2. Reid
CHAPTER TWO
reid
I can’t believe Mikey convinced us to do this stupid event with him,” I grumbled to Colter as we prepared to participate in the wild horse racing at the Bucking Horse Sale. The sun, still high in the sky, beat down on us without any cloud coverage, making the weather uncomfortably warm for mid-May. Mikey was positioned out in the middle of the arena while we held the gate our horse was in.
“I think we both know this was the only way he was ever going to agree to it,” Colter pointed out. We’d tried signing Mikey up the past few years without any success. He’d told us he would only do it on one condition: we competed with him.
“All right, folks! The only thing left to do is a wild horse race. We’ve got eight teams out there today!” The announcer started introducing all of the teams one by one. “And finally, in the blue, we have a team from right down the road in Silver Creek, Montana!”
“We should have made Jake and Hayden do this.” I sighed as the horse rattled the bucking chute .
“Remind me again why we didn’t?” Colter asked, and I shrugged before I was interrupted by the announcer calling for the race to begin.
“Help me out here, folks! Let’s count them down. Five! Four!” The announcer started the countdown, and the crowd joined in. “Three! Two! One!”
We opened the gate and held on to the rope while the horse ran out, dragging us with it as dust flew in the air, surrounding us in a hazy cloud. Hooves pounded against the ground, and my muscles tensed as I held on to the rope with all my might.
“Dig your heels in, boys!” Mikey yelled at us as he sprinted over carrying the small saddle.
God, he looks ridiculous. He was wearing too-tight Wranglers, despite all of us telling him they didn’t look good. He claimed they “ showed off his ass better and the ladies loved that shit.”
His original plan was to wear chaps—just chaps—but we immediately shut that down.
“Shut the fuck up, man!” Colter gritted his teeth as we tried to pull the horse to a stop.
We were still being pulled around, and Mikey, being the dumbass he was, ran behind the horse, nearly getting kicked, which would have put him a piss-poor mood.
Neither of us would have felt bad for him, though.
We finally got the horse slowed down enough for Colter to grab its neck as I continued to hold on to the lead rope. Mikey ran around to the side and threw the saddle over the horse, taking his damn time securing it.
“Can you go any slower? My baby sister could do a better job of this than you!” I barked at him, wanting this whole thing to be over. “Come on, some of the other teams have almost got it!” Since Colter and I were dragged into this silly competition, we’d better win the whole damn thing.
“Give me a minute!” he snapped back before he finally got the saddle secured and hopped on the horse. It took off, and Mikey hung on for dear life as Colter and I stayed to catch our breaths.
“Hee-haw!” I heard him yell as he disappeared around the corner. A few other teams followed suit, leaving us in their dust—literally.
Once the dust settled, Colter looked up at me from his bent over position. “Never again.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, there goes the blue team. He’s headed around the track followed by the orange and pink teams.” The announcer interrupted us as the spectators all around us cheered. “We’ve got ourselves a winner, folks. The blue team out of Silver Creek, Montana!”
I looked back at Colter, rolling my eyes as I brushed off my jeans. “Never again.”
That evening, we all huddled around the pool table at Rudy’s. Jake and I were playing against Colter and Mikey, and Hayden was watching.
“So, how’s all that wedding planning goin’, big man?” Mikey asked Colter.
“I think Ellison’s got a pretty good hold on it. She isn’t really letting me touch much.” He shrugged as he lined up a shot, aiming to hit the ten-ball in the middle left pocket.
“Yeah, I talked to Isabelle and it sounds like they’re getting it done. They might be barely afloat, but at least they’re still above water,” I added. “Besides, I offered to help. We both did, but we were shut down.”
“It was probably best to leave it to the ladies anyway.” Jake chuckled. “I mean, what do you two know about weddings?”
Silence fell over the group, the thud of the cue ball dropping into a pocket suddenly amplified, as Jake realized what he had implied. We’d already been through the process of planning a wedding once before for Colter, and it hadn’t gone well.
“I—man, I didn’t mean it like that. You and Ellison are meant for each other. I think we all know that.” He grimaced as he moved to set up the cue ball and take his turn.
“It’s all right, buddy. I know what you meant. Shit, I don’t know anything about weddings. All of these decisions about flowers and colors. I just let her decide what she wants and it’s good with me.” Colter gave Jake a reassuring look, even though I knew the implication probably still stung.
The topic of Sophie, Colter’s ex-fiancée, didn’t come up much these days. Not that it ever really came up before Ellison was in the picture, but now it was almost as if she never existed. Colter had moved on and found himself a great woman, and we were all happy for him. Most importantly, he was happy. That’s all I’d ever wanted for him.
“Speaking of which, she’s calling right now. Hayden, you want to take over for me?” Colter handed Hayden his pool stick as he answered the phone and walked toward the bar entrance.
“So, now that he’s gone, how have you all been doing with the ladies?” Mikey waggled his eyebrows, earning him groans from the rest of us.
“Mikey, no one wants to talk about the girl you brought home last night.” Jake shot him a look that had Mikey rolling his eyes before he knocked the eight-ball in.
“Well, that was quick.” Hayden sighed, leaning his pool stick against the wall.
“Just like Mikey’s sexcapades.” Jake snorted before Mikey smacked him with the end of his pool stick. “Ouch!”
I laughed and gave him a fist bump before asking, “Another round or what, boys?”
They all nodded as we hung up our cue sticks and made our way through the crowd of people over to the bar where Ol’ Rudy himself was working.
John Rudolph, known as Rudy, was a beloved man in the community. Colter had told me once that he couldn’t remember a time Rudy wasn’t here in Miles City. It surprised me to see him working tonight. It could get rowdy during the Bucking Horse Sale, and it was only a matter of time before a fight broke out and someone got arrested. Only two of the regular bartenders were here, though, which was probably why Rudy came in.
