Chapter 40
Kacey
Ellensburg, Washington
Trey is standing on the curb at the airport waving both arms in the air, like we might miss him. As if being the only one in a cowboy hat and perfectly starched jeans wasn’t enough, he’s wearing a hot pink “I Heart Boobies” sweatshirt.
I burst out laughing as Knox sighs and opens his truck door. “I never should have let him get that sweatshirt.”
I’m still laughing when I get out of the truck and Trey gives me a side hug.
“Hi, Mrs. Ward.”
“Hey, Trey.” I hug him back. Trey called us every single day for the last three weeks.
If Knox ignored his call—like he did on our two days off—Trey would just call again.
I’ve gotten to know him pretty well from our truck-speaker conversations.
He’s actually a really great guy. It’s evident in the way he helps Knox’s mom and sister when Knox and his brother-in-law are out of town, or how much he supports and cares about Knox.
He might not know how to keep his dick in his pants, but he isn’t a shitty person by a long shot.
“Throw your bag in the camper and let’s get out of here,” Knox says.
Trey goes to load his bags as Knox and I both climb back in the truck. As we open our doors, we hear a high-pitched girlish scream come from the camper. We both run to the back of the boxes as Trey sticks his head out of the door.
“It REEKS of sex in here! If I was a virgin, I would’ve just lost my v card by walking into this camper. Agh!” He shakes out his limbs like a dog.
“Shut up, people are staring. And I got you new sheets already,” Knox reassures him before turning around—completely unbothered by his outburst—to get back in the truck. I glance around, and yep, people are staring at us.
“You had sex in MY BED?!” Trey yells at Knox’s back.
I scrunch my nose, realizing he and Jessie are creepily alike.
“I need Lysol wipes and essential oils, stat. Do we have any sage we could burn?” he asks as he follows me around the corner to get in the truck.
I ignore him and climb in, but he keeps going. “What kind of depravity happened while I was gone? Do I need to call a priest?”
“Probably, chances of you going to hell are pretty high right now. I’m sure there were kids out there where you were yelling about losing your virginity,” Knox says as he puts the truck in drive.
Trey moves to the middle of the backseat and slides up to rest his chin in his hands on the center console. “Wait, why do you two get to have coitus in my bed, but I can’t?”
I snort a laugh. “Coitus?”
He lowers his sunglasses, giving me a judgmental look. “That’s what civilized people call sex. Read a book.”
“It’s because of the coitus partners you choose. And it’s my camper, so technically they’re both my beds,” Knox claps back.
I watch them volley like it’s a tennis match, but Knox looks happy. Trey might give him endless shit, but he’s his best friend.
I make my way up to the stands to watch the Extreme Bulls.
I’m early, but this place is huge, so I wanted to go up with Knox and have plenty of time to walk around and find my seat.
When I get to my seat, I look down the row and a few seats down is a girl in ripped up jeans, a ball cap and high-top Vans with her feet propped on the row in front of her.
She’s reading. She’s so engrossed in her book, she doesn’t even notice I’m here.
I see the title of the book and immediately grab my phone to text Jessie.
Kacey
Remember that book we read last year where her dog died and we both bawled?
Jessie
Yes, vividly.
Kacey
A girl in the stands next to me is reading it. She’s about halfway through, so she hasn’t hit that part yet.
Jessie
Ha. Poor thing has no idea what’s about to happen to her.
I pick up the book I brought with me and start reading.
Almost two hours later, we’re done with the prayer and national anthem. I know Knox and Trey aren’t up until the third section, so I pick my book back up.
“What’re you reading?” I hear a soft husky voice ask from down the row. The girl in the Vans has turned in her seat and leaned my way, trying to catch a glimpse of the cover.
“Fall of Ruin and Wrath by Jennifer Armentrout,” I tell her as I hold up my book.
“Well, I’m assuming if you’re sitting in the stands reading instead of watching, you’re also with a bull rider.” She chuckles as she gets up and moves to the seat next to me. “Hi, I’m Juniper Summers, but everyone just calls me June.”
“Kacey Hart, nice to meet you. And yeah, I’m with Knox Ward. What about you?”
“Daxton Summers. He’s in the second section.”
I feel like I need to warn her. “Friendly piece of advice: don’t finish that book in public.”
June looks down at the cover, then back up at me.
I laugh at the horrified look on her face.
“It’s the dog, isn’t it? I have a terrible feeling about the dog. Why do authors do this to us?” She huffs.
We start chatting and I learn that June travels with Dax full-time and she gives me some great tips about dating and traveling with a bull rider. We exchange phone numbers and I’m pretty sure I just made my first rodeo friend.
