Chapter 21 Twenty
Twenty
Wyatt
My entire body jerked as I pumped my fist and cheered, watching as Quinn disappeared behind the gates after her fourteen-second ride.
I’d decided to sit in the stands for these rodeos, and I could still see her smile from here.
She took first, and Kurt—the announcer on duty tonight—just called that she was now the time to beat.
Kurt was good; he got the crowd roaring, and damn, they cheered for Quinn.
She had this in the bag. Just like last night and the night before, Quinn was topping the charts. And she was riding the high.
I waited a few seconds before side-stepping past everyone, taking the stairs two at a time until I was back behind the stands.
My heart was racing; I couldn’t get to her fast enough.
She couldn’t go far. If she won, the reporter would want to talk to her.
I could imagine her still on Hook, letting him turn in circles as they waited.
With how fast he was going, I’m sure his sassy ass still had some pent-up energy, so she’d be taking her time to calm him down.
Yet, I still ran as fast as I could to the back of the arena, jumping onto the lowest metal bar once I reached the gate.
“Quinn!” I bellowed once I caught sight of her.
Just like I guessed, she was still on Hook, his head bobbing up and down as he tried to settle. Hook turned before she did, his hooves bouncing as they made their way over to me.
“Did you see that!” Quinn exclaimed. “Fourteen seconds flat! Fourteen! Pretty sure that beat your mom’s time.”
My grin spread as I remembered that day at the ranch.
The entire Hartwell family was sitting in the tiny indoor arena.
Quinn rounded some barrels, she taught Stetson how to race, Rhett beat my ass at tie down, and my mom showed Quinn how it was done.
The other thing that stood out in my mind was that it was the first time I had actually tried to hit on Quinn—and her exact words: “If you would get your ass off the gate and saddle a horse, I’d be more inclined to talk to you.
” If only she knew that months later, she’d be the one inviting me to her rodeos.
“I got it all on film,” I assured her, reaching out to pat Hook on the nose.
“I’ll make sure to send it to her—but knowing them, they already saw it.
” My parents were still traveling after their retirement, but they always made sure to follow the rodeo.
They basically had the Cowboy Channel on as background noise.
She wiggled her hips in the saddle, a breath of relief leaving her lungs.
Quinn's cheeks were flushed, her hair was disheveled, and her shirt slightly askew on her shoulders—yet I had never seen her this ecstatic. I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that she knew everyone was supporting her—watching her—even from Alpine Ridge or across the world, or if it was simply because she was doing what she was meant to do.
“Compton,” a rodeo hand called. Quinn turned to the voice. “You won! They wanna see you on the dirt.”
“Coming!” She slid from the saddle and handed me the reins, not even a second thought as to who she was handing off one of her boys to. She just gave me a wide smile and took off towards the gates.
I climbed over the gate, landing on my feet in front of Hook. He moved and nudged me with his nose to get my attention, but I turned just in time to see Quinn adjust her hair, straighten her shirt, and step out onto the arena dirt.
“What a ride, Quinn! You must feel like you’re on top of the world.” The reporter’s voice rang through the speakers, almost drowning out the crowd.
“I am. It’s been three nights of amazing rides.
But it wasn’t just me; it was Hook also.
I always try to gauge who to ride, but these past few nights it’s been him, and he’s really performed.
” I could hear Quinn’s smile through the speakers.
The excitement she carried traveled through the microphone and into the crowd, and I suddenly wished I were right next to her.
I wanted to see her there, not just hear her.
“We trained and worked really hard to get here, and it’s one step closer to the NFR. ”
“If you keep up with rides like this, you’ll definitely make it there. Congratulations on tonight, and we can’t wait to see where you go.”
Quinn was beaming when she collected her check, and she had a bounce in her step as we unsaddled Hook.
She hummed as she guided him to the trailer and locked it.
Flipping her hair as she got into the driver’s seat of her truck—the joy basically radiated off of her at this point.
I had never seen her like this, and I couldn’t stop staring as this new side of her came out.
The Quinn I knew was scheduled, she was structured, she was calm.
Tonight, she was acting as if she were a Coke bottle that had been shaken and was ready to burst. I loved every minute of it.
Her gaze met mine in the silence, and her eyes widened, the expression never leaving her.
