Buttercup tossed her head and whinnied.
“Stop!” Bryce guided Hooligan toward them. “Easy, Buttercup. Easy.”
Despite his soothing tone, her heart raced. The swoosh pounded in her ears.
Deadly cold, she shivered, gripped the reins in tight fists. “Bryce…what should I—”
The phone went off again.
Buttercup reared up. Gravity yanked Avery back. She clawed at the saddle horn, but her sweat-caked palms slipped.
A violent lurch thrust her head forward. Buttercup launched into a canter. Oh God, oh dear God! She hunched over and squeezed her eyes shut. This was it. She was going to die. Bile rose in the back of her throat.
“Pull back! Pull back!” Somewhere behind her, another set of hooves pounded. “You have to pull back!”
She wrestled with the reins. “It’s not working!”
With massive thrusts, Buttercup arched her back. She popped out of the saddle, then hurled herself into the horse’s mane and threw her arms around Buttercup’s neck. Avery’s face collided with the back of the horse’s head. Something seared her forehead. The metallic taste of blood flooded her mouth.
“Damn it, Avery! Pull back!”
“I can’t!” Oh, God! Please!
“Hold on! I’m coming!”
The horror continued—Buttercup chugging breaths through her nose. Hooves leaping and gnashing. Hold on, just hold on.
“Get the reins!”
Where are they? The world reeled out of control. Trees whizzed past. Colors blurred.
Another buck loosened her hands and propelled her into the air.
Flying…
Falling…
Thud! Her body collided with the hard ground. Pain exploded in her head and the world went dim.
Chapter Nine
Avery!” Bryce hurled himself off Hooligan’s back and froze next to her sprawled body. The second he released the horse, Hooligan galloped away in the direction Buttercup had fled.
Adrenaline lit his skin on fire. The flames of fear roared through him and burned him up. “Shit. Oh, shit.” He hit his knees next to her. The back of her head was jammed against a rock. Blood and bruises stained her face. “Avery?” The rising tide of fear made him feel like he was drowning. “Can you hear me?”
Her chest rose and fell.
Breathing. Thank God she was breathing. “Avery.” He touched her forehead and flashbacked to the kiss, to how he’d cradled her cheeks in his hands. Painful breaths shot in and out of his lungs. “Open your eyes.” What if she didn’t? More flashbacks. The same ones that used to drive him straight to the bottle. Yvonne’s face. Blood. So much blood. His useless, helpless hands…
His body shuddered with an onslaught of panic that’d come in waves ever since the accident. He hunched over her and fought the encroaching dizziness, wrestled to get solid breaths. He couldn’t panic. She needed him.
A groan eased through her lips and lurched him into action.
He tore off the hem of his shirt and wadded it up, blotted the blood that oozed from a cut across her forehead. A good-sized bruise had already formed down her temple and around her eye. “Avery? Can you hear me?” His hands palpitated her arms, her legs. Didn’t look like anything was broken, but her head…
“Ow. Oh. Ow.” Her face scrunched in pain. Those glacial eyes fluttered open. She squinted up at him as if the light was too bright. “Bryce?”
Relief ached in his lungs. She knew his name. That was a good sign. “What hurts?” His hands hovered over her, no longer trembling but ready to help, ready to do whatever she needed him to do.
She pushed up on her elbows and looked around, eyes glassy as though she were dazed. “I have a headache.”
Ignoring the painful knot that had formed in his throat, he leaned over her and smoothed his hand down her hair. The blank look on her face gutted him.
“You’re okay,” he said, somehow harnessing a calm reassurance into his tone. She had to be okay. He had to make her okay. “Can you move your legs? Your arms?” Before they did anything else, he had to make sure she hadn’t injured her spine.
“Of course I can move my legs.” Looking at him like he’d lost it, she bent her knees, opened and closed her fists, wiggled her feet. “See?” she said. “Everything moves.”
The revelation lowered his pulse and pumped strength into his body. He leaned over her, keeping his eyes connected to hers, feeling that raw hunger she’d managed to let loose in him that night in his truck. “I’ll help you sit up. Slow and easy.” Sliding his arms around her, he gently lifted.
