Page 105 of Rough Ride

“But,” Johnny said, sounding like he was in agony, “the Bull Riding event is tomorrow. I need a full night’s sleep.”

“Damn you to hell, Johnny,” I said.

He looked at me questioningly across Sophie’s nude body.

“For reminding me about the rodeo,” I said. “I was enjoyin’ beingdistracted.”

“Truth hurts,” Johnny said.

The worst part was that he was right. I couldn’t sacrifice a night of sleep, no matter how amazing this felt.

Because I knew one thing for sure: if I stayed, we wouldnotget much sleep tonight.

Sophie pouted in the most adorable way, but she said she understood. Saying goodbye was hard, but after sharing a few more kisses we tore ourselves away from the amazing woman we had shared tonight.

“Good luck tomorrow,” she said while watching us go. “I’ll be rooting for you, no matter what you decide to do.”

We took the elevator down to the parking garage in silence, then climbed into Johnny’s truck. We shared a satisfied silence on the drive, passing through downtown Fort Worth on the way back to the rodeo camp.

“That was… good,” Johnny said, finally breaking the silence. “Reallygood.”

“Hell yeah, it was,” I agreed.

Another silence stretched. Johnny glanced over at me every few seconds.

“What?” I asked.

“You promised not to make eye contact,” he said.

“You’re worried about that? It was an accident. I wasn’ttryingto make eye contact with you.”

“Just giving you feedback. For next time.”

“While we’re on the subject, keep your balls to yourself.”

Johnny flinched. “Huh?”

“At the beginning. When she was on top of me, and you started takin’ her from behind. Your balls brushed against my knee.” I stared daggers at him in the truck cab.

“I assure you that was not intentional. It was an accident.”

“Just giving you feedback,” I replied, mocking what he’d said to me. “For next time.”

We stopped at a light. Johnny shifted in his seat. I cleared my throat.

Then we both started laughing at the same time.

“She’s something special,” Johnny said. “Almost makes me want to move here.”

I started laughing again, until I realized he was serious.

“You’d uproot yourself?” I asked. “I thought you liked working at Horseshoe Ranch.”

“I like her more,” Johnny said with a certainty in his voice that shocked me. “For a woman like Sophie? I’d do a lot of things I never thought I’d consider.” He glanced over at me. “Wouldn’t you?”

I didn’t answer him. If I was being honest, I hadn’t given much thought to it at all. We were only in town for the Fort Worth Rodeo. After this we had the Houston Rodeo… and then I was heading to Colorado. Back to the routine job I had at the ranch where I called home. This relationship had always had an expiration date, just like all the rodeo affairs I’d had over the years.

But now that Johnny had put the thought in my head? That we could have something more permanent with Sophie?

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