Page 53 of The Chances We Take

After a few runs, both with Colter and Ellison, I let Hayden ride a bit. Mikey had shown up to open the chute for us, relieving Jake and Isa. I noticed after the first couple runs, Isa had disappeared, and I wanted to go look for her.

Jake was leaning on the fence, but Isa was still nowhere to be found.

“Aye, where did Isabelle go?” I called out to Jake, but he shrugged.

Fuck. What if she’s hurt or something?

I picked up my pace and walked to the house. Maybe she had gone inside.

I opened the front door, calling out her name, but there was no answer. After checking every single room but coming up short, I went back outside. Putting my hands on my waist, I squinted in the sunlight to see if I could spot her anywhere.

A flash of honey-blonde hair caught my eye from behind a tree. I released a breath as I walked over to find her leaning up against the trunk with a book in her hand.

“Whatcha reading, Short Stack?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

isabelle

Ijumped as Reid appeared behind me, dropping over my shoulder to ask what I was reading, and it brought me back to the Houston Rodeo earlier that year.

“What are you reading?” Reid came up behind me, peeking over my shoulder to look at the book I had.

I had been sitting here in Colter’s trailer for the past forty-five minutes or so.

“It’s one of those romances where the guy would do anything to protect the girl.” I never got into the specifics when I told people about the books I was reading, just the general ideas. I wasn’t afraid they would judge me for what I was reading—frankly, I didn’t care about that—but I figured most people didn’t want the nitty-gritty details.

“Ah, so one of those, ‘I’d burn down the world for you’ books? Is that the kind of man you want, Isa?” He winked, and heat rose to my cheeks, spreading like wildfire across them.

“Sure, something like that,” I muttered while I tried to keep my composure and ignore the heat creeping up in my chest.

The thing was, I didn’t want a man like that. I didn’t want someone who would burn down the world for me. I wanted a man who would burn down the worldwithme.

“You don’t seem like the kind of woman to want that kind of man.” He sat down next to me, and I quickly closed my book.

“What kind of woman do I seem like, then?” I narrowed my eyes, testing him.

“I’m still trying to figure that out.” He shrugged.

“Why would you do that?” I huffed out, trying to slow my racing heart.

“You disappeared. I wanted to make sure you didn’t get hurt or something.” His tone had genuine concern, and for a moment, I felt bad for leaving.

“I’m not sure if roping is my thing,” I admitted. “I think I’d rather read about it than be in the action.”

“Ah, so you’re reading one of those cowboy stories?” he teased. “I’m telling you, the real-life ones are probably way better than those ones.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t believe you.” I’d met some of the “cowboys” down in Houston.

“Well, that’s just because you’d never met arealcowboy before. We may be hard to come by, but the real ones are the real deal. I can promise you that.” He added on a wink, to which I rolled my eyes. “Besides, no offense, but those ones you read about aren’t real,” he whispered in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.

“That’s the point,” I chirped back, still skimming the pages.

“Tell me more about it? The book you’re reading?”

“It’s about a guy who’s had feelings for this girl for years, but she’s completely oblivious to it.” I closed the book and looked over my shoulder at him. “It’s quite frustrating, actually.”

“Sounds like it.”

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