Page 13 of How We Loved

“Yeah,” I respond like it’s not as big of a deal as some people think. “We all grew up together. It’s our dads who started TimeLand.”

He nods slowly. “Got ya. And do they know you’re here with me now?”

“Nope. I told Natalie I was meeting you, but that’s it.”

“That’s the girl with 81 on her cheek last night?”

I smile brightly. “That’s her!”

“So, you’re a cheerleader. Why don’t you hang out with the other cheerleaders?”

I shrug. “I like them, and we all get along, so it’s nothing weird or anything. I hang out with them at school, but I guess it’s just been me and the guys for so long that I’ve never really been close friends with anyone else.”

“What about me? You’re here now, making friends with me.”

I look down, feeling shy all of a sudden. “This is different.”

He lifts my chin to him and winks. “Glad to hear it.”

A rush of excitement races through me, and I feel my face flush, so I instantly try to change the subject. “What about you? Who was that guy you were with on Friday night?”

“That’s Nick. One of my boys. We were there with Chris and Justin.”

“Are they your ride-or-die guys?” I tease.

He gives me a devilish grin. “You know it.”

“I know you don’t play football. Is there a sport you play?”

“I ride bulls.”

I feel like my eyes just popped out of my head. “You what?”

“Why is that so hard to believe?” he asks, laughing.

“That just seems insane!”

He leans in to say softly, “Not if you’re a country boy like me.” He stands up straighter to show me his belt buckle. “I won this at the last rodeo I competed in.”

I stop him to look at it more closely. “Seriously?”

The buckle is brass and silver with a bull looking like he’s trying to knock the person off of him, and in big words across the top it says Champion.

“How cool!”

“You’ll have to come watch me sometime. Maybe you can be my own personal cheerleader.”

“I’d love to!” I jump with enthusiasm.

“I hope you can. The season is over, so I guess we’ll see how this goes, but hopefully, you can come watch me next summer.”

He wraps his hand around mine again and pulls me to the side. “Here, let’s see what’s this way.”

We turn a few corners and end up in a dead end.

“See … if we had the map, we would have seen this goes nowhere,” I tease.

He steps up to me. “Nah, this is exactly where I wanted to take you.” He wraps his hand around my neck and brings me in for a sweet kiss.

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