Rodeo Blues by Nutt Karen Michelle

Author:Nutt, Karen Michelle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, texas, small town, contemporary romance, cowboys, bull riding, karen michelle nutt
Publisher: Publishing by Rebecca J. Vickery

Chapter Twenty

Tye headed toward the swings situated in the park facing the food stands. The park had been built the summer he turned six years old. The merry-go-round could use a coat of paint, but the slide and the swings looked to be in good condition.

Tye took a seat on the swing next to Jolie. Using his feet, he shuffled closer to her and took her hand. The food stand selling snow cones was good enough to help him out with a baggie filled with crushed ice. He lightly pressed the bag to her bruised knuckles. "Not that I don't mind you defending me, but what possessed you to punch Jhett?"

She sighed heavily, but then seemed to get all riled up again. "That man's been a bee in my bonnet since the seventh grade. He had it coming."

Tye chuckled. "I suppose you're right. Shocked him some though." Jolie had never been one for fistfights unless provoked, and he had a hunch she hadn't changed that much. Made him wonder what Jhett said to her right before he happened upon them. He lifted the baggie and inspected her hand. "I don't think you broke anything, but it'll be tender for a few days."

"I can handle it." She pursed her lips then. He could tell she wanted to say more, but was formulating the words before she blurted them out. "Why didn't you tell me what Jhett and his buddies did to you after prom?"

So that was what had gotten her all riled up. "That's ancient history," he said with a long tired sigh. "I don't think about it anymore."

"Bulls in pen, you don't," she snapped.

He smiled at her choice of curses. She could come up with some colorful metaphors when angry. "Like I said, it's ancient history. I'm not an insecure teen anymore."

Her gaze searched his for a long measured moment before she reached for him with her good hand, her slender fingers caressing his jaw. "I wish you would have told me. You should have told me," she repeated, her voice gentler now.

Yeah, maybe he should have, but he wasn't one to wallow in self-pity, and he definitely didn't want hers. He took her hand and lowered it. "It wasn't your problem."

"Not my problem?" Her brows furrowed. "I love… I loved you. If someone hurt you, I would have wanted to know."

He couldn't help but notice, she used the past tense. She loved him. He'd been gone a long time. He couldn't expect her to hold a torch for him forever, even if he couldn't get her out of his mind or his heart. No girl ever matched up to Jolie Lockhart and what they had together. No one captured his heart, and now he knew why. He'd left it in Skeeter Blue with the girl…the woman...who sat beside him on a swing, nursing bruised knuckles.

"When you told me you were joining the rodeo circuit, you promised you would come home for Christmas. You didn't," she accused. "I waited and you didn't come home.

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