She grimaced. “Ow. My head…”
“You’ve got a bad cut,” he murmured. He wouldn’t mention the bruising. Internal bleeding? The acute possibilities reignited his internal firestorm. His hands shook. This was his fault. Avery was lying on the ground with a head injury because he’d agreed to take her riding when he could see full well she had no idea what she was doing…
Her hand lifted to shade her eyes from the sun. “What happened?”
Everything pulsed—the tips of his fingers, the vein in his neck, his temples. She didn’t remember. Not a good sign. She had to have a serious concussion, at the very least. He shifted and dug his phone out of his pocket, battling his body’s desire to hyperventilate, trying to stay in control. “Your phone spooked Buttercup. She threw you.”
“Right.” Her eyes squeezed shut. “So I guess it’s time for me to fess up that I actually don’t ride.”
He knew that. He knew and he’d let her anyway. “I’m sorry, Avery. I’m so sorry.”
She studied him, head tilted to the side, eyes probing his.
For once, he didn’t look away from her. He let his eyes make a promise. “I’m gonna get you help, okay? Everything’ll be fine.” Everything had to be fine. “I’ll call for help.”
“Help?” She grinned. “That’s so not necessary. I’m fine. Just get me some Advil and I’ll get right back on that horse.”
She’d obviously meant it as a joke, but he felt sick. “I’m calling an ambulance,” he informed her. “You were unconscious. God, Avery, you were lying there bleeding!”
She waved him off. “I probably just passed out from extreme fear.” Another easy laugh cranked his neck muscles tight. “Seriously, Bryce. I’m fine. You’re overreacting.”
Overreacting? Good God. He started to dial, but Avery grabbed for his phone. “Don’t call my father. Please.”
He tried to read the look on her face. Was it fear? “Why not?”
Her eyes closed. “Don’t call him. Please, Bryce. Don’t call him.”
He shifted to his knees. “Fine. I won’t.” Yet. “But I am calling an ambulance.” Because he wasn’t enough. He couldn’t protect her. Just like he hadn’t been able to protect his wife. His chest heaved, but he kept his eyes on Avery’s. Something about the way she looked at him—like she trusted him—clarified his thoughts, gave him the ammo he needed to fight the panic. He stroked her dirty face, felt the peaceful smoothness of her skin.
Her mouth opened.
“I have to make sure you’re okay,” he told her gently, then focused on his phone and dialed the numbers.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
Shaking her head, Avery huffed out an exasperated groan.
He ignored her. “This is Bryce Walker. I’m up at Walker Mountain Ranch Road, near the intersection with Valley View. My friend got thrown off a horse. Looks like a head injury.”
He fired off answers to the dispatcher’s questions as quickly as he could. When he finally hung up, Avery was curled up against him, snoring softly.
Damn it. “Avery?” He patted her cheek. “You have to wake up now. You have to stay awake.”
Her eyes opened halfway. “Jeez, Bryce. I’m just tired,” she grumbled. Blood had crusted over the cut across her forehead and smudged down the side of her face. Even with the attitude, somehow her looks still managed to stun him. She was appealing without even trying to be.
“Fine.” She shot him an irritated glare. “But they’re going to take one look at me and tell you I’m as healthy as a horse.” Laughing at her own joke, she scrambled to her feet.
“Hey, wait. Take it easy.” He reached out to steady her, but she swayed.
Her hands cradled her head, and she groaned in frustration.
“You’re not walking.” He picked up her backpack and slipped it on, then darted in front of her and swept her into his arms Gone With the Wind–style.
She yelped in his ear. “Put me down!” Her legs swung. “Damn it, Bryce. Stop freaking out!”
“We can’t take any chances with a head injury.” He knew that too well, and he wasn’t about to risk making it worse. With slow steps, he started the painstaking journey down the slope.
Avery crossed her arms over her chest and scowled like a pouting preteen. “This is ridiculous. I am perfectly capable of walking down to the road.”
