Page 18 of Dallas

“Yeah. Better to go rest up before you try to go win big at the championship.”

“Have you ever won before?” I ask.

Colt and Dallas laughed. “No. That’s a million-dollar pot all on its own,” Colt explains. “If I win that, I’m out. Retiring.”

“Liar,” says Stella. “If you were just here for the money, you would have been gone a long time ago because you really do have enough. You want the clout.”

Colt shrugs. “I suppose so. But I’d like to test that theory by winning the championship.”

“You have to compete with me,” Dallas says.

“You both have to compete with Maverick,” Stella points out.

“Plus, everybody that comes outside of this regional circuit,” Dallas says. “You get into the championships and you’re competing with global stars. It’s a lot harder.”

“And the bulls are meaner.” Colt grins at the prospect.

I don’t like the sound of that, but I realize that Dallas isn’t asking my permission to do his job. Nor should he. But it makes me nervous, knowing that he does something so dangerous. I’m also kind of in awe of him.

I don’t feel especially brave. I feel like I have a small life geared toward my safety, and that hasn’t even actually kept me safe. He’s out there. Wild. Brave.

“I have some pre-riding rituals I need to do,” Dallas says, looking a little bit sheepish.

“What?” I ask, amusement making me smile.

“I don’t usually have to explain it, because these two get it,” he says, gesturing to Colt and Stella.

“Yeah. I have some things I need to do, also,” Colt says. “You have to appease the gods.”

“The arena gods,” Stella says, hand on her heart. “You get a little bit superstitious. Because you win after you do acertain set of routines, and then you want to make sure you keep doing it.”

“And you never want to repeat something that you did before you had a ride that went badly, or before you got injured,” Colt says.

“Do you get injured?”

“I broke my jaw last year,” he says. “I got hit in the side of the face by the bull’s horn. I’m lucky he didn’t tear my face open. If he’d hit me with a sharp edge, I’d have gotten cut open from jaw to nose.”

I put my hand on my stomach. “That sounds horrible.”

“Yeah. But it’s great,” Colt says.

Dallas smiles. “I just need to take a few laps around, then… other things.”

I tilt my head at his vagueness. “Is it bad luck to tell me what your superstitions are?”

“I don’t know,” he says. “I’ve never spoken them out loud. Which means I won’t be doing it today.Afterward. Afterward, we’ll have the conversation.”

He doesn’t leave me alone without making sure that I’m settled. He puts me in the corner of a space that’s something like a green room and gives some information to a woman who seems to be in charge of the area. After that, I’m given water and offered food continually throughout the day, while I wait for the rodeo to start. Then I’m ushered to amazing seats that give me a prime view of all the proceedings.

Until last night, I’d never been to a rodeo. This is quite literally my first one.

Today, it feels no less electrifying as I sit there watching as rodeo royalty rides out on their horses, flags held up in the air and streaming behind them. There’s a stirring rendition of the national anthem, followed byFriends in LowPlaces, which I don’t know, but everyone in the crowd seems to know. I feel like I’m missing an important piece of the culture with that one.

The bareback bronc riding is first, and that’s enough to get my adrenaline pumping, my pulse ratchets up, and doesn’t go back down. Not during the calf roping, the steer wrestling, or the saddle bronc riding. Barrel racing is right before the bulls, who are the grand finale of the night. I’m captivated by the fierce, strong barrel racers. How they guide their horses with speed and precision.

When Stella Lane is announced, I jump to my feet and cheer for her. Like she’s been my best friend for years, and not just a girl I sat and had lunch with. All her strength is on display as she steers her horse around the barrels, leaving each one standing, every turn tight and fast.

Her score puts her in second place, and she’s grinning from ear to ear when she finishes.

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