As if I summoned the Devil himself, Branch strode into the room, Beau on his heels and a still shell-shocked Dylan bringing up the rear and closing the door.
Branch looked at Frankie. “Who the hell are you?”
Frankie called him some pretty nasty things in Portuguese, and I grinned. “Be nice.” Frankie stared down at me, his face blank but his eyes dancing with questions.
“Francisco Santos. Tessa’s best friend. Who the fuck are you?” he growled back, and I rolled my eyes. Great.
Beau looked like he was about to burst. He turned to Dylan, both eyebrows raised. “This is Tessa, the buckle bunny from Texarkana?”
I scoffed, my eyes catching Dylan’s. “Nice, asshole. Real respectful. You guys are like a bad stereotype.”
Dylan raised his hands, throwing Beau a disgruntled look. “That’s not what it was like. Not what I said.”
I smirked in his direction. “Technically, I’m a rider too. Maybe that makes you the buckle bunny, dickhead.”
Frankie laughed, holding his abs as he bent in half. “Buckle bunny. Damn, that was a good one.”
Branch didn’t seem amused. “See you still got the same dirty mouth, Tessa May.”
“Eat a dick, Branch.”
“How about you eat it for me?” He growled back, and all mirth left Frankie’s face as he stepped forward like he was going to beat the shit out of Branch. I had a moment of hesitation where I seriously considered letting him go for it, but then I grabbed his arm, holding him back. As much as I would like to see Frankie slap down Branch, my position in the WBRP was precarious as it was.
Beau stepped forward, his palms up. “Hey, lets not get crazy. We aren’t kids anymore.” He gave Branch a disapproving look. “I think you being here is a bit of a shock to everyone. Maybe Dylan for a different reason.”
I couldn’t tell if he sounded disapproving or not. I didn’t care. I was a big girl. I didn’t need Beau or Branch chasing away boys like they had when I was a teenager. Beau had been my first kiss, and Branch had been my second, that day at the Rodeo when I rode for the first time. The last time I saw him.
“I fucked Dylan in the back of my truck. Let’s not pretend it isn’t something you guys do every weekend. This is the twenty-first century. Women are allowed to enjoy one night stands too, the same way we are allowed to ride bulls.”
Beau winced, casting a quick look to Branch. The man had his fists clenched. “You are worth more than a quick fuck in the back of someones pick-up, Tessa May.” Whoops, he was pulling out my actual name. I must have pissed him off good and proper now.
I shrugged. “Maybe. Hell, maybe Dylan is worth more than being just a body to get myself off with, but it doesn’t matter because he has a dick, right?”
Beau actually laughed. “Jesus, I’ve missed the hell out of you.” He looked like he wanted to hug me again. Beau was a hugger. Frankie stepped closer to me, and pulled me beneath his arm protectively. I shot him a sidelong look, and I swear, his expression was jealous. Did he think I was going to replace his BFF status with Beau? Beau was my past, but Frankie had held me together for years. Patched me up and been my staunchest supporter. I loved him to death. He was my Ride or Die.
All three of the men across the room looked at Frankie’s hand curled around my shoulders, like they could sear the limb off with their mind. Jesus save me.
“Look. This doesn’t have to be weird. We can just pretend we don’t exist to each other. I’m not here to make waves. I just want to ride. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
Beau’s eyes softened, and he stepped toward me. He reached out a hand and I only hesitated a moment before I took it. For the second time in an afternoon, I was dragged into familiar arms. “Damn, Tessa May. I kind of can’t believe it's really you. I wanted to see you in hospital after…” My body stiffened, but he rubbed a circle on my back. “But they wouldn’t let us in to see you. Branch threw a punch at the security guard and we got banned.” Disapproval colored his tone, and I didn’t know if it was disapproval of Branch’s short temper or the hospital's actions. “Then you were being shipped off to California. We didn’t even get to say goodbye. You were just gone forever.”
Tears welled in my eyes and I sucked heaving breaths to stop them from falling. No. I was not going to cry in front of Branch and Beau. Instead, I pulled away. I shrugged. “I kept track of you guys. Talked to Mr. Watson about the property, and he mentioned you went into sports medicine, specialising in bull riding. And he always talked about how Branch was doing. Sorry about the ACL,” I said over his shoulder to a still tightly strung Branch.
He shrugged. “It happens.”
Yeah it did, especially in this sport. It was not a matter of if, but of when.
I took another step back until I was almost touching Frankie. “Are we good or is this going to be a thing?”
Dylan looked like he wanted to say something, but he nodded. “I got no problem with you riding.”
I looked at Branch. My childhood frenemy. “It’s dangerous, Tessa May.”
The words echoed some of the last I’d ever heard from him. I nodded. “I know, Branch. I didn’t get to this point on my good looks. I’ve ridden some rank bulls. Gotten thrown, stomped. I’ve broken bones and paid my dues in blood. I know it's dangerous, but I don’t want to do anything else.”
He was silent for a long time, his blue eyes chasing the planes of my face. Finally, he nodded. “Fine. I don’t owe you anything,” he said, more to himself than to me. Beau rolled his eyes like his best friend was an idiot. He wasn’t wrong though. Branch Watson didn’t owe me a damn thing, and if I had my way, he never would.
I nodded. “Good. Can we go back in there now? I have a ride to prep for.” Branch’s jaw tensed again, but he gave me a sharp look and spun on his heel, yanking open the door and striding out like I was the one being dismissed. Beau walked out after him, talking to him in a low voice that I couldn’t hear.
Dylan paused. “Can I have a moment, Tessa?”
I hesitated, but nodded. I looked up at Frankie. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
Frankie stared down Dylan on his way out the door. We were going to have to chat about the whole stare-down thing he had going on today. Still, when my friend closed the door, he trapped me in the room with Dylan.
Dylan ran a tattooed hand up over the back of his short hair. “I just wanted you to know that it wasn’t like Beau said. I never called you a buckle bunny. That night, Tessa, I couldn’t forget it.” My heart thudded against my chest.
I couldn’t either. Dylan was half the reason I had such a dry spell right now. No one seemed to measure up. I couldn’t tell him that though. Instead, I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
Dylan was nodding, walking toward me. I resisted the urge to run into his arms and wrap my body around his. “Really. I tried to track you down, but no one could tell me about anyone named Tessa. I even called fucking Stan Wilfred Junior,” he said derisively, and I got it. No one would voluntarily inflict Junior on themselves. “But he said he didn’t know any Tessa.”
Bet he did, the dickcheese.
“I go by T.M. Moore on the circuit.”