Page 31 of Bull Riders Don't Swoon

Griff rolls his eyes, but I know he wants to. That little half smile of his is a dead giveaway.

“Hey fellas.” A young woman with the brightest purple hair I’ve ever seen gestures to the single chair across from her. “Who’s first, and what do you want? Rainbows, glitter, unicorn? A slogan or flag?”

I sit first since it was my idea, and I look at all her offerings on the table.

“Can I get a bi flag and something cowboy-ish?”

She taps her lips with a red-polished fingertip before reaching for her face paint. “How about a rainbow horseshoe next to the bisexual flag?”

“Perfect!”

As the woman gets to work with her art on my cheek, Griff watches from behind her, and I swallow the lump that’s lodged in my throat since I sat at the hospital with him. I thought it was a fear of losing my best friend, but even after the doctor assured me he wasn’t near death’s door from a broken bone, it didn’t go away.

It didn’t go away when I buckled him in my truck to take us on this vacation, and it didn’t go away after we sort of cleared the air over the only fight we’ve ever had that happened over a year ago.

And now it’s still there when I watch Griff shove the last cherry twist from his candy bag into his mouth as he watches the girl paint my face.

“You look awesome, Jamie. That horseshoe is cool.”

“Do you know what you want, sugar? He’s almost done.”

Griff nods with a giant grin.

“Yep. I want the gayest flag with glitter.”

I burst out laughing as the woman hands me a mirror to see her work. “Glitter? For real?”

“Yep.” Griff bumps me with a hip to get me out of the chair and sits in front of the woman, who opens her glitter pot with glee. “I’ve always wanted to get glittered up for Pride. In university, they didn’t have big festivals, and then we’re often busy with rodeo and miss all the parades and festivals. This is the first time I get to glitter.”

“Well, I’m so happy for you! And I’m so honoured I get to be your first.”

Griff’s ears get a little pink, and I watch as she paints the flag on his cheek and smooths glitter over the top of it. She does the same design on both his cheeks and then paints a stripe of red glitter paint up his cheek and under each flag when she’s done.

“Take a look.” She hands him the mirror, and Griff’s smile is the brightest I’ve ever seen.

“This is…” His eyes catch mine in a flash, and that lump comes back. “This is amazing. Thank you.”

Griff drops a donation into the jar the woman has out for the local LGBTQ+ youth shelter, and I do the same before we spill back out into the masses of people out celebrating.

Stuffing my hands in my pockets so I don’t scratch at the face paint, we keep walking until we reach the intersection. While we wait for the light to cross the street, a poster in a shop window catches my eye.

“Oh my god! Griff! Look at this. We have to go.”

A bright neon poster exclaims the Cowboy Olympics are on at the Burgatory from 6 to 10 P.M. as part of the Pride celebrations. They even have Jell-O shots on the menu.

Griff laughs before pulling out his phone and punching in the address to Google Maps. “Jell-O shots make my stomach turn. That’s one memory I’d like to leave at university.” He looks up at the street signs and back at his phone. “It’s the next street over, and I said earlier I should get a burger. Do you really want to go when we’re supposed to be away from rodeo?”

“Of course! It’s a blast from the past. Jell-O shots, cowboy games, and rainbows. And food! Can’t forget the food.” Griff laughs as we walk towards the next street. “Food first. I’m starving, and you should get something other than sugar in you.”

“Okay, okay. I’m convinced.”

Throwing my arm around Griff’s shoulder, I hug him close. “I know we go to bars a lot when we’re touring, but…this is different. I’d love a good techno dance night, you know? Where we can just dance and not be fawned over for belt buckles.”

Well.

I haven’t even started drinking, and that truth sort of slithered out. Griff doesn’t say anything, just quirks an eyebrow.

“Does that bother you? Your groupies? Because you have them. You know that, right?”

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