We chat about books and rodeo until Dax—as June calls him—climbs into the chute. She’s sitting up in her seat, videoing him on her phone.
Dax nods his head, and the bull leaves the chute spinning to the right, away from his hand.
He gets behind after one round and can’t catch back up.
He slides to the left side of the bull but isn’t letting go.
When his hand finally pops out of his rope, he hits the ground and the bull keeps spinning, right on top of him.
I gasp when one back foot lands right on the side of Dax’s helmet, crushing his head and twisting the metal cage. His body goes limp. Bullfighters step in to draw the bull’s attention, as a pickup man rides in and gets a rope on the bull, pulling him away from Dax.
June stops recording but doesn’t move. Her eyes never leave Dax as she quietly says, “Wake up,” under her breath.
How is she so calm? I’m freaking out. Shaking in the seat next to her I ask, “Should you go down there?”
“I’ll wait and see if he wakes up,” she replies, still not taking her eyes off him as Sports Medicine doctors surround him.
A few seconds later paramedics bring a backboard in as sports medicine removes his chaps and vest.
Seeing the backboard and paramedics has bile rising in the back of my throat. I can still see the paramedics lifting my mom onto the backboard and starting chest compressions, frantically working to bring air back into her lungs.
I look away, searching for Knox on the chutes, hoping the sight of him will bring me some comfort.
“Okay, I’m going to head down. It was nice to meet you, Kacey,” June says.
I can see now she’s shaken but still handling this so well.
I would be an absolute mess. That was his head, what if he’s seriously hurt or .
. . dies? Then again, Knox said I’d get used to it; maybe women who haven’t been through a traumatic event like me can get used to it.
Maybe this isn’t the first time she’s seen him carried out of an arena.
“You, too. I hope he’s okay. Let me know if you need anything.”
She nods, then hurries down the stairs and around the corner.
A few minutes later, I see the ambulance pull out and another one arrives to take its place.
I can hardly watch when Knox rides. My hands are still shaking so badly I don’t even attempt to video.
He’s 84.5 points—it’s not a huge score, but it should get him back to the short round.
Trey isn’t so lucky, it’s his first one back and I know his ribs still hurt.
He bucks off around four seconds and doesn’t look too happy about it.
Knox is 88 in the short round for third place and receives a big check. He told me about how this final month of the season can make or break you. There are a bunch of events with a lot of money, and he can easily move himself into the number one position if he keeps getting his bulls ridden.
I head down to meet him. As soon as I see him, he grabs me by the hand and starts leading me behind the chutes. I grip his hand so tightly I’m sure I’m cutting off circulation, but I don’t care. The feel of his calloused hand wrapped around mine slows my still rapid heart and calms me down.
I don’t want to tell him how much Dax’s wreck has affected me. I know we promised to talk about it, but he had a great night, and I’m about to leave. I don’t want to ruin our last night together.
So, I promise myself I’ll tell him about meeting June and watching Dax later.
“What’s going on? Where are we going?” I never go behind the chutes. No girlfriends or wives do unless it’s a medical emergency. That’s their space.
He makes a sharp turn before we get to the actual spot where they get ready behind the chutes. “To the front of the chutes—we’ve hardly taken any pictures, and you’re about to leave me out here all by myself.”
“Well, that seems a little dramatic. You do have Trey—I thought you liked traveling with him,” I joke, laughing as we step in front of chute number five.
“Yeah, but you are way prettier and way more fun to be around . . . he’s not you.
” He gives me a wink as he pulls his phone out of his pocket.
He asks a fan who is walking back from the autograph tables in the middle of the arena to take our picture.
I wrap my arm around him, and we both smile and pose.
He takes his phone back and says, “Let’s get a selfie, too.” He tips his hat back, wraps his arm around my lower back, dips me back slightly and kisses me as I hear the shutter from the camera on his phone. “Thank you for coming, Kace. It means more to me than you’ll ever know.”
I’m still dipped back in his arms, and I have butterflies in my stomach.
I really wish we weren’t in public right now.
I thread my fingers through his curls, ready to kiss him when I hear, “new profile pic,” and look up to see Trey looking down from the chute he’s standing on, ruining the moment. The smirk on his face tells me he did it on purpose.
Probably payback for defiling his bed.
Knox stands me up, leaving one arm wrapped around my back.
Trey jumps down, positioning himself on the other side of me and throws his arm over my shoulder, gripping Knox’s on the other side. “I want a selfie, too.”
“I swear to god if you try to kiss her—” Knox starts, but Trey barks out a laugh.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
We all smile and take the photo.