Blood surged through his arms. He tightened his hold on her. “Capable or not, I’m carrying you. So you might as well shut the hell up and let me take care of you.”
Her head tilted and she studied his face.
For the first time, he noticed the flecks of gray in her eyes, a faint constellation of freckles across her nose, the curve of her high cheekbones. Man, she was gorgeous.
“Why did you kiss me, Bryce?” she demanded.
He glared past her, dodging the fallen trees and rocks that littered the ground.
Avery slipped her hand under his chin and forced his eyes back to hers. “Was it because you wanted to get rid of me? Scare me away?”
He stopped. Yes. He should tell her yes. It had meant nothing. It was all part of his plan to run her off. Except that would be a lie. The way his heart thundered with her in his arms only proved that he’d kissed her because he had to. He couldn’t stop himself. He loved her fire, her warmth, her easy laugh. Why was it so hard to tell her the truth?
“Don’t get me wrong.” She smirked at him. “I’m not complaining or anything. I just want to know why.”
And there it was again, that overwhelming desire to touch her, to fit his lips against hers. Inhaling courage, he traced her cheek with his thumb and smiled. “I kissed you because you made me feel something I haven’t felt in a long time.” In an eternity.
Instead of smiling back, her face paled. “Bryce?” It was barely a whisper.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t feel so good,” she whimpered.
Shit. He started moving again, slow and easy, trying not to jostle her around too much. “Okay, honey,” he soothed. “You’ll be okay. We’re almost there.”
“I think I’m gonna be sick.”
“Don’t worry about that.” It didn’t matter if she threw up all over him. He couldn’t stop. They couldn’t let the head injury gain momentum. “I’ll take care of you, Avery. I swear.” He’d do his best.
A small smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. “You’re not as mean as you want everyone to think, are you?”
A warm flush crept up his neck. “And you’re not as tough.”
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, then wrapped an arm around her middle.
“Almost there,” he breathed into her ear. Holding her tighter against him, he jogged down the last incline. “Stay awake, Avery,” he reminded her.
“I’m awake,” she whispered. But she obviously wasn’t feeling well.
“Don’t make me kiss you right now. Because I will,” he said, voice hoarse with fear. Yvonne had fallen asleep and she’d never woken up…
The shards of sorrow and regret and guilt sliced through him again. He’d give anything to go back. He could’ve gotten her out faster, could’ve saved her if only he’d known…
“You can kiss me anytime you want,” Avery murmured with a lopsided smile. “You’re pretty good at it, you know.”
If his blood wasn’t pumping so hard, he would’ve laughed. She was good at that. Making him smile, laugh. It’d been a long time since he’d felt like laughing.
They broke through the trees into the clearing.
“Thank you.” Her breath wisped against his neck. “For carrying me.”
Still holding her against him, he kneeled to wait for the ambulance and pulled her closer, stroking her silky hair, feeling this overpowering urge to help her, to ease her pain, to save her the way he hadn’t been able to save Yvonne. The emotions had been buried so deep for so long. They were raw and painful—but holding her so close, feeling her warm body in his arms, fighting for someone else again…it brought him back to life. “Thank you,” he whispered over her, “for waking me up.”
She’d managed to break through every wall he’d built since Yvonne’s death, and he wouldn’t be able to ignore her.
Not anymore.
*
Sirens. Loud. Piercingly loud. Avery stuffed her hands over her ears. Ohhhh. Ow… Nausea spun the sky into blue swirls. No. No.—
She tore herself away from Bryce and hunched over on her knees in time to throw up all over a mound of innocent purple and white columbines.
Warmth radiated into her back. Bryce’s hand slowly massaged her shoulders. “Hang in there.”
She wanted to turn and smile at him, or at least mumble thanks, but her body had a different agenda.
Bryce gathered her hair in a ponytail and held it away from her face. His hand drew concentric circles in the middle of her back. “Want water or something?”
It wasn’t safe to open her mouth and speak. Instead, she shook her head and shifted so she could sink against him. Her eyelids felt like lead. She closed them. For a minute. Only for a minute…
“Avery!” Bryce rubbed her cheek. “Come on. They’re here.”
