16. Reid
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
reid
L ooked like you had fun at the bachelorette party.” I walked side by side with Isa, helping her carry her bags into Colter and Ellison’s house.
They had all just gotten back from their extended weekend over in Glacier. Ellison had already ran off with Colter somewhere, so it was just me and Isa at the house. I hadn’t gotten any more drunk texts from her, or drunk FaceTimes, for that matter. Part of me was glad, but another part of me hoped it wasn’t because she was calling someone else.
“I had a little too much fun at the bar, I think.” She snorted, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as I opened the front door for her.
“Is that so?” I teased. I knew exactly how much fun she had. I had the text messages to prove it.
“Let’s just say, I’m never drinking that much tequila ever again. It’s a good thing we only went out one time. I just hope I didn’t do anything incriminating.” She blushed.
Does that mean she doesn’t remember the texts she sent me?
“Erin took my phone halfway through the night. Probably a good thing.” She laughed in a sort of self-deprecating way. “I’m not sure what she did with it, but I checked this morning and there weren’t any new text messages. Thank goodness. That would have been embarrassing.”
“Right…” I trailed off.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” She crossed her arms, giving me an expectant look.
I could either tell her she did in fact text me at the bar, or I could save her—and myself—the potential embarrassment and leave it be. She was drunk, after all. She probably didn’t mean anything she said, and bringing it up would just make things uncomfortable between us. Although, it was probably best that it was me she texted and not some random ex-boyfriend.
“Hello?”
“What?” I snapped out of my thoughts.
“What’s up with you today? You seem distracted.” She gave me another weird look, contorting her face a little, before grabbing her other bag out of my hand and walking to the guest bedroom.
I guess she decided for me.
I sat on the couch and waited for her to finish unpacking, or whatever it was she was doing. About fifteen minutes later, she came out to the living room.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were still here,” she mumbled, finding a place on the couch next to me.
I shrugged. “Didn’t have anywhere else to be.” I glanced over at her and ran my eyes over the freckles painting her face.
When she caught me looking, I snapped my eyes away, not wanting to make her uncomfortable, but it wasn’t my fault she caught my attention every time she was in the same room as me.
“What did you guys do when we were gone?”
“We planned out the next month or so for rodeos, since we won’t be traveling very far with the wedding,” I explained. “We’ve got it down pretty well.”
“That’s good! I knew you traveled a lot for rodeos, I guess I didn’t know how much.”
“We’re pretty much on the road all year. There are a few weeks where we’re home or over in Goldfinch helping out with the college team, but I love being on the road. So does Colter. It’s all we’ve known for the last few years.”
Rodeo was my escape. It was my way of letting go of all the worries of my past—my childhood, my siblings, my mother. When I was in the arena, all that mattered was bringing home prize money and adding another buckle to my collection.
Some cowboys chased after women. Colter and I? We chased after buckles.
“Doesn’t it get lonely on the road?” Isa asked, cocking her head to the right.
“Not really,” I admitted. “The guys are my best friends. If we weren’t always traveling together, I think it could be lonely, but the entire rodeo community is so welcoming. Colter and I used to meet new people every week and strike up conversations. I remember our first year out on the road, we met this team roper in his sixties, gray hair and all. He’d been roping for thirty-five years.”
“Wow, that’s a long time. You wouldn’t think someone that old would still be part of it.”
“There’s men who make a lifetime out of roping. And a handful of women who run barrels even in their seventies. ”
Her eyes widened in surprise.
“I have loads of respect for the folks who built the sport. When you think about it, rodeo’s generational. Without those gray-haired men and women, we wouldn’t have the opportunities we have to go on the road and make a living from this. Rodeo’s for everyone. And those who don’t respect that simply don’t understand the community and the purpose it gives people.”
“Honestly, I never thought of it as more than a sport until now,” she murmured, her eyes filled with admiration.
“Most people don’t. But it truly is more than a sport. It’s a lifestyle.”
She was quiet for a moment, seemingly deep in thought, but the birds chirping outside the window filled the silence.
“I can only hope one day I’ll have as big an impact on someone as rodeo has had for you,” she whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear.
“I’m sure you will.”
Before she could respond, the front door swung open, causing both of us to swing our heads to look.
“What are you two doing?” Hayden asked, Mikey and Jake in tow.
“Just hanging out. Colter and Ellison aren’t here. They went to go do something, I’m not sure what,” I explained.
“Man, it’s hot out. I need a nap.” Mikey flopped down on the couch between me and Isa as she shrank away from him and, consequently, away from me. He outstretched his arms and wrapped them around our shoulders. “Hey, handsome.” He winked at me, and I rolled my eyes.
It never failed that whenever Isa and I had a moment alone in person, someone interrupted us .
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked, hoping my tone didn’t have much annoyance in it.
“Looking for people to hang out with. We get lonely without you and Colter.” Jake jutted out his lip, pretending to pout.
“You three have each other, no?” Isa raised an eyebrow in amusement.
“Yeah, the three musketeers. Hayden, Dumb, and Dumber.” I smirked.
“Mikey’s the dumber one, right?” Jake teased. “I mean, he’s probably got a little bit of brain damage up in that noggin of his from all the falling off bulls he does.”
“Hey! At least I don’t need a saddle to be able to hang on for eight seconds!” Mikey retorted. Even though Jake didn’t saddle bronc ride anymore, it was a known fact bull riders and bareback bronc riders gave them a lot of flak. Something about it being easier with a saddle. I wouldn’t know, and I didn’t think I wanted to find out. I liked not having brain damage.
“You two argue more than a married couple.” Hayden smacked Jake.
“Well, just wait until Colter and Ellison get married and we can be the judge of that,” Mikey fired back.
“I’d rather pay money to see you get married,” Isa muttered.
“We can make that happen.” Mikey turned to wink at her, and it took everything in me not to smack him across the head.
She just flipped him off. “Yeah, right. I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last person on Earth, Michael Tucker.”
“I don’t blame you, Isa. Hell will freeze over before Mikey would ever get married,” Jake chimed in, to which Mikey shrugged .
“Can’t help it. Women want me and men want to be me.”
“All right, well, since you so desperately wanted people to hang out with, let’s go do something instead of sitting around all day. I’m sure Colter has some work you could do around here.” I stood, letting Mikey’s arm drop.
“Ah, come on, Lawsy, you’re no fun,” Mikey complained.
“We’re going to be spending all weekend together at the rodeo fucking around. I’m sure you can entertain yourself until then.”