“What?” She removed her hat and plopped it on the dash, her fingers quickly moving to run through her hair.
“Nothing, you’re just cute like this.” I smiled at her.
“What?” She repeated, her smile widening as she scrunched her shoulders. “I’m excited. I won. Three nights in a row. Nothing to stop me or pull me from this mood, so you'd better relish it while you can.”
“Oh, I am.” I chuckled. “I love seeing every new side of you, but you’re too energized. I’m kind of wondering what you’ve done with my Quinn.”
“Your Quinn?” She raised a brow, but the smile didn’t fade.
“Yeah, my Quinn.”
“Well, your Quinn is on a high, and no amount of bad news or anything else could bring me down from this.” She put her hands on the wheel and ran her palms against the leather before kicking the engine on.
I tightened my lips, my smile all but fading for a split second.
Bad news? I could give her some bad news.
Reno passed on me.
I had gotten the text from Hawkins right after she told me about her relationship with her mom, and in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t seem as important.
In that moment, I wanted to focus on Quinn, hating that a stupid text saying, Sorry, man, maybe next year was enough to pull me down into the depths with her.
When I locked my phone and slid it across the counter, we both accepted it and ignored the dread that the devices held.
Then she was sitting next to me, closer than she ever had before.
And then she asked me to come with her this weekend, and the fact that I was still unemployed in the rodeo world didn’t matter at all.
I let out a breath through my nostrils. “There’s gotta be another way to get this energy out of you, then. I bet the hotel has a gym. You could go for a fifty-mile run.”
“That sounds terrible.” Quinn kicked the truck into gear.
“Once Upon a Time? Pretty sure something big is going to happen. We can run in place or do push-ups until you pass out from the adrenaline rush.”
Quinn let out a soft chuckle. “You do not want to watch that show every night. It’s been fun, and I’m loving the rewatch, but push-ups sound just as bad as the run. I can’t believe I’m going to suggest this, but…” She gave me a glance, her smile spreading. “I think we need to go out.”
Shock spread across my face. Going out was my thing.
My thing to get the night really going, not Quinn’s thing.
Quinn was the shower, bed, and early to rise kind of person.
Abi even told me about a night when she traveled with her—telling me Quinn didn’t even finish her drink, and that she was stressing that they had to leave early the next morning. I wasn’t sure if I heard her correctly.
“Go out? I’ll ask again…who are you, and what have you done with my Quinn?” I deadpanned, emphasizing the my.
“Oh, come on, Hartwell.” She leaned over and tapped the brim of my hat. “You can even wear your ball cap. No cowboy hat required. We’ll go back to the hotel, get changed, and then find the best honky-tonk northern Idaho has to offer.”
“A honky-tonk?” I parroted. “You taking me line dancing, Compton?”
“We could.” She raised a brow. “I’m pretty good at line dancing. Do you know how?”
“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me.” I leaned towards her, lowering my voice.
Her eyes widened as she spun to look at me. “Google it, right now. Find the best place we can go line dancing.” She pointed at my lap, most likely gesturing to my phone.
I chuckled and leaned over, digging my phone from my pocket to follow her instructions, Googling best western bar in northern Idaho.
Forty-five minutes later, I knocked on Quinn’s hotel door. I had replaced my cowboy hat with my Hartwell ball cap, not even giving myself a second look in the mirror before making my way to her room, and the moment Quinn opened the door, I regretted not changing my clothes.
Quinn was…well…fuck…
She managed to dress up a simple denim top, pairing it with a white lace skirt and white boots, with a turquoise necklace hanging from her neck.
Her hair had been brushed but was still wild, and a new light brown hat perched on her head.
Her eyes were bright, her cheeks had a pink tint, her lips were shiny and perfectly kissable, and the glow that surrounded her was impossibly bright.
I almost had to squint. But there I was, staring into the light.
I had seen Quinn dress up before, but this… this was…
Rendering me speechless.
And I was the one who loved to talk. I was the one who had words for everything.
But not this. Not for her.
There were no words to describe how beautiful she looked.
All I could do was stand there and take her in.
“Ready?” she asked, moving quick as she stepped out into the hall, shutting the door behind her, her haste not even pulling me from my stupor.