Page 129 of Opposites (Never) Attract
Taking strength from my sisters, I wrapped my arms around Harmony and Bliss’s waists and headed towards the bright lights of the arena.
“You all right?” Bliss asked, looking over our shoulders, probably at Tag.
If I didn’t start acting more like myself, this whole night was going to turn into the Tag and Sunshine Break Up Show. My brothers would feel compelled to do somethingstupid, and my sisters would want to know the whole story, and there was no story.
Because there was no Tag and Sunshine.
It had just been…a fling.
“Good,” I said with a bright smile, pretending as hard as I could. “I am so good.”
All I had to do was avoid him. In a crowd of a couple thousand people, how hard could that be?
Of course,we ended up sitting right next to each other. It was like everyone conspired to put us together and there was nothing I could do to fight it without making a scene.
My butt was planted on the aluminum bleacher, I had a hotdog in one hand, a bucket of popcorn in the other, and a cold beer at my feet. None of which I could stomach. I was working hard to keep our legs from touching. Our shoulders. My body was already sore from how tense I was.
“Will you relax?” Tag breathed. “Last time I checked, my skin wasn’t poison. You’re gonna give yourself a cramp.”
I offered a teeth-forward smile and took a deep breath. Our shoulders touched.
Fuck the hotdog. I needed my beer.
“Eat this.” I gave him the hotdog so I could pick up my beer and down half of it in one long chug.
I heard his chuckle and wanted to punch him in the face. How dare he find me cute or amusing?
“I’m sorry, Sun,” he said quietly, for my ears only. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
No. Nope. Not happening. Luckily, Mac was sitting on my other side and I turned to him.
“Tell me what I’m looking at, Mac,” I said.
“Seth,” he said, pointing to where Seth stood just outside the ring, getting ready for his next event. He was tall and lean, wearing a flack jacket and very impressive chaps.
“Let’s go, Sethie!” Mac shouted.
Our whole section started clapping and whooping after that.
“This is a timed event,” Mac explained. “But style points also count.”
“Style points?” I asked, confused. “He’s going to sit on a bull who is going to attempt to buck him off. What is stylish about that?”
“It’s about how much control he has while the bull is bucking him off.”
“None,” I said. “He has no control. It’s a bull.”
Mac scowled at me. “Just watch some of the other riders so you can compare.”
It was a big production getting the first rider on the bull. But, when the gate finally opened and the bull came charging out, heaving and bucking, the crowd went crazy. The rider was thrown off in three seconds and the whole arena let out an audible sigh of disappointment.
“Did you know that in all of professional sports, bull riding is considered one of the most dangerous?” I repeated some of what I learned when I looked up what Seth would be competing in tonight. “Statistically speaking, there are nearly twenty serious injuries for every one thousand rides.”
Mac was ignoring me, his eyes, I could tell, were fixed on Amity, who was currently walking down the bleachers to go talk to one of the riders.
“Don’t ever tell Seth or his brothers those odds,” Tag said, clearly eavesdropping on my conversation.
Finally, it was Seth’s turn. Everyone in our section got to their feet. I wanted to cover Carter’s youngest daughter’seyes, but she was jumping up and down with her stuffed elephant, as excited as everyone else to see her uncle ride.