“Ho! Hello there, boys,” Rudy greeted us as we sat down in front of him. He had a thick Norwegian accent he always said came from his mother’s side of the family, since his father was German.
The boys all exchanged their greetings.
“Hello, Rudy. Keeping yourself busy, I see?” I nodded at the bar. The place wasn’t too crowded yet, but by the time ten thirty or eleven o’clock rolled around, it would probably be at capacity .
“Oh yeah, I’ve just been working away.”
“Well, that’s good to hear. I’m surprised you’re working. Hopefully things don’t get too rowdy for you,” I added, a tinge of concern in my voice for the older man.
“Oh, I sure hope not. You kids these days keep things interesting.” He chuckled. “I came in to make sure it wasn’t getting too crazy and ended up staying.”
“Well, be careful,” Jake pointed out. “You know how the Bucking Horse Sale gets.”
“Shucks, don’t worry about me, boys. I dealt with worse back in my day. Hell, I’ve been in more tussles at bars than I could ever count.” He let out a deep belly laugh. “What can I get for you?”
“We’ll take a round of Pendleton, one for each of us,” Mikey piped up, sticking a finger in the air. “With an extra one for Colter, please.”
“You got it. I hear Colter’s getting married!” He kept chatting with us as he poured the shots.
Colter walked up to the bar a few moments later. “You talking about me, Rudy? Better not be saying anything bad,” he joked as he shook the old man’s hand.
“No, never, young man! Say, I hear you’re getting married!” Rudy exclaimed, repeating his statement with a look of pure joy spreading across his face.
“Sure am! In July. Ellison has been hard at work planning everything,” Colter beamed. I’d noticed Colter was much more excited with the process for this wedding, and that was the difference between now and four years ago. Maybe it was because, fundamentally, Colter and Sophie’s relationship was strained. With how often we were on the road—and how much she protested—we could all see the breakup coming toward the end .
Ellison supported Colter’s dreams; Sophie suppressed them.
“That’s great, son. Well, here you boys go. Take care of yourselves and stay out of trouble now.” Rudy set the shots in front of us and gave us a nod before moving on to the next patrons.
Mikey held up his shot for a toast. “All right, boys. Here’s to ridin’, ropin’, and not dyin’ in the wild horse race today.”
“And to love!” Jake jokingly added as we all raised our glasses, to which Mikey groaned, “Man, you just ruined it.”
“To love!” Hayden and I repeated Jake’s statement with a laugh as Colter’s face turned beet red. He shook his head as he tapped the shot glass on the bar counter and then threw it back, the rest of us following suit.
“Woo!” Mikey cheered. “All right, let’s go back so I can kick your asses at pool.” He smacked us all on the back as he passed by, starting to head back to the pool table in the far corner of the bar.
“Yeah, unless you hit the eight-ball in again,” Hayden muttered under his breath.
“What was that, Watkins?” Mikey looked over his shoulder, not quite out of earshot yet, and tilted his head at him as if scolding him, which caused Hayden to blush a little and clam up.
“He said, unless the game finishes as fast as you do with your hookups.” Jake snickered, earning himself a middle finger from Mikey and a gaping Hayden who stood frozen by my side.
“Come on, bud. You can be on my team this time.” I chuckled as I patted him on the back.
As Hayden, Colter, and I followed Jake and Mikey back for another game, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
Isa
ellison wanted me to let you know that if any of you get in trouble, she’ll beat your asses herself
I chuckled to myself as I typed out a response. Isa had changed her contact name in my phone a while ago from Isabelle to Isa with a bee emoji. I guess it was supposed to be a cute play on words since her last name was Bennett. I didn’t understand it, but it seemed like something Kacey, my little sister, would do.
You don’t have to worry about me, Colter, and Hayden
Isa
i know. i think the message was meant for mikey and jake. but mostly mikey
You know, Mikey almost looks better with a black eye
Isa
i don’t particularly care about what mikey looks like but ellison doesn’t need that kind of stress
Hey, at least if he got in a fight now, it’d be healed by the time the wedding rolls around
Isa
just keep them out of trouble ok?
I sent her the saluting emoji and put my phone in my back pocket right as Mikey tossed a cue stick at me, the sudden movement startling me.
“Hey, what the fuck, Michael? You almost hit me!” I caught it, but if he’d thrown it one second sooner, it would have hit me in the face .
“Pay attention and quit texting your woman, Lawson, and you wouldn’t have to worry about that.” He smirked.
“She’s not—” I started.
“You’re one to talk. You’re worse than some of the college girls in this bar constantly on their phones.” Colter laughed, interrupting my protests. “At least Reid has a woman to text.”
“I have plenty of women to text.” Mikey rolled his eyes as he started scrolling through his contacts, showing us just how many.
“Isabelle and I are just friends,” I grumbled at the same time. “Stop calling her my woman . We don’t see each other like that.”
At least, she doesn’t. That much was clear. She’d said it herself.
But I didn’t necessarily blame her for not seeing me as more than a friend. How could she? We lived over a thousand miles away, and I wasn’t exactly trying to get into a long-distance relationship. Or really a relationship at all. I was more worried about making sure Colter and Ellison’s wedding went smoothly and everyone ended up happy.
That’s how it had always been. As long as the people I cared about were happy, I was happy.
No questions asked.
I also wasn’t about to push Isabelle away with my…feelings…for her. If she needed a friend, especially since Ellison was in Montana with us, then that’s what I’d be. I’d be the best damn friend there ever was if that was what it took to keep her in my life.
“Whatever you say, Lawson. Besides, I had no idea Isabelle was who you were texting.” Mikey raised his eyebrows for a split second but then focused his attention on putting in his quarters to play. “All right, boys. Rack ’em.”