Page 5 of The Chances We Take

“Hello, Rudy. Keeping yourself busy, I see?” I nodded at the bar. The place wasn’t too crowded yet, but by the time ten thirty or eleven o’clock rolled around, it would probably be at capacity.

“Oh yeah, I’ve just been working away.”

“Well, that’s good to hear. I’m surprised you’re working. Hopefully things don’t get too rowdy for you,” I added, a tinge of concern in my voice for the older man.

“Oh, I sure hope not. You kids these days keep things interesting.” He chuckled. “I came in to make sure it wasn’t getting too crazy and ended up staying.”

“Well, be careful,” Jake pointed out. “You know how the Bucking Horse Sale gets.”

“Shucks, don’t worry about me, boys. I dealt with worse back in my day. Hell, I’ve been in more tussles at bars than I could ever count.” He let out a deep belly laugh. “What can I get for you?”

“We’ll take a round of Pendleton, one for each of us,” Mikey piped up, sticking a finger in the air. “With an extra one for Colter, please.”

“You got it. I hear Colter’s getting married!” He kept chatting with us as he poured the shots.

Colter walked up to the bar a few moments later. “You talking about me, Rudy? Better not be saying anything bad,” he joked as he shook the old man’s hand.

“No, never, young man! Say, I hear you’re getting married!” Rudy exclaimed, repeating his statement with a look of pure joy spreading across his face.

“Sure am! In July. Ellison has been hard at work planning everything,” Colter beamed. I’d noticed Colter was much more excited with the process for this wedding, and that was the difference between now and four years ago. Maybe it was because, fundamentally, Colter and Sophie’s relationship was strained. With how often we were on the road—and how much she protested—we could all see the breakup coming toward the end.

Ellison supported Colter’s dreams; Sophie suppressed them.

“That’s great, son. Well, here you boys go. Take care of yourselves and stay out of trouble now.” Rudy set the shots in front of us and gave us a nod before moving on to the next patrons.

Mikey held up his shot for a toast. “All right, boys. Here’s to ridin’, ropin’, and not dyin’ in the wild horse race today.”

“And to love!” Jake jokingly added as we all raised our glasses, to which Mikey groaned, “Man, you just ruined it.”

“To love!” Hayden and I repeated Jake’s statement with a laugh as Colter’s face turned beet red. He shook his head as he tapped the shot glass on the bar counter and then threw it back, the rest of us following suit.

“Woo!” Mikey cheered. “All right, let’s go back so I can kick your asses at pool.” He smacked us all on the back as he passed by, starting to head back to the pool table in the far corner of the bar.

“Yeah, unless you hit the eight-ball in again,” Hayden muttered under his breath.

“What was that, Watkins?” Mikey looked over his shoulder, not quite out of earshot yet, and tilted his head at him as if scolding him, which caused Hayden to blush a little and clam up.

“He said, unless the game finishes as fast as you do with your hookups.” Jake snickered, earning himself a middle finger from Mikey and a gaping Hayden who stood frozen by my side.

“Come on, bud. You can be on my team this time.” I chuckled as I patted him on the back.

As Hayden, Colter, and I followed Jake and Mikey back for another game, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

Isa

ellison wanted me to let you know that if any of you get in trouble, she’ll beat your asses herself

I chuckled to myself as I typed out a response. Isa had changed her contact name in my phone a while ago from Isabelle to Isa with a bee emoji. I guess it was supposed to be a cute play on words since her last name was Bennett. I didn’t understand it, but it seemed like something Kacey, my little sister, would do.

You don’t have to worry about me, Colter, and Hayden

Isa

i know. i think the message was meant for mikey and jake. but mostly mikey

You know, Mikey almost looks better with a black eye

Isa

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