Ride Rough - Tessa Layne Page 0,51

knowing smile.

Of course Tony would know. It was like a game of telephone. Cecilia would have confided in Izzie, who naturally would have mentioned something to her brother, Robbie, who was best friends with Tony, so of course Tony knew everything. Not that he cared, he liked Cecilia. And this wasn't some kind of big secret. The only secret he was keeping was the one that he no longer felt comfortable with.

Tony paused, hand landing a little too heavily on his shoulder. "I'm sure your cousin has already mentioned this-" he paused giving him a meaningful look.

"Cousin?"

"Sterling?"

"Oh yeah, right." He nodded, silently cursing his minor slip. No one had asked even one follow-up question about the story he'd fabricated with Sterling, but of course this would have gone through the telephone gossip treatment too.

"I know you like her, man. And she's great. I've known CiCi my whole life."

Trace didn't miss the subtext in his voice. "And?"

Tony squeezed his shoulder. Hard. "There's a saying we have here in these parts." His eyes narrowed to dark points. "Fuck with her, fuck with her happiness... you cause her distress in any way, we'll be waiting for you in the tall grass."

Trace's eyebrows flew skyward, and he stepped back, hands open. The tall grass, huh? Was this the equivalent of the Prairie Mafia? The Cowboy Code of Honor? All for one and one for all? "I swear, dude. I would never... I like her, man."

Tony's face remained hard. "Good. Just so you know."

"Message received." He stepped around Tony, heart slamming against his sternum. Tony had always seemed so easygoing, so laid back. Someone he could count on to be on his side. But it was clear whose side Tony was on when push came to shove. Not his. It left Trace wondering the entire time he readied himself - taping his wrist, donning his chaps and protective vest... when push came to shove, who was on his side?

Chapter Twenty-One

Izzie nudged Cecilia and leaned over. "Hey, does Trace look okay to you?"

Cecilia swiveled, looking over toward the barn where the guys put on their gear prior to practice. She cocked her head, studying him. He didn't look any different to her. Maybe a tightness in his jaw? "Probably just jitters. He mentioned he's a little nervous to make his public debut tomorrow."

"Hmm. Okay," Izzie said with a frown. "No, not okay. Oh no," she gasped, burying her face in her hands. "Look."

Directly in front of them stood Tony Cruz, giving her the thumbs up. Cecilia looked back at Izzie. "I don't understand."

A string of profanity flew out of Izzie's mouth. "Tony gave Trace the talk. Robbie put him up to it, I'm sure of it."

"What do you mean, the talk? I don't follow."

"The 'I'll woodshed' your ass talk?" she said with finger quotes. "Ugh, you don't have brothers, you don't understand. Every guy I ever dated got the woodshed talk from my brother."

Cecilia gaped at her. "Oh you poor thing. No wonder you never dated in high school."

"Right? It was even worse in college."

"It's kind of sweet, when you think about it," admitted Cecilia, secretly tickled that one of her oldest friends had cared enough to stand up for her.

Izzie stared at her, scandalized. "For real?" she asked with a shake of her head. "Let me tell you, it gets old."

"What, that people are looking out for your happiness? That there are men in your life who care about you?" Cecilia's voice caught. "If only I'd had someone looking out for me. By the time I was old enough to date, Papí was already gone." Grief knifed through her as fresh and painful as if it had been yesterday her beloved grandfather had passed, and not nearly fifteen years ago. She puffed her cheeks, blowing out a heavy breath.

Izzie's eyes softened, and she reached for Cecilia's hand. "Jeeze, Ceece. It never occurred to me, but you're right. I should have sic'd Robbie and Tony on you back then," she said with a guilty laugh. "It could have saved me so much trouble."

"Well, glad I could help out now," she said wryly. She eyed the arena, then looked over at Izzie. "Looks like Jaxon's up first."

"Did you know he's going to start breeding roughstock bulls?" she said with a note of pride.

"Does that mean he's going to retire from competition?"

Izzie shrugged, looking everywhere but at her. "I don't know. He's squawking about settling down."

"Izzie, what aren't you telling me?"

Her best friend turned as pink as a