Page 70 of Wild and Unruly
Entering the chutes, we see the time to beat is nine point two seconds. I raise a brow at Bonnie, and she gives me a determined look back. This is what I love about working with Bonnie. She is fun and good at what she does, but when it comes down to the actual showing, she is serious and determined to win.
When I showed with Logan, that wasn’t the case. He didn’t care enough, and that was okay. It wasn’t really his thing, but it was mine.
Finding a partner that fits every single part of my life as well as Bonnie does was slightly frightening. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, even though part of me was desperate for that to never happen for us.
I just want her.
Bonnie gives me a wink, then nods at the guys in the chute. They pull the lever and the cow takes off, Bonnie and I on its tail.
She reaches out with her rope, and I feel myself holding my breath, my arm already up in the air swinging my rope, and the minute I see she’s hit her mark, I throw my rope, wrapping it around the back leg and pulling taut, watching as Bonnie does the same.
I whoop as I throw my rope and gallop to where she lets her own rope loose. A bright smile stretches across her lips, and I lean over, closing in on her and meeting her halfway for a kiss.
The crowd is whooping and hollering. My hat comes offfrom the force of our kiss, and I smile as I hop off my horse to grab it.
“That was Stetson Cash and Bonnie Helix with a time of…” The announcer pauses and I squint at the screen, the sun blinding me from seeing it.
“Stetson!” Bonnie yells excitedly, covering her mouth with one hand when the announcer finishes his statement.
“Eight point eight seconds! Putting them at the top of the leaderboard!” The crowd cheers around us, and I turn to Bonnie, whose arm is in the air in victory. I do the same and run toward her. I take her foot out of her stirrup and step into it, bringing me to her height and kissing her again.
“Fuck yeah, baby!”
She smiles and hands me my reins, a blush working over her cheeks from so much PDA, and I can’t help but be glad for it, loving that sweet color on her cheeks and knowing that everyone in the vicinity knows that this woman is mine.
We leave the arena, and just then my phone rings. I dig into my pocket, pulling it out and seeing Dani’s name on the receiver.
“Dani! Hey! We just killed it out there.” Since this show was so far away from the ranch, it wasn’t conducive to have everyone come out and leave the ranch empty-handed, so she and CT stayed back today.
“Stets, that’s great.” Her voice is subdued, and I frown.
“Everything okay?”
“Bonnie near you?” she asks instead of answering me, and I glance at my girlfriend, who’s walking next to me on her horse, letting them cool. She bites her lip in concern, obviously reading the concern on my face.
“Yeah,” I answer warily. “What’s going on?”
“The article…um…” Dani pauses, and I can hear CT talk in the background, saying home. “Yeah, okay. Hey, can you guys get home soon?”
I purse my lips in irritation, realizing that my dreams of trailer time is slowly slipping out of my hands. “Yeah, okay, we’ll get headed out.”
“Okay, see you soon.”
“Everything okay?” Bonnie asks when I hang up, and I angle my horse toward the exit of the warm-up arena and head toward the trailer.
“I don’t know. She didn’t really say, just that we needed to get home.”
“Well, we should hurry then, in case someone is hurt or something,” she says, swinging off her horse the minute we’re by the trailers.
Unease follows me as I move around my horse, patting him on the neck and giving him a treat. I take care of our tack, and Bonnie moves around me, doing the same for her horse. While they continue to dry, we make sure there’s hay in the trailer hay bags and pack our trailer full of tack.
Even as we drive home, the horses safely tucked away in the trailer and Bonnie tucked under my arm in my truck, I feel something unfamiliar. Dread, I think. Dread that when I get home, that other shoe I was so worried about is going to drop.
Fuck. Dani mentioned the article. I read the article. It was amazing. I don’t know what could have been in it that would make Dani worry.
I frown and look at the woman who is dozing now on my shoulder and squeeze her tighter to my side. She didn’t say the article was for this next issue, plus I think she mentioned editing. So, how did Dani see it already?
Worry and questions plague me until we’re pulling into the dirt drive that leads down to the barn. CT and Dani step out of the barn as we park, and we head to get our horses.
