I pulled Tanner to a stop and whispered, “I can’t do this.”
He frowned. “Do you not want to try to work things out? He feels something awful about what he did, Lincoln. He misses you, and when you called him today, he thought that maybe you wanted to talk.”
“I do! I do want to talk, but I’m feeling really emotional for some reason, and I . . . I feel sick to my stomach.”
Brock turned then, and our eyes met. He smiled—and my insides melted.
Every doubt I’d had about us, about Brock’s feelings toward me, vanished with that smile. I could see it in his eyes. The torture he’d put himself through. The guilt that had plagued him.
“Brock,” I whispered.
“I take it you’ve changed your mind about seeing him?” Tanner asked with a slight chuckle.
Without saying a word, I rushed to him. He took a few long strides, and I threw myself into his arms. His mouth crashed to mine, and I didn’t care who saw us or what they thought.
I loved this man, and I wasn’t going to let him go. I’d made him a promise that I wouldn’t run, and I wasn’t going to.
We kissed until we were breathless. When our mouths parted, we both mumbled, “I’m sorry.”
Laughing, we kissed again. Brock’s hands went to my hair, grabbing it and pulling my forehead to his. “I’m so sorry I freaked out and left you. I didn’t mean to say what I said. I didn’t mean it at all. I’ve got so much shit going on in my head that I—”
I pressed my fingers to his lips. “Not now. It’s okay. I pushed us somewhere you weren’t ready to go, and I’m sorry. I’ve missed you so much, Brock.”
He closed his eyes. My name was like a soft breath on his lips. Then, the next words out of his mouth left me stunned.
“Lincoln . . . I love you. It took me messing up things with you to realize that all of this stuff—the fame, the money, the spotlight on me every weekend—it could never be enough if you weren’t there with me. You’ve shown me that there’s another dream inside my heart that I never knew was there. I need you with me to start it.”
I stared up into his blue eyes. Tears pooled, and my heart was beating hard in my chest. I didn’t have to think twice. I had known the moment he walked into my barn that he was mine. He’d always be mine.
“I love you, too, Brock. And I told you, I’m not a runner.”
A wide smile moved over his face. His dimples were out in full force, and I felt heat pool in my lower stomach.
“Brock! We need to get to the chutes,” someone called out.
Sighing, Brock shook his head and said, “I’m sorry. I’ll see you after my ride, and I’ll explain why I left you like I did.”
I nodded. “It’s okay.”
He went to leave, but I grabbed his hand and pulled him to me. Lifting up on my toes, I cupped his face with my hands and kissed him, pouring as much as I could into the kiss. “Be safe.”
He winked. “Always, sweetheart.”
After grabbing the chili dog and chips, I rushed back to my seat. The bull riding was about to begin, and Dirk and Brock were pretty far down on the list. They were saving the best for last.
Blayze devoured the chili dog and his chips. I couldn’t help but chuckle. He had a hearty appetite, that was for sure.
“How are Brock’s ribs?” I asked.
Stella was keeping stats on a clipboard and looked up at the chutes. “He says he’s fine, but he also said that when he rode in the world championship with a broken hand.”
I gasped. “Was it his riding hand?”
“No, but still, these cowboys ride with some serious injuries. The fact that Brock didn’t take any time off after Billings worried me. Ty said he was moving around fine, but Ty Senior gave me a different report last week. Said he saw him flinch when he was picking up the hay bales.”
I shook my head. My heartbeat slowly increased as each rider went. I didn’t want Brock or his family to think I was going to be someone who would make him give all this up. I would love it if he didn’t have such a dangerous job, but I would stand by him, 100 percent supporting him.
“Stella, Tanner said you handled all the booking and travel arrangements for both him and Brock.”
She nodded, not looking up from writing down the last rider’s stats. “Yes, it’s a handful.”
I wrung my hands in my lap, not wanting to overstep. “Well, I’m sure you love doing it, but I was going to say, I could take care of Brock’s travel arrangements. I mean, if you’d be okay with that.”