Chapter 14 #2
He watched her fingers meld with his, a slip of happiness stealing through him. “I was just thinking about how only my momma and daddy have texted me for my birthday, and the only other people who knew were Tuck and Bobbie Jo.”
“And everyone online. Have you forgotten you’re a celebrity, Tarr?” Briar asked dryly as they went into the foyer and out the front door.
“I’m not a celebrity,” he said.
She scoffed and flipped up the hood on her coat.
“Hey, if you can say you’re not, then I’m not.” He went down the steps with her and climbed into the passenger seat of her SUV. “But I’m really not,” he said.
The interior was still warm, as she’d left the car running while she’d come inside.
“And you definitely still are,” Tarr added, because he didn’t have people squealing and fan-girling over him the way Rosie had with Briar last week.
He’d only been out of the rodeo for a couple of years now, true, and Briar had been gone for almost five, but he’d watched several of her videos on her stunt-riding channel, and she had been incredible.
“I’ve never performed at the halftime of an NFL game,” he said as she pulled up to the arena. “So I definitely think one of us has more celebrity status than the other.”
“In a very small circle,” Briar said. “The rodeo is much bigger than stunt riding.”
“Is it?”
“I’m not arguing with you about this.” Briar threw him a dirty look and got out of the car.
Tarr chuckled and followed her. She had to go toward the back of the building and the Goatel, and he just had to go inside, so he rushed around the hood and grabbed her before she could stomp away. “Hey, you’re not really mad, are you?”
“I’m absolutely mad,” she said. “We’re dating, Tarr, and you didn’t tell me it was your birthday.”
“I’m still struggling to think that we’re dating,” he said.
“Why is that?” A cute little line appeared between her eyes. She seemed genuinely confused, and she pinched the zipper on his coat between her thumb and forefinger and pulled it up and then back down, up a few inches and down a few more, up and down.
“Because, sweetheart,” he said. “I usually don’t think about myself dating a woman until I’ve kissed her.”
“The kissing again.” Briar looked up at him, her big blue eyes full of fear. “I don’t know, Tarr.”
“About kissing?” he asked. “It’s pretty natural.”
She gave him a gentle push against his shoulder. “You said you’d be patient with me.”
“I am,” he said. “This is the first time we’re even talking about kissing. I didn’t just rush in and do it.”
She pressed her lips together and looked over his shoulder. “I just haven’t kissed anyone in a long time.”
“How long?” he asked.
“I haven’t had a boyfriend since I moved here,” she said. “And I know you’ve dated a lot.”
“Not a lot,” he said. “I’ve only dated one person since my injury.”
“Well, that’s one hundred percent more than me then, isn’t it?”
Tarr reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear, then cupped her face in his palm and gently guided her to look back at him. “And you think you’re not going to be good at it? Or I’m not? Or you’re not going to like it?”
“I think I’m going to like it,” she whispered. “And that scares me. I’m not sure you’re going to like it, and that scares me too.”
“Sweetheart, there’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s just a little kissing.”
“No,” she said, but it didn’t carry the power of her usual argumentative self. “Kissing means something, Tarr. You just said so yourself—it’s how you know you have a girlfriend.”
“Yeah, that’s right.” Because Tarr could agree with that. It did mean something to him to kiss someone. He didn’t go around doing it all the time. “Don’t worry, Briar. I’m not going to be upset if the third gift isn’t a kiss.”
“Well, it’s not,” she said. “I wrapped up the third gift in that plastic bag and shoved it in the cupboard.”
“Well, maybe I could get four gifts.” He grinned at her, then shook his head, his smile falling away. “Seriously, Briar, no pressure. It’ll happen when it happens. And honey, don’t worry. It’s going to be amazing.”
With that, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and stepped by her to go inside the arena.
He didn’t hear her footsteps crunching through the gravel as she walked away, and he paused at the door and turned around to look at her.
She still stood exactly where he’d left her, her hands hanging limply at her sides and her head held high.
He really wished he could dive into her head and see what she was thinking, if only so that he could understand her better and try to reassure her that he wasn’t going to kiss her and then dump her.
The way his heartbeat pranced through him, Tarr could not imagine any world, any scenario, where he would not enjoy kissing Briar Prescott, and he really wished she could see herself the way he did.
“I can feel you staring at me,” she said.
“Well, you’re just standing there.”
She muttered something, then walked away. Tarr noted that she didn’t stomp or march, and he smiled at her back before ducking into the warmer barn so he could feed the horses.
It’s going to be a great year, Tarr told himself, getting better at Briar’s game of speaking a truth to himself each day.
Yep. It’s going to be a great year if you can keep getting to know Briar, make her your girlfriend, and finally settle down the way your momma has always wanted you to.
He loved his parents, and in that moment, he realized he loved his brother too, despite the differences they’d had over the years.
So, before he got too involved with his chores, he pulled out his phone and tapped over to Wayne’s name to send his brother a message. He honestly had no idea if Wayne even knew today was Tarr’s birthday.
“It doesn’t matter,” he muttered to himself, and then he typed, Hey, Wayne—just thinking about you today, and I hope you’re doing well.
He sent the message, not quite sure how he wanted Wayne to respond, and tucked his phone away and went to spend his birthday with horses, Wiggins, and his beautiful Briar.