Free Cowboys & Kisses by Sasha Summers Page B

direction.
    Dax tried again. “Wyatt’s a nice guy and he—”
    “Go get some candy,” I interrupted, “or some beads or something.” He laughed again.
    The next set of floats carried elected officials. They waved. I didn’t. It was hot. Seriously melt-your-rubber-flip-flops-to-the-asphalt hot. I kept shifting from foot to foot, trying to ignore the rivulets of sweat running down the backs of my legs. Who has parades in triple digit heat? And why? Isn’t this animal abuse or something?
    A mariachi band was next, strumming their guitars and singing with a certain flare.
    “You should see about joining up with the band,” I said to Dax, who squeezed up beside me.
    “Yeah.” He shrugged. “Maybe.”
    I shot him a look, but he didn’t see me. He was completely focused on the very pretty girl leading the rodeo procession. She had to be Molly.
    I looked from her to my brother. Oh, Dax. You’ve got it bad.
    I glanced back at the girl whose ass I would so kick if she broke my brother’s heart. She rode her pretty little black horse, the silver bells on her horse’s harness and saddle-thingy cheery.
    I got it. She was pretty. And, knowing Dax, she’d be sweet too. And when she saw Dax…well, her smile told me everything. Dax wasn’t the only one that had fallen. Hard . So no ass-kicking, at least not right away.
    Her little horse side-stepped, prancing a bit. But Molly got the animal under control, passing us with a tip of her black felt hat and another smile in Dax’s direction.
    “You okay?” I asked. “Still breathing? Not hyperventilating or anything?”
    “I don’t know, Al. I’m not gonna lie. My heart’s going ninety-to-nothing here.”
    I stared at my brother, floored by his confession. He’d never had a crush . Not really. Sure, he thought certain girls were pretty, but that was it—as far as I knew. And even though we fought, I knew Dax pretty well.
    “She likes you too,” I told him, nudging him.
    He looked at the ground, kicking the rocks at his feet. “I don’t know…”
    “Well, I do,” Mrs. Gunter interrupted. “Molly’s making doe eyes at you, boy. You just treat her right. She’s got three older brothers, all of ’em Marines.”
    Dax’s face went from elated to terrified.
    “Marines?” I laughed then. “You know how to pick ’em, Dax.”
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    6 CHAPTER SIX
     
     
    “There’s Wyatt,” Mom said.
    “You know the Holcomb boy?” Mrs. Gunter asked.
    Wyatt was riding a huge tan horse, its white mane and tail bouncing in step. I admit, he looked kind of like a knight in shining armor, if knights wore straw cowboy hats, white button-up shirts, and clean starched jeans.
    “He’s working out at our place,” I heard Mom reply.
    “Is he, now…” Mrs. Gunter’s voice lowered, making it hard to hear what she was saying. “Poor boy…”
    I wanted to listen, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. I stood there, glad of the crowd. It was a lot easier to check a guy out when you were a nameless face in the crowd.
    Mrs. Gunter was still talking. “Too young…tragedy…”
    Tragedy?
    “He’s been amazing. He works so hard. And he’s teaching Dax quite a bit.” Mom sounded almost protective of Wyatt. I liked it. You go, Mom. I sighed. Dammit .
    “He’s always been such a good boy. Nothing like his father.” Mrs. Gunter made some strange clicking sound.
    I didn’t gossip. I didn’t like people who gossiped. But I didn’t know much about these people, and Mrs. Gunter definitely was the type who’d know everything about…everyone in her small town. Maybe it was because they were talking about him or I was feeling some sort of bizarre defensiveness on his behalf, but something about Wyatt was off.
    Something was wrong. I don’t know how I could tell. Maybe it was the way he was carrying himself. He wasn’t smiling. And he wasn’t looking at the crowd. It was almost like he didn’t see anything around him.
    I put my fingers in my mouth and