Page 44 of Wild and Unruly
Bonnie, predictably, tilts her head back and laughs loudly, drawing the attention of my family. I could give a shit less. I made her laugh, which is my ultimate goal. Always.
“That was so cheesy,” she says once she’s caught her breath.
Announcers tell us the team roping is up next, and I look at Bonnie. “Ready to go warm up?”
“Let’s do this.” She holds up a hand for a high five, then blushes and takes it down. “Ignore that. Never mind, let’s go!”
I laugh at her and hold up my hand, waiting patiently for her to slap my own. “Let’s do it.”
We head to the trailer where the horses are tied, working quickly in relative silence to get them tacked up, allowing Logan to help us out while Jax, Mitch, and Thea sit in the camping chairs I brought and sip beers. I appreciate them being here and staying out of the way so my head can get into show mode.
There is a weird switch that happens when I get ready to compete. It’s not nerves, necessarily, but something like adrenaline pausing until it’s go time.
Bonnie seems to be getting into the same headspace, focusing on getting her horse ready and making sure her saddle is perfect.
Once the horses are ready, we get our hats on, and I glance over at Bonnie, only to find her already looking at me, and I give her a smile.
We climb on and make our way to the warm-up arena, each going our own way to give the horses time to heat their musclesand prepare for the quick but intense run. Our draw is near the end, so we have a little time before we need to line up and get ready.
I put my head down and focus for the next twenty minutes, trying to keep my attention on my horse and getting ready for the run. But it’s impossible to keep my eyes to myself.
Bonnie lopes around the arena, her head pointed in the direction she’s going, focusing on her horse like I should be. She has her hair tucked back in a low ponytail under her hat, looking mighty professional, and I have to stop my horse and find a safe place to sit off to the side of the arena.
Fuck if I wasn’t ready to move the day along. I was eager to show, eager to ride with her, but I’ve waited long enough since our last interaction and was ready for more time alone with her.
Soon enough, Logan waves us both over, acting as our coach for the day and keeping an eye on the show so we know when it’s our turn to go.
“Man, I wish they’d have someone who kept track of the other arena for us,” Bonnie says, catching her breath as we walk side by side to the show arena.
“They do sometimes. They must be short-staffed this year.” As a matter of fact, there are way less helpers this year, down to two guys manning the chute. The same two guys that have been here all day.
Normally, they’d have people on rotation to give them a break, but there wasn’t anyone else around to help.
I shake my head at the thought, paying attention to where we’re lined up. The group in front of us enters their chute, and they have the cow loaded in no time. The cowboys who are running give the nod, and the chute opens, releasing the cow, and they take off. I watch with bated breath, Bonnie leaning toget a better look at my side, and I whistle when they catch the cow in seven point two seconds.
“Shit.” Bonnie laughs. “They jumped the leaderboard quickly.”
“Hey.” I reach over and hold out my hand. She clasps it with hers, and we move our horses together. I make sure I have her eyes when I say, “We’re just having fun. No pressure, okay?”
I can see her hesitation to agree with me, and I love how competitive she seems to be. She was fucking awesome because even if we don’t win, I’d love to do well today to prove she and I can keep this up for more events. But I wasn’t about to say that.
“Okay.” She takes a deep breath, and chancing it, I tug her closer. She willingly leans over, and I tilt my head to give her a kiss. It’s a little challenging with our hats, but we make it work, and I inhale her sweet scent.
Finally, we’re called into the arena, and we take our respective spots, waiting for them to get a cow in the chute. The cow is a wild one that bucks and tries to push against the gates, but they manage to keep him in.
Bonnie looks over to me, and I wink at her, letting her lead and give the nod when she’s ready. I wait a few seconds, one, two, three, four…and she nods.
The cow busts out of the chute and veers right in front of Bonnie, giving her a challenging angle, but she and her horse kick into high gear and get back in place.
I know it wasted a second or two, but she’s quick on the rope, throwing it out and catching him around the head. I nearly yell out in excitement, but it is my turn, and I’m quick to throw out my line, wrapping around the back foot on the first try, thank God.
If I’d missed, we would have been out.
We pull taut, and I whoop, throwing my rope out and letting the cow go. The rodeo hands go after the cow, getting our ropes for us, and I trot over to Bonnie, who’s grinning like we just won a championship show. I reach out for her hand, and she shakes her head, still smiling as she slaps my hand in a high five.
I laugh, and we look at the timer. Nine seconds flat. Damn. That was a fucking amazing time for our first time out.
“Damn,” she whispers. “Sorry, Stetson.”
