3. Reid
CHAPTER THREE
reid
A YEAR AND A HALF AGO: THE NATIONAL FINALS RODEO, LAS VEGAS, NV
V iva Las Vegas, baby!” Mikey stretched out his arms like he was beholding the scenery as we walked through the MGM Grand. “God, I love this place!”
“Anyone want to trade me rooms?” I asked Jake and Hayden with a groan as I eyed Mikey and his theatrics.
“Nope.” Jake shook his head, and Hayden continued walking, acting like he didn’t hear me. I would usually be sharing a room with Colter, but since Ellison was with us, I got kicked to the curb and was forced to room with Mikey.
“Godspeed, man.” Colter saluted me as he pulled Ellison toward the elevators, both of them visibly amused.
As much as I loved that Colt and Ellie had found each other, it put me in a predicament. They ended up getting a suite with a bedroom and pullout couch so Ellison’s best friend didn’t have to pay for her own room. I guess I should have done that with Jake and Hayden, but apparently I wasn’t thinking straight.
“God help me is more like it,” I grumbled as I followed behind.
Mikey was gawking at every woman he deemed attractive and every single one of them smiled at him or blushed. I didn’t see the appeal, but something about a tattooed bull rider made all the ladies swoon. He was like a magnet for them, especially here.
Our room was on the twenty-first floor, and when we stepped out of the elevator, he took off. I walked down the hallway at a leisurely pace, in no rush.
“Fuck, man.” Mikey scratched his head as he opened the door to our room.
Uh-oh.
“What’s wrong?” I was still far enough behind him that I didn’t know what the fuss was about.
“There’s only one bed!” he exclaimed as he looked into the room.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
My jaw must have dropped or something, because he looked me in the eyes and grinned. “I’m just messing with ya, Lawson.”
“Ha ha, you’re so funny.” I flashed him my middle finger as I rolled in my suitcases and walked over to the window to look at the view.
“Lighten up, Reid. Have some fun. This is the NFR . You’ve made it, man.”
Yes, and Colter and I didn’t work as hard as we did to get here and throw it all away.
The past year had been full of challenges. Between Colter’s injury preventing him from competing for a month and things that had come up in my personal life, we really had to scrap for our spot in the world standings. Winning in Houston helped relieve some of the stress, but slacking off now—or ever—was not an option. Not when the whole world was watching .
“I have fun.” I rolled my eyes. “My idea of fun is just different from yours.”
“And what’s that? Solving everyone’s problems for them is your idea of fun?”
Ouch. He wasn’t wrong, but it didn’t feel great for Mikey to be the one calling me out on it.
“Ah, man, look at the mini bar!” Mikey blurted from behind me.
I whipped around as he picked up one of the boxes labeled pleasure kit .
“Put that down! I’m not paying for that shit.” I walked over to him, snatched it out of his hand, and put it back in its place before the thirty-second window was up and we’d get charged.
“You know, maybe a little bit of action would do you some good. You saw what meeting Ellison did for Colter.”
I glared at him before he shrugged and plopped down on his bed.
“I’m going to take a walk. You coming or not?” Met with silence, I headed toward the door and looked over my shoulder to see if Mikey was following.
He waved me off, so I took it as a no.
I have fun. I’m a fun guy , I thought as I walked down the hallway.
I spotted Colter, Ellison, Hayden, and Jake by a group of slot machines as I exited the hallway leading to the elevators on the main level.
“Pay up, brother.” Jake nudged Colter as I joined them.
“Pay up for what?” I asked.
“They were betting on how long it would take you to get tired of Mikey.” Ellison covered her mouth, unable to suppress a laugh. “Colter said you’d last at least thirty minutes, and Jake bet you’d be back down here in about ten.”
“At least I had a little bit of faith in him!” Colter complained as he fished out a twenty and handed it over to Jake.
“Yeah, but it’s Mikey, Colt. What did you realistically expect?” Jake chuckled.
“Hey! I can tolerate him, but he almost cost us $50 for a stupid pleasure kit from the mini bar!” I scowled and suddenly had the entire group erupting with laughter.
“Sorry, Reid. I guess someone’s gotta take one for the team since Isa and I are here this year,” Ellison teased.
