Page 55 of The Chances We Take

Ellison pointed her thumb at him. “He hasn’t drank water all day, I’m sure. Making sure he stays hydrated so he doesn’t pass out.”

I bobbed my head. “Makes sense. Thanks for that. Wouldn’t want my header to fall off his horse.”

Colter winced a little, probably thinking about the accident he had a couple years ago when he was thrown from his horse during practice.

“I didn’t get you anything. This is for me.” Isa laughed, playfully rolling her eyes as she unscrewed the cap on her bottle of water and took a drink.

I stole it from her when she was done, taking a gulp before she could pull it away from me.

“Hey! You’re going to get your germs all over it!” she complained, crossing her arms and screwing up her face.

“You’ll be fine. It won’t hurt you.” I winked as I handed her back the bottle.

“I’m sure you’ve shared germs with worse people,” Ellison teased.

I furrowed my eyebrows at her comment as I tried to push down the jealousy from thinking about Isa kissing someone else.

She wrinkled her nose and made a show of wiping off the bottle opening with the hem of her shirt. But she glanced at me—for a split second—and a glimmer of amusement flashed in her eyes as the corner of her lip twitched upward.

“All right, well, we should probably find our seats, yeah?” She clapped her hands, looking toward Ellison, who wasn’t paying her any attention.

“Hmm?” Ellison turned her head away from Bullet.

“Seats?” Isa tilted her head toward the grandstands.

“Damn, you really want to get away from me that badly, huh?” I teased, not missing the rosy streaks forming across her cheeks.

Colter and Ellison exchanged a look of what seemed to be amusement, but then Ellison linked her arm with Isa’s and pulled her away to find their seats.

“What?” I muttered when I realized Colter was staring at me.

“Nothing, man.” He pouted his lips slightly, sucking his cheeks in as his eyes flicked to the side.

“It’s obviously not nothing,” I grumbled.

“You’re right. It obviously isn’t.” He gave me one more long look before turning his attention back to Bullet.

I didn’t know what he meant. Well, I mean I did, but… It was friends joking around with each other. Platonic flirting… That was a thing, right? I went back to tacking up my horse, trying my best to forget about the crush I’d been harboring for Isa since last year.

A warm breeze swept through the arena, and I grasped the crown of my hat, pulling it off my head to wipe the beads of sweat off my forehead.

I lowered my head, raising only my eyes as I took a few shallow breaths. Sweat trickled down my back, and flashes of last year’s NFR cycled through my mind.

That’s over and done, Reid. Focus.

I made sure to do my pre-performance routine this time, superstition creeping up my spine. It probably wasn’tas deep as I made it out to be, but it was the same concept as a football player wearing the same socks for every game, or fans sitting in the same seats to watch a game at home. If you broke the tradition and lost, it was hard not to think it could have been because you changed things up.

I wasn’t willing to test the theory again.

“You good?” Colter asked, to which I fervently nodded, even if it was only a half-truth.

“I’m ready to get out there and win this whole thing.” My head swam with nerves, but if I pretended I wasn’t bothered, it would be reflected in my performance, right?

Whatever makes you feel better.

“Folks, that was our last steer wrestler for the afternoon! We’ll be moving on to the team roping event next, and we’ve got a couple cowboys from our neighbors over in Idaho to kick us off. Let’s give them a hand, shall we?”

I rubbed my fingers together, trying to ignore how clammy my hands had gotten in the past thirty minutes.

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