Bucked (The Invincibles 6)

“You know why, Beth. My brother.”

“It wasn’t anything, Buck. We went out on a couple of dates, is all.”

“It was something to Porter,” I murmured, remembering I’d said the same thing about myself to Stella. I cleared my throat. “You should know I’m with someone else n

ow.”

I felt her stiffen in my arms. “Oh. Who?”

“That woman right over there, dancing with Cord.”

“Doesn’t look like she’s that into you, Buck.”

She was right. Stella only had eyes for Cord, and whatever he’d just said, made her blush. It was all I could do to not leave Beth standing alone while I went and ripped my brother’s arms off.

“We had a disagreement,” I muttered, wondering why I felt the need to explain this to my former high school sweetheart. “Look, Porter cares about you. If the only reason you broke things off with him was because of me, I’m off the market.”

“Do you love her?”

“We aren’t to that point yet, but I plan to get there.”

Bethany looked over at Stella and Cord at the same time I did. This time, Stella was also looking at us. “She’s a lucky girl,” Beth mumbled.

That was the thing, Stella wasn’t a girl; she was a woman. She told me not to play her, which to me, meant she was interested in exploring this attraction between us. “Thanks for the dance, Beth,” I said when the song ended. I left her standing where she was and walked over to my brother, who still had his arm around Stella’s waist. “Excuse me,” I said, squeezing Cord’s shoulder hard enough that he wouldn’t dare ignore me. “I need to talk to Stella.” The band started playing another song. It was one of my favorites, and I’d be damned if I wasn’t going to hold Stella in my arms for it. I held my hand out to her. “May I?”

When she nodded, my brother walked away. I gathered her in my arms and softly sang along to the song that had catapulted Ben and his band, CB Rice, into superstardom.

Sweet beauty on the steps, waiting, like me

Sun masked by clouds, so free

Beautiful, if only you were able to move,

To go, to ride, to smile, to fly, to kiss, to fall

I know how deep your smile, if only you could fall

“It’s beautiful,” Stella murmured, resting her cheek against my shoulder.

“Ben wrote it for the woman who is now his wife.”

“She wasn’t then?”

“No. In fact, she was in a coma at the time.”

She pulled back to look at me.

“Olivia is a barrel racer, and she took a fall that could’ve killed her.” I kept singing along.

I know how wild your passion, if only you

would fall

I know how deep your longing, if only you

could fall

I know your fear, I know your tears