She forced up the steel curtains over her eyes. On the shoulder of the dirt road, a police car skidded to a stop. Red and blue lights gyrated across everything like strobe lights.
“Here we go.” Bryce steadied her while he scrambled off the ground. Then he slid his arms around her and pulled her to her feet. Everything swayed—the trees, the ground. “Ugh.” Gravity threatened to take her down. She clawed at him, clutched his bicep.
His arms enclosed her. “I’ve got you.” He breathed the words close to her ear.
Wrapped tightly in his strong arms, inhaling his pine scent, her whole body relaxed. She let him lead her closer to the lights.
“Bryce!” A policeman approached them and she blinked hard because he looked so much like Bryce—tall and sturdy, shorter dark hair, walnut-shaped eyes…
Wait a minute. She’d met him at the game. He was Bryce’s cousin. What was his name, again? Sam? Seth? Skyler?
“What the hell happened?” He bent to examine her face.
“Her phone went off and spooked Buttercup.” Bryce’s words were rough and winded.
She slipped her hand into his and squeezed because she didn’t want him to be afraid. She hadn’t meant to scare him like that. Not after everything he’d been through.
“I’ll be fine,” she murmured.
“EMTs are on the way. They’ll be here any minute,” Bryce’s cousin said, with a worried glance at her face.
She must look worse than she thought.
Bryce kept his arms around her, but he leaned over and said something to his officer. Cousin. His cousin. Skyler. Whoa…the world moved in shimmering waves. She fought against the dizziness so she could hear what they were saying, but the conversation only came in snippets.
“Unconscious.”
“How long?”
She couldn’t make out Bryce’s response.
Officer Skyler ran to his car and leaned in through the open window. He yelled something into the crackling radio, then jogged back. “ETA is two minutes.”
“Thanks, Sawyer,” Bryce breathed.
Sawyer! Not Skyler. Sawyer.
“Hang on, Avery,” Sawyer said, rubbing a sympatheti
c hand up and down her arm. “They’re almost here.”
Aww. He was so nice. Like Bryce. Must run in Elsie’s family blood. “Thanks for—” She clamped her mouth shut before another wave of nausea targeted Bryce’s cousin. Probably shouldn’t throw up all over his crisp, blue uniform.
More sirens whined and not a moment too soon, because she really did not want to stand anymore.
The ambulance arrived in a dust storm, rocks pinging metal, dirt flying.
Doors opened. People shouted. But she leaned against Bryce and held on. The nausea started to subside.
“…getting worse.” Bryce was saying something, but she couldn’t focus. A high-pitched ringing screamed in her ears.
She burrowed her head deeper into him, but hands pulled her away and stood her up straight.
No. Not away. Don’t take me away from him.
“Miss King?” A paramedic dressed in a stiff, blue uniform looked into her eyes. “I’m Justin. This is Lena.” He gestured to a woman with cropped hair. “We’re gonna check out that bump on your head.”
“I already told you. I’m fine,” she insisted.
“Let’s get her on the stretcher.” The EMT pushed a yellow gurney toward them. Bryce lifted her like she weighed nothing and lowered her to the foam pad. He turned and started to walk away.
“Wait.” She reached for his hand. “You’re not leaving?”
“Oh. No. I won’t leave.” He stood over her and rested a hand on her arm.
The touch sped up her heart.
“I’ve got to take off, though.” Sawyer appeared next to her. “Another call just came through.” He squeezed her hand. “Hope you feel better. I’ll call and check on you later.”
“Thank you.” Tears pooled in her eyes. She hardly knew Sawyer and he’d been so kind to her. Just like all of Bryce’s other friends. They’d been so accepting, so gracious.
“We need to take your vitals.” Paramedic man butted into her moment, fit a brace around her neck and buckled her to the stretcher, while Lena checked her pulse and took her blood pressure. Then she shined a bright light right into Avery’s eyes.
She blinked hard. Ow. “Can I just rest? Everything’ll feel better if I rest.”
No Better Man Page 10