Page 38 of The Chances We Take

“Right…” I trailed off.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She crossed her arms, giving me an expectant look.

I could either tell her she did in fact text me at the bar, or I could save her—and myself—the potential embarrassment and leave it be. She was drunk, after all. She probably didn’t mean anything she said, and bringing it up would just make things uncomfortable between us. Although, it was probably best that it was me she texted and not some random ex-boyfriend.

“Hello?”

“What?” I snapped out of my thoughts.

“What’s up with you today? You seem distracted.” She gave me another weird look, contorting her face a little, before grabbing her other bag out of my hand and walking to the guest bedroom.

I guess she decided for me.

I sat on the couch and waited for her to finish unpacking, or whatever it was she was doing. About fifteen minutes later, she came out to the living room.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were still here,” she mumbled, finding a place on the couch next to me.

I shrugged. “Didn’t have anywhere else to be.” I glanced over at her and ran my eyes over the freckles painting her face.

When she caught me looking, I snapped my eyes away, not wanting to make her uncomfortable, but it wasn’t myfault she caught my attention every time she was in the same room as me.

“What did you guys do when we were gone?”

“We planned out the next month or so for rodeos, since we won’t be traveling very far with the wedding,” I explained. “We’ve got it down pretty well.”

“That’s good! I knew you traveled a lot for rodeos, I guess I didn’t know how much.”

“We’re pretty much on the road all year. There are a few weeks where we’re home or over in Goldfinch helping out with the college team, but I love being on the road. So does Colter. It’s all we’ve known for the last few years.”

Rodeo was my escape. It was my way of letting go of all the worries of my past—my childhood, my siblings, my mother. When I was in the arena, all that mattered was bringing home prize money and adding another buckle to my collection.

Some cowboys chased after women. Colter and I? We chased after buckles.

“Doesn’t it get lonely on the road?” Isa asked, cocking her head to the right.

“Not really,” I admitted. “The guys are my best friends. If we weren’t always traveling together, I think it could be lonely, but the entire rodeo community is so welcoming. Colter and I used to meet new people every week and strike up conversations. I remember our first year out on the road, we met this team roper in his sixties, gray hair and all. He’d been roping for thirty-five years.”

“Wow, that’s a long time. You wouldn’t think someone that old would still be part of it.”

“There’s men who make a lifetime out of roping. And a handful of women who run barrels even in their seventies.”

Her eyes widened in surprise.

“I have loads of respect for the folks who built the sport. When you think about it, rodeo’s generational. Without those gray-haired men and women, we wouldn’t have the opportunities we have to go on the road and make a living from this. Rodeo’s for everyone. And those who don’t respect that simply don’t understand the community and the purpose it gives people.”

“Honestly, I never thought of it as more than a sport until now,” she murmured, her eyes filled with admiration.

“Most people don’t. But it truly is more than a sport. It’s a lifestyle.”

She was quiet for a moment, seemingly deep in thought, but the birds chirping outside the window filled the silence.

“I can only hope one day I’ll have as big an impact on someone as rodeo has had for you,” she whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear.

“I’m sure you will.”

Before she could respond, the front door swung open, causing both of us to swing our heads to look.

“What are you two doing?” Hayden asked, Mikey and Jake in tow.

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