Page 19 of The Chances We Take

Colter had shown me the ring—the same one Ellison’s father had proposed to her mother with—before he left for the trip. He’d told me when he asked Hanna for her blessing, she offered it to him, wanting it to be passed down to her daughter. The ring was beautiful, and a thoughtful tribute to her late father.

“Congratulations, guys!” I smiled back. Colter wasn’t in the frame, but I was sure he could hear me.

“How are you feeling, by the way?” Ellison asked suspiciously.

Oh, shit, yeah. I’m supposed to be sick.

“Oh, you know”—I faked a cough—“typical flu symptoms. I’m feeling a lot better though now.”

“Uh huh. Well, I can’t say I’m disappointed you tooktime off for this to happen, but you know you didn’t have to lie about being sick, right?” Ellison scolded.

“Yeah, but if I hadn’t pretended to be sick, then it would have ruined the surprise.” I shrugged.

“I suppose you’re right,” she admitted.

Right then, Colter came into the camera view. “Reid, how are you doin', buddy? Feeling better?” he asked, still playing along.

“Cut the shit, Colter, she already knows he’s not sick.” Isabelle laughed.

“Anyway,” Ellison cut them off. “We called you both because we obviously wanted to celebrate this moment with you, but also because we have questions to ask you both.”

“Yes, of course I’ll be your maid of honor!” Isabelle squealed with delight.

Colter shook his head in amusement. “At least let her ask the question first.”

“Sorry, sorry. Continue.” She cupped her cheek with one hand, eyes sparkling.

“Well, you already guessed what I was going to ask, but will you be my maid of honor?”

“Obviously! I’ve been waiting for this moment to happen!” Isa could hardly contain her excitement—that was evident from the way her camera was shaking.

“Well, man, you’ve probably guessed what I’m about to ask you,” Colter cut in. “But you’ve been my best friend for a long time, and I’d be so lucky to have you by my side on my wedding day. Do you want to be my best man?”

“Absolutely, buddy. I’d be honored.” I knew it was coming. We’d been by each other’s side since college, both on horseback and on foot, so it was only fitting that we’dstand by each other at his wedding. But I was honored nonetheless.

“Also, I’m sure you’re wondering why we did a three-way call and didn’t just text you or something. One, it’s because I wanted to show off the new jewelry, but two, I figured you two would need each other’s phone numbers to communicate during planning, and this was an easy way to do that.” Ellison’s brain was going a mile a minute, clearly already in planning mode for the wedding. It was an exciting time, but man, we were about to have a hell of a lot of work ahead of us.

“Well, we’re going to hop off the call. We’ll see you back at home, Reid,” Colter said before he hung up, the video of him and Ellison disappearing, leaving me and Isabelle.

“I suppose we should probably get used to being on the phone together now.” Isabelle looked away from the camera as she twirled a strand of bright, honey-blonde hair around her index finger.

I nodded. “Yeah, I guess we should.”

We hadn’t talked since the last night of the Houston Rodeo, and a slight awkwardness hung in the air. I couldn’t deny the pull I felt toward Isa; I knew from the first conversation we had that she was different, but I didn’t know how she felt about me anymore.

I shouldn’t have said we were just friends to the guys during Championship night. It was a lie, a blatant one at that.

“What a ride, boys!” Mikey put his arms around mine and Colter’s backs once we had all met up outside of the arena to wait for Ellison and Isa.

“Thanks, Mike,” Colter thanked him.

“We heading out to the bars again tonight, boys?” Jake clapped his hand on my shoulder.

“Is that even a question, brother?” Mikey chuckled. “Hey, Lawson, maybe you’ll end up getting lucky with Ellison’s friend.” He waggled his eyebrows.

“I noticed you guys getting pretty cozy the other night when we went out.” Jake nudged me with his elbow, adding to Mikey’s jokes.

Colter and Hayden stayed quiet, and I wasn’t sure if it was because they didn’t have anything to say or didn’t knowwhatto say. I flicked my eyes toward them, hoping they’d change the subject or defend me in some way, but I was met with silence.

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