”
“It’s certainly not bad. But sometimes, I wish I had a home to go back to, you know? I mean, no matter what happens, you know you’ll always have somewhere to go.”
“Yeah, but living in the RV means you can always find somewhere new to go.”
“Well, now, that’s true, too. I reckon that’s why I rodeo. You can have the best of both worlds.”
“I guess I’d better get going.”
“I’ll walk you home. There is a bear running around, after all.” He offered her his arm and she took it with a pleased smile. His body welcomed the warmth of hers, and he fought the urge to pull her even closer.
The blue and white bungalow was barely a mile from the arena, and it was a mile that passed all too quickly. She slowed as her house came into sight at the end of the block, and he matched her pace without comment. He had no desire to reach their inevitable parting.
“Do you think it was a shifter?”
Dean felt the tightening around his chest again. “Maybe. I suppose that makes sense, given that it happened within the town limits.”
“How worried do you think we ought to be?”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “Maybe he ate his fill.”
“Maybe. Do bears...do you think bears get too hungry? If they aren’t allowed to eat like bears, I mean?”
“That could be the case. I’ve, uh, heard that shifters must not repress their animal selves. The bear shifters must become a bear and hunt and live like a bear. Perhaps this particular shifter has been trying to live as a human full-time.”
She tilted her head. “So, bear shifters have to take a break from their regular lives every month to go live in the woods?”
“It’s not necessary to do so every month. I’ve heard it described as hibernation; the bear can lay dormant for a very long time but when it wakes up, it’s hungry.”
“Then there’s probably going to be another attack, right? One meal isn’t going to be enough.” She paused for a moment, looking up at the night sky, wringing her hands as she thought about what she intended to confess. Dean, I have something I need to—oh no!”
“What?”
“The light in my parent’s room just came on. Come on.” She released his arm and took off down the street, quickly closing in on the house. He ran after her without questioning it, following her around the corner to the back of the house where she was attempting to crawl through her window. He grabbed her ass to give her a final boost over the sill, not quite giving the yielding flesh a squeeze.
“Get down. Don’t move. Stay in the shadows there,” she whispered before disappearing from the window. He hunkered down as instructed not as he heard the door hinges squeak open.
“Mari, are you asleep?” her mother asked. She waited for several beats before closing the door and returning to her room. As soon as he saw the square of light from their window disappear, he straightened and peered into Marisol’s dark bedroom.
“That was close,” he whispered.
“Oh my god, my heart is beating so fast right now.”
He chuckled. “Well, no harm, no foul.”
“Thanks for walking me home, cowboy,” she whispered.
He tipped his hat. “It was my pleasure, ma’am.”
“Be safe out there.”
“I’ll stay out of the bear’s way.”
“Good night.”
The moon provided just enough light to see her outlined on the bed. For a brief moment, he considered how easy it would be to climb on through the window and join her and—well, they’d probably wake her parents at that point. So, it was best to steal one final glance and whisper, “Pleasant dreams.”
He followed the tracks they’d left in the dewy grass and returned to the street. He took the mile back to the arena at a much quicker pace, the heels of his boots tapping a quick tattoo on the pavement. Marisol’s questions had been casual and general enough to pass for a simple conversation, but he knew her questions were only the beginning. Sooner or later, the sheriff would come knocking on his door. If he was lucky, they’d only question him, but he wasn’t born under a lucky star.
There was only one week until the pro rodeo came to town.
One week until he could win enough money to qualify as a professional rider.
One week until he could take the next step towards his dream of becoming a world champion.
But only if he and his brothers weren’t driven out of town before that week was up.