“I mean, you could have paid for your own room?” Hayden suggested. He had a point, but Vegas was expensive. Even with the money I’d won throughout the year, Vegas was expensive . Maybe it was a product of the way I grew up, but I didn’t want to spend it on nonessentials.
“Buddy, I know you’re trying to help, but there was no way in hell I was going to spend over ten grand just to have my own room.”
“At least you don’t have to share a bed?” Colter added, almost like he was asking a question.
“Yeah, yeah, he already tried to pull that shit on me.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s fine, really. It’s only at night. And hopefully he has the sense to not bring girls up to our room.”
Jake started whistling and Hayden kind of pursed his lips, not wanting to address my comment, as Colter said, “Well, now that you’re down here, should we go find something to do before it starts getting crazy?”
“Yeah, Isa won’t get here until tomorrow morning, so we’ve got time to kill,” Ellison agreed, changing the subject away from Mikey and his activities. Which was for the best, because I think we all knew I’d probably get exiled to someone else’s room—likely Jake and Hayden’s—at least once this trip.
We ended up in one of the casinos and each decided to put a twenty-dollar bill into a slot machine just to try our luck.
“So, this best friend of yours?” I turned to Ellison, who was playing on the slot machine next to me.
“What about her?” She didn’t look at me as she continued to make her bets.
“I feel like I’ve never heard much about her.” In fact, I didn’t know if Ellison had really ever talked about her best friend when she was with us. But then again, she had only come up to Montana to visit a few times between the Fourth of July rodeo and now. Colter returned the favor and visited her a few times during the rare weeks we didn’t have anything going on.
She cursed as she placed a few more bets, not winning much on any of them. “Isabelle and I are polar opposites, but it works. We balance each other out. Kind of like you and Colter. Or maybe more how Colter and I balance each other out.”
“She’s fun, I think you’d like her.” Colter popped his head around the slot machine he was on. “Easily excited, though.”
“Can’t wait to meet her.”
A high-pitched squeal triggered a ringing in my left ear as Ellison leaped up from the table we were sitting at for an early morning breakfast, practically sprinting over to hug the source of the scream: a short, blonde girl.
“I’m so glad you made it!” Ellison squealed. I couldn’t think of a time I’d ever heard Ellison make that kind of noise.
“Thank you for inviting me. I’m so excited.”
I looked at Colter and raised my eyebrow before mouthing, Isabelle?
He nodded before the girls came over to the table.
We all stood, and I realized just how short she was. Her head barely came above my shoulder, and I was basically staring down at her, even though the shoes she was wearing gave her a bit of extra height.
“Guys, this is Isabelle, my best friend. Isa, these are the guys. Colter, as you already know, Mikey, Hayden, Jake, and Reid.” Ellison introduced us as Mikey shook her hand and Hayden and Jake both tipped their hats, exchanging handshakes after.
“Pleasure to meet you, Isa.” I took off my hat to shake her hand.
Her face tipped up, and her eyes, a deep chocolate brown color, met mine. A flush of pink spread across her cheekbones, but she quickly replied, “Nice to meet you too.” She looked so flustered as she continued grasping my palm. It was kind of cute. I swore I saw her swallow before she cleared her throat and dropped my hand.
Ellison looked at her with an amused expression, and I caught the death glare Isabelle gave her before her face went neutral again.
I couldn’t help but stare at her. It was obvious she had caught the attention of every guy around us, especially after she screamed in the middle of the restaurant. But while most people would earn a disapproving stare, she had their eyes lingering. Her smile was contagious, and her waist-length hair bounced with her shoulders every time she laughed with Ellison. The two of them had an interesting contrast, proving Ellison’s statement from yesterday to be true. They were opposites, and not just in appearances. Ellison could sometimes be seen as cold and guarded, but Isabelle was pure sunshine.
“Ay, Reid, come on! We’ve gotta get to the Thomas & Mack!” Colter laughed as he called for me.
I shook my head, snapping out of it, then took off after Colter, hoping no one noticed me staring at Isabelle. I needed to focus. This was the moment we’d worked for all year. Even though it was unlikely for us to win a world championship this year, we still had a shot at winning the NFR average if we performed well.