Page 41 of Wannabe in Wyoming
A tall, pretty woman in her early twenties stepped up to a microphone that’d been placed in front of the honor guard. “O, say can you see . . .”
Nathan’s heart beat faster, swelling with pride, same as it did every single time he stood for the colors and anthem. He loved being a soldier and serving his country, but his enlistment was almost up, and he couldn’t wait to start the next chapter of his life. Hopefully, with Willow at his side. It was the first time since he’d lost his family that he truly looked forward to something—a lifetime of somethings.
As the song finished, the crowd broke into loud applause again before resuming their seats. The honor guard rode off to the gate they’d all entered from, while several event staff members directed Nathan, Willow, and the others to the reserved section of seats, where they’d be front and center for all the rodeo action.
The first competition was the women’s barrel racing, which had Willow’s eyes popping out of their sockets. The competitors thundering around the stationary barrels had enthralled her. Dirt clods flew through the air, kicked up by the hooves of the horses galloping like the wind. When a new best time was posted, Willow shook her head. “Crap! I’ll never be able to ride a horse that fast.”
Nathan put his arm around her. “Maybe not fast enough for competition, but you’ll get there, baby. You did great when we went riding the other day.” While she still needed more practice when it came to cantering and galloping, she’d done well with trotting when they’d gone on a trail ride through a local wildlife park with her instructor the other day. It’d been a lot of fun, but Nathan had paid for it the next day. Like he’d told Willow, it’d been years since he’d ridden a horse, and his ass and thighs had painfully reminded him of that fact. Thankfully, Willow had offered to apply a healthy dose of arnica gel to his aching body parts. The massage she’d given him had been fantastic, almost as amazing as the sex that’d followed.
Up next was the calf roping competition, which was Jeremiah’s event. While Willow’s neighbor had posted an impressive time, he’d lost out on winning the event when the last roper took the lead.
After his ranch hand, Ethan Rivers, had placed third in steer wrestling, or bulldogging as it was also called, Jeremiah had taken off his chaps and spurs and managed to track down Willow and Nathan in the crowd. Luckily, there’d been an empty seat for him next to Willow. Nathan flagged down a beer vendor to buy Jeremiah and himself a round to toast his second-place award.
It wasn’t until Nathan handed the other man the aluminum beer bottle that he noticed the guy looked pissed about something—and he didn’t think it was because Jeremiah had lost the first-place buckle. He was about to ask him if he was okay, but the announcer called out the name of the lead-off competitor in the next event. “Our first bronc rider of the day is Dale Harris.”
Nathan furrowed his brow at Willow. “Isn’t that your new foreman’s name?”
“It is. Think it’s the same guy?” she asked.
“It’s the same fucker all right—I saw him down in the chutes,” Jeremiah grumbled just loud enough for Nathan and Willow to hear him.
“You saw him? What happened, Jeremiah? Please don’t tell me you got into an argument or something with him. He’s going to be living on my ranch and working for me in a few weeks.”
A snort was his reply followed by, “Don’t worry, Willow-girl. I’ll be more than happy to avoid the pompous ass from now on.” He mumbled a few more choice insults under his breath.
Willow looked at Nathan and rolled her eyes. “Well, isn’t that just fucking peachy.”
Nathan didn’t think Jeremiah could get more pissy than he already was at Dale, until after the guy won his event. As he stood in the center of the arena and accepted his prize, his gaze seemed to zero in on Jeremiah out of the hundreds of people there. Nathan’s eyes nearly bugged out when Dale blew a kiss Jeremiah’s way. No one else beside him, Willow, and Jeremiah could probably figure out who the man had been looking at when he’d made the gesture, but Jeremiah’s face blooming beet red and his expression turning thunderous was all the confirmation Nathan needed. Clearly something had happened between the two men, and Willow’s friend wasn’t one bit happy about it.
Before Nathan and Willow could ask Jeremiah what in the hell was going on, the man excused himself and left the stands. Willow stared after him and then shook her head. “Yup, this is going to be a riot.”
Putting his arm around her shoulders, Nathan pulled her close and kissed her temple. “Just another day at the rodeo, Wannabe. As for those two, they’re men, they’ll settle it. Probably with fists, but you need to leave them to it.” Although, after that blown kiss, Nathan wondered if they’d be using other body parts to settle things. Either way, it was none of his business.
“Boys are so dumb sometimes.” Rolling her eyes, Willow added, “And yes, I meantboys—at least when it comes to those two acting like children.”
Laughing, he kissed her again. “You’re not wrong, baby, you’re not wrong. I was at least smart enough to know a good thing when I saw it.”
Her blush charmed him. He loved that he could make the rosy glow appear on her skin. Though he’d much rather they were in private, where he could watch the color spread down her chest. Those damn nipple rings of hers drove him crazy, and he got half-hard just thinking about them.
The events concluded, with the winners keeping their buckles and ribbons and donating their cash prizes to the Chrisco family. Nathan loved hearing that. It was the same thing the people in his hometown would’ve done too.
Full of fried foods and beer, Nathan and Willow strolled out with the crowd to the parking lot. It’d been a long but fun day.
Arriving back at the ranch, they quickly locked the chickens in for the night before heading into the house and collapsing onto the couch together. Ethel found her way into Nathan’s lap, as was becoming her custom.
“I don’t know what she’s going to do without you tomorrow. Probably be really sad and cry a lot.” Willow spoke softly while stroking the feline’s fur rhythmically. Ethel purred in response, oblivious to the tension creeping between the couple.
Knowing they weren’t really talking about the cat, he decided to play along anyway. “I’ll be sad too. I’ll miss her like crazy. But I hope she’s not too sad. She knows I’m going to be back just as soon as I can manage it.”
“Really?” Willow looked up at him, her eyes so big and wide—full of hope.
“Of course, baby. I wanna be in Wyoming. It’s where my girls are.” He winked at her. “And Fred too—can’t forget about him.”
Shifting over and shooing away Ethel, who gave her an indignant glare, Willow straddled Nathan’s lap, wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and sighed. “Good, because we want you here too.”
Returning her embrace, he buried his face in her hair, inhaling deeply. He wished he could put her in his pocket, take her with him, and keep her beside him always. It should’ve been too soon to be feeling so strongly, but there was no stopping the freight train of emotions barreling through him. This woman was it for him. He knew it to the depths of his soul. He just needed to find the balls to tell her and hope like hell that she felt the same way.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
