Chapter 9 Hayden
CHAPTER NINE
hayden
PRESENT DAY
It’s a beautiful day here in Billings, Montana. We’re looking at clear, blue skies and sunny weather all day long. Next up, we’ve got ‘Big Iron’ by Marty Robbins.” The local radio station blared in the cab of my pickup truck as Sierra and I drove toward Billings for a three-day rodeo.
“So…” Sierra fidgeted in her seat, picking at the skin around her fingernails.
“So?” I repeated, taking my eyes off the road for a second to look at her.
She forced out a laugh, the sound sharp and harsh. “I don’t know, honestly. I’m not sure what to do or say right now. Being back here, with you, it’s…” Her voice trailed off, but a multitude of questions fired off in my brain.
Why did you just leave?
Was it me? Did I do something wrong?
Where have you been all these years?
Why didn’t you reach out? Why didn’t you tell me you were okay?
Instead of saying any of those things, I threw out a random word that seemed fitting enough for the occasion. “Weird?”
She nodded. “Weird.” Shaking her head, she huffed out another laugh, although there was no humor in it. “I guess. How have things been?”
My grip tightened on the steering wheel.
How was I supposed to answer that? What was the correct way to explain that she was my entire world? That my entire being seemed to rotate on an axis around her, and when she left without saying a single word, a part of me fractured, shattering into a million tiny pieces on the floor.
When I didn’t answer right away, her face contorted into something of discomfort.
“Sorry, that was also…weird. I’m not good at this, Hayden.
” Taking a deep breath, she continued. “I really do want to start over. I also know I owe you some explanations, but I’m just not ready for that yet. Is that okay?”
Without thinking, I reached over, taking her hand in mine and squeezing.
One. Two. Three.
A silent message. A promise.
“I’ll be here when you’re ready. I’ll always be here, Skip.”
Even if it tore me up from the inside out, I’d always be there for her.
“Remember that time we broke into the football field our junior year?” I changed the subject in an attempt to lighten the mood. “I thought for sure Keenan was going to get us caught.”
It worked, and Sierra’s shoulders shook with laughter. “Yeah, I do. Those were the days, weren’t they? We were fucking delinquents.”
“We?” I laughed. “If I recall correctly, it was you who said we should hop the fence.”
She shrugged with the same devilish grin from back then. “Technically, it was Keenan’s fault. He’s the one who got us there in the first place.”
“Hello?” I answered my phone on the third ring, the caller ID displaying Keenan’s name.
“Wanna go on an adventure?” His voice was low and hushed, although there was a hint of anticipation.
I rubbed my eyes. “It’s like two in the morning, dude.”
Something rustled in the background of the phone call. “Exactly. It’ll be fun.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Well, I’m kinda already here, and I need your help so I don’t get caught.”
An involuntary groan rose from my throat. “Where are you?”
“SGU…” His voice trailed off. “The football stadium.”
“Keenan,” I hissed. “If you get caught, you’re going to get banned for life. GCSO doesn’t have jurisdiction on campus, so our dads can’t do anything!” Not that our dads would do anything to begin with. If we played stupid games, we won stupid prizes.
“I know. That’s why I need your help getting out of here. Bring Sierra, too. Hurry.”
“You owe me.” Grumbling, I rolled out of bed and pulled on some clothes. My dad was on night shift, so he was gone, and my mom was a heavy sleeper.
I dialed Sierra’s phone number, praying she’d pick up.
Come on, Skip, I thought.
She picked up on the fourth ring, her voice groggy and laden with sleep. “Hello?”
“Hey. Did I wake you?”
“Um, yes?” she said, like it was the obvious answer.
“You’re gonna think this is so dumb, but I need your help, Skip. Well, Keenan needs your help.”
She groaned, a similar reaction to mine. “What did that idiot do now?”
“He broke into the football stadium at SGU, and he needs our help getting out of there.”
“Oh my God.” She let out a dramatic sigh, exasperation in her voice. “Is he trying to get banned?”
I chuckled. “I know.”
“All right. Come pick me up. You have thirty minutes before I go back to sleep and you two are on your own.”
Thirty minutes later on the dot, I pulled onto Sierra’s street. She climbed out of her window and dropped to the ground with an oomph before running over to my pickup.
Her breathing was heavy as she climbed in the passenger side. “Let’s make this fast. If my parents figure out I’m not asleep, I’m in deep shit.”
A few silent minutes passed as we drove through town.
Sierra finally scoffed. “What the fuck was he doing breaking into the football stadium anyway?”
I shook my head, shrugging. “Beats me. It’s Keenan. When has he ever been logical?”
She snorted. “Fair enough. He’d better hope none of us get caught. Especially you, Mr. SGU Rodeo Team Scout.”
