Page 34 of The Cabin

I refuse to look up because I don’t want to know how many people are watching and I think knowing my crush is about to see me bust my ass is mortifying enough. Rodeo boy is explaining some things next to me but I don’t catch any of them. I just keep drying my hands on my leggings and taking deep breaths. When he walks away to a big red button with a joint stick controller next to it, I squeeze my legs as hard as I can around this thing's belly. Here goes nothing.

The buzzer sounds and the first buck is jarring, but manageable. I don’t even have time to think let alone look for people’s reactions. I’m just zoned into the bull’s neck, trying my best to anticipate its moves. The bucking goes from zero to sixty extremely quickly. I have absolutely no strategy except to hang on for dear life. By this point, I’m full on hugging this thing, praying I don’t die when I fall off. Maybe if I imagine I’m crushing Brian between my thighs…

Whack. I’m on my back, staring at the cloudless sky without having any recollection of how I got there. Dazed, I roll over to my knees and the rodeo man is there to lend a hand but I wave him off and stumble to the gate. Grayson is waiting, a huge smile on his face, arms out, ready to steady me.

“Woah there, cowgirl. Take a second.” His hands grip my upper arms and he watches me. “You killed it.”

“Oh, ha ha ha,” I grumble, swatting him away but almost immediately stumbling over my feet. Is this what a concussion feels like? Grayson grabs me again, leaning me up against the enclosure. “Quit stalling and go get on that thing.”

He takes one last look to make sure I’m not gonna eat it and moves over to the entrance.

“Hang on, how long was I up there for? Please tell me at least two seconds…”

Jumping up on the bull with annoying ease, he grabs the handle and calls, “Six point five, actually.”

“WHAT?” I yelp before I can stop myself. Holy shit, I’m amazing. “Wow, I have this in the bag.”

He laughs and shakes his head. “Don’t get cocky too soon, cowgirl.”

Rodeo boy…man…whatever you wanna call him. I don’t know how old he is. Rodeo man-boy fires things back up and I am more and more angry the longer I watch Grayson so gracefully ride this crazy contraption. He looks like a goddamn professional. I almost want to shut my eyes, but I need to watch him beat me. I need to do that, keep my head held high. Right as he’s going to pass me, the bull gives an extra moody jerk and Grayson flies off. Damn, that does look bad from this perspective. He pops up easily, not even stumbling once.

“Six point five seconds!”

“No effing way!” I shout, giving Grayson a dirty look as he approaches me.

“Rules are rules, mousie.”

“Okay, we’re done with the pet names.”

“We most certainly aren’t, I’m gonna have you tattoo my favorite one on your body.”

Big, agitated growl. Big, stompy steps. Big, dramatic retreat.

“Wow, you’re a sore loser.” He’s goading me.

“I didn’t lose, I tied.”

“Fair.”

A bunch of people are grabbing spots looking towards a big, open field. “What’s going on here?”

“I’m not sure.”

I get closer and see a sign on a stick that’s pushed into the ground. “Oh! No way! Fireworks!” Wait a second… “Holy shit, is it already the 4th of July?”

“Yeah.”

I look back at him, he’s putting his phone back in his pocket. “Yeah? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“To be honest, I didn’t realize. I don’t really look at my phone much, and when I do I guess I just haven’t been looking at the date.”

“I’ve just been counting the days since I got up here. I had no idea.”

“Do you wanna stay and watch them?” He nods towards the grass. I hadn’t noticed how much light we lost. Looks like dusk fell the way it always does, all of a sudden. Why does it always feel like that?

I smile. I don’t know when the last time I watched fireworks was. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Grayson leads us to a spot in the back, away from the hordes of people and we sit side by side, shoulders touching. “So, what,” I say, “were you like a professional bull rider growing up or something?”

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