“Stop moving or it’s only going to get worse.” The cowboy’s words were clear and slow, as if he were addressing a dimwit.
Still stunned by the rapidity of the events, Sophia stared at the cowboy. Recognizing him as the figure she’d noticed standing alone by the railing when she’d first walked out, she noted that he had yet to look at her. Instead, he seemed intent on keeping his boot in the proper place, as if warily pinning a rattlesnake to the canyon floor. Which, in a way, he was.
On the ground, Brian began to struggle again. Again, his fingers were stomped while the other boot remained fixed on his neck. Brian stifled a wail, his body gradually growing still. Only then did the cowboy look up at Sophia, his blue eyes piercing in the reflected lights outside the barn.
“If you want to go,” he offered, “I’ll be glad to hold him for a bit.”
He sounded unconcerned, as if the circumstances were nothing out of the ordinary. As she struggled for an appropriate response, she took in the messy brown hair poking out from beneath his hat and realized that he wasn’t much older than her. He looked vaguely familiar, but not because she’d seen him at the railing earlier. She’d seen him somewhere else, maybe inside, but that wasn’t quite right. She couldn’t put her finger on it.
“Thanks,” she said, clearing her throat. “But I’ll be okay.”
As soon as he heard her voice, Brian resumed his struggle; again it ended with Brian jerking his hand back amid howls of pain.
“You sure?” the cowboy asked. “I’m sensing he’s a bit angry.”
That’s an understatement, she thought. She had no doubt that Brian was furious. She couldn’t suppress the tiniest of smiles.
“I think he’s learned his lesson.”
The cowboy seemed to evaluate her answer. “Maybe you should check with him,” he suggested, pushing his hat back on his head. “Just to make sure.”
Surprising herself, she smiled at him before leaning over. “Are you going to leave me alone, Brian?”
Brian gave a muffled yelp. “Get him off me! I’m going to kill him…”
The cowboy sighed, putting even more pressure on the back of Brian’s neck. This time, Brian’s face was pressed hard into the dirt.
She turned to the cowboy, then back to Brian again. “Is that a yes or a no, Brian?” she asked.
The cowboy laughed, revealing even white teeth and a boyish grin.
Although she hadn’t noticed it earlier, four other cowboys had surrounded them in the meantime, and Sophia wondered if this whole incident could become any more surreal. She felt as though she’d stumbled onto the set of an old western, and all at once, she realized where she’d seen this cowboy before. Not inside the barn, but earlier, at the rodeo. The one Marcia had called eye candy. The bull rider who’d won it all.
“You doing okay, Luke?” one of the circle asked. “Need a hand?”
The blue-eyed cowboy shook his head. “I got it for now. But if he don’t stop wiggling, his nose is gonna get broke whether he likes it or not.”
She looked at him. “You’re Luke?”
He nodded. “You?”
“Sophia.”
He tipped his hat. “Nice to meet you, Sophia.” Grinning, he glanced down at Brian again.
“You gonna leave Sophia alone if I let you up?”
Defeated, Brian stopped moving. Slowly but surely, the pressure eased off his neck and Brian cautiously turned his head. “Get your boot off my neck!” he grunted, his expression simultaneously surly and fearful.
Sophia shifted from one foot to the other. “You should probably let him up,” she said.
After a beat, Luke lifted his boot and stepped back. In that instant, Brian leapt to his feet, his body tense. His nose and cheek were scraped, and he had dirt in his teeth. As the circle of other riders tightened, Brian turned from one bull rider to the next, his head swiveling back and forth.
Though drunk, Brian wasn’t stupid, and after glaring at Sophia, he took a step backward. The five cowboys stayed put, appearing not to care one way or the other, but Sophia sensed it was only an illusion. They were prepared for whatever Brian might do, but Brian again took another step backward before pointing at Luke.
“You and I aren’t finished yet,” he spat. “You understand that?”
He let the words hang before focusing on Sophia. There was anger in his expression and betrayal as well, and with that, he turned and started back toward the barn.
3
Luke
O
rdinarily, he wouldn’t have gotten involved.