“I’m not the only one they’re looking at, and you know that.”
Sierra fell silent, and I knew right away the conversation was over.
I’d been trying to convince her to come to SGU with me after graduating for a while now, but the answer was always no.
I didn’t understand why she was so against the idea.
Yeah, we wouldn’t be getting out of Goldfinch, but at least we’d be together.
Keenan was nowhere in sight as we pulled into the stadium parking lot. I parked next to his truck, and Sierra and I both hopped out, heading toward the fence.
“Should we jump it?” Sierra looked at the fence then back at me, a devilish smirk on her face.
“What? Why?” I’d always been the rule follower of the three of us.
“I mean, we’re already here, so why not?”
I sighed, never able to say no to her. “Fine. Five minutes. Then we’re getting the hell out of here.”
Sierra climbed the fence with ease, hopping down onto the other side. I followed closely behind, and we stepped out onto the turf. The stadium lights overhead were off, but it wasn’t difficult to spot Keenan’s figure on the fifty-yard line. He was lying on his back, looking up at the sky.
We ran over to him, and he perked up, looking ready to run away.
Once he realized it was us, he pressed a hand to his chest. “God, you guys scared me! I thought you were campus police.”
“I thought you needed help getting out of here. Your truck is parked outside.”
He shrugged. “It got you guys here, didn’t it?”
“So you lied,” Sierra deadpanned.
“Come on, Skippy. Live a little.” He patted the ground next to him.
She plopped down, lying on her back with her knees bent. I lay down next to her, sandwiching her between me and Keenan.
“Don’t you guys want to get out of here one day?” she asked.
I turned my head toward hers, noticing how her green eyes stared off into space above us.
She continued. “There’s a whole world, a whole universe out there, and we’re stuck here in the middle of buttfuck nowhere.”
I hadn’t really considered the world outside of Goldfinch. I hadn’t considered the world outside of Montana, because Sierra was here, and she was my world. I knew I’d always said I wanted to go to SGU, but if she asked, I’d follow Sierra to the ends of the Earth.
“I’d like to get out. See the world a little, then maybe come back,” Keenan admitted.
“Hayes?” She looked at me.
“Yeah. Maybe.” If it meant being with her, there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do.
As though she decided then and there, she announced to us, “I’m going to be a champion barrel racer one day. Travel all around the world to compete. Houston, Pendleton, Cheyenne, and Las Vegas. I’m going to do all of it. We all will. I’m sure of it.”
The clank of chains cut through the silence hanging around us, and we perked up.
“Shit, we gotta go, guys.” Keenan shot up to his feet, grabbing Sierra’s hand to pull her up.
I sprang up as well, running after them, and just in time.
We entered the tunnel under the bleachers where the concessions were and turned the corner just as a flashlight beamed behind us.
“Who’s there?” a booming voice called out.
“Run!” Keenan whisper-shouted at us.
I was sure whatever security was here could hear our feet as they pounded against the ground. My lungs burned as we made it to the gate, the padlock undone—presumably by the security guard.
Keenan’s shaky, out-of-breath laughs filled the air. “That was close.”
“We are never doing that again,” I scolded him.
“Come on, you have to admit that was kinda fun.”
“I think being asleep would be more fun, but yeah, it was kinda cool to be on the field,” Sierra admitted quietly.
“I need to get Sierra home.” I pointed at Keenan. “You get home safe. Text me when you’re at your house. Don’t get pulled over.”
He gave me a mock salute. “Got it, Chief.”
I shook my head, thinking of the memory.
“When did you start running Peanut Butter?” Sierra asked in a soft voice.
The claws of grief gripped my chest, but I swallowed down the lump in my throat. “Full time? Two years ago. But after graduating from SGU, I started practicing with her more because Bullseye was getting older. He passed a couple of years ago. Peanut’s young, but she’s good at what she does.”
“Damn. I’m sorry about Bullseye. He was a good one.” Sierra pursed her lips.
“When did you get your horse?” I asked.
“About four years ago, I think. I’m sure you know, but I didn’t enter into the WPRA until recently. When I left, I traveled around for a bit, competing in smaller-scale rodeos.” She huffed out a laugh. “Guess I couldn’t quite get rid of the itch.”
“You’ve always been a natural competitor.” I teasingly nudged her with my elbow. “Racing’s in your blood, Skip.”
Her eyes flicked to me, an ocean of emotions swirling in them. “That was always our dream, wasn’t it? To make it to the NFR together.”
I nodded.
I didn’t know if it was still her dream, if her plans still included me. But, even if I had to watch from the sidelines, watching Sierra succeed was always going to be part of mine.