Page 13 of Bull Riders Don't Swoon

At the mention of burgers, I’m grabbing his bag and pushing him out the door, allowing myself to forget what I just read.

Because Griff won’t leave me.

five

Griff

“This is gonna be so weird without Jackson and Hunter. I mean, you know you’re my buddy, but it’s like we’re kids on our first road trip without Mom and Dad, you know?”

Jamieson, who can’t stay quiet if his life depended on it—or stop eating—grins at me from the passenger seat of his truck. I’m only driving because he drives a vehicle like he rides a bull:hang on tight and let’s see where this takes us. That’s not exactly joyful for a passenger.

“It will be different for sure. I’ll miss having them around.”

Not that we won’t see them. Jackson is just dialing back the number of rodeos he does this year. He’s not quitting. Since Hunter is his partner in the ring, he’s also hanging back. I’m happy for my friend who finally found love and is easing into a new career with a hydroponic gardening business and all the other projects he and Riley have on the go, but I’ll miss Jackson’s steady presence on the road.

Especially since I’ll no longer have a buffer between me and Jamieson. Jackson is the only one who knows I intended to quit the life of being a rodeo bullfighter. When Jackson announced his reduced schedule, I knew what it meant.

Jamieson would lean on me even more.

There was no way I could go through with my original plan and do my masters in psychology now. As much as it hurts to always be so close to him but never have him, I’d never be able to leave Jamieson like that. Not with everything we’ve been through.

So here I am again, dreading what lies ahead for the next few months. Still in love with my best friend like I have been since we met in college all those years ago.

“Oh! I was thinking—”

“That’s never a good idea, Jamie.” I love saying that just to see him scrunch his eyebrows at me.

“Rude.” He tosses a cracker at me, and I laugh when it sails in front of me and hits the window. He keeps eating crackers from the box, forgetting my teasing, and continues. “I was thinking if you’re up to it, maybe we could do some longer trips this summer? We always had to rush back because of Hunter’s ranch or something Jackson has going on, but since we’re both younger than them and this is our job…maybe we could slow it down?”

Jamieson has never been one to slow anything down. He’s always a rush here and rush there kind of guy. Hurry and wait, so this takes me by surprise.

“What did you have in mind?”

He shakes the empty cracker box and frowns.

“When we go to the rodeo in Manitoba, it’s close to the Ontario border. I looked at the schedule and I might like to explore Ontario for a few days before coming back home and stopping at different rodeos on the way back. Only if you want to, though.”

The truck tires hum along the pavement as I roll around the scenarios in my head. Extra days with Jamieson doing something that might feel like we’re a couple is probably not the best idea.But I’ve never been to Ontario as a tourist either. From the corner of my eye, I can see Jamieson doing that thing he does when he’s anxious. He alternates chewing his top and bottom lip while nodding his head like a bobble head on the bumpiest side road.

“I’m not opposed. I’d need to plan for it, of course. Financially.”

Not that it will cost buckets. Knowing Jamieson, he’ll want to take the camper and go to some kind of pretty park to hike. Which actually sounds nice. We’re used to sleeping in a camper together and I’ve never taken a real vacation either. Ever. Maybe I can handle this one last time before I tell him I’m quitting rodeo and getting serious about pursuing my education again.

“Oh, for sure.” His smile damn near blinds me and I have to remind my brain it’s not a lover’s smile. It’s a happy best friend and nothing more. “Actually, part of the reason I’m asking is that there’s a bull riding event near the town where I got my tattoo. Remember when we did that extra leg to go to the Big Money Bulls event last year? I saw the shop, and he had an opening, so I did it then.”

“I remember. You whined about how much it hurt after.”

“It did!” Jamieson mock-pouts before smacking my arm. “Oh! We’re already at the truck stop. I might grab an extra burger for the road. Do you want one?”

“How do you not weigh as much as a bull? I swear to god, I don’t know where you put all the food you eat.”

Jamieson ignores me as I pull into the busy truck stop with our camper and find a spot near the back next to all the transports.

“Anyway, the tattoo guy’s name is Marko, said he knew a place we could stay if we ever came back close and wanted to. His boyfriend lives on a ranch or something.”

“Well, that’s nice of him. No hotel bills would be nice.”

“Nope. He said we’d just need to worry about food, and the place is ours for as long as we want.”

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