Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
sierra
Loud chatter and the thump of bass drowned out everything else in the bar we found ourselves in after today’s final competition.
The air felt hot and sticky from the warmth of bodies packed into the building, combined with the scent of spilled beer and liquor.
The soles of my boots stuck to the floor with every step, but I gritted my teeth and bore it for the sake of Hayden and the rest of the guys.
It wasn’t like I had anywhere else to go.
I was sure if I asked Hayden, he’d pack it up and get us out of here right now, but he’d already done enough for me. The least I could do was spend a few hours in a bar, have a few drinks, and maybe, just maybe, be able to relax.
“Skippy! What are you drinking?” Keenan, who stood at the bar, attempted to yell at me over the sea of people.
Christ.
I pushed through the crowd to get to him. “You buying, Kee?” I nudged him in the ribs with my elbow, and he grabbed his side, pretending to be in pain.
“Ouch, first my ribs, then my wallet? You wound me. What happened to being a strong, independent woman who can buy her own drinks?”
“Two things can be true at once, Chase. I can be a strong woman and still not spend a dime at the bar,” I teased. “Besides, you guys cut a nice check tonight.”
However, if we wanted to be technical, I also earned a nice check, placing in the top three.
“All right, fair enough. Just for you.” Keenan flagged down the bartender. “What are you feeling then?”
“Could I get a vodka soda?” I asked the bartender.
He nodded and spun around, grabbing the bottles of liquor off the shelf to mix the drink.
Hayden appeared at my side. “Hey.”
“Hi.” I tilted my head to look at him. “Keenan’s buying. Better take advantage of it while you can,” I teased.
Keenan’s head whipped toward me. “Hold on now, woman. I said I’d buy you one drink.”
“It was worth a shot,” I half whispered, half giggled at Hayden. “Maybe if you hurry, he won’t notice.”
“I heard that, Sierra!” Keenan protested, crossing his arms in mock disapproval.
“Just get me a Coors Banquet. I’ll be over there,” Hayden whispered in my ear, pointing toward a table near the back where the rest of the group was hanging out.
“Anything else for you?” The bartender slid my drink across the counter.
“Can I also get a Coors Banquet? That’ll be it. It’ll be on his tab.” I tilted my head toward Keenan.
“You got it.”
Once I grabbed the drinks, Keenan and I headed back to the table the group was at.
“Here’s your beer, good sir,” I joked as I handed it to Hayden.
“Why, thank you, milady.” He winked before cracking it open and taking a long drink.
“Sierra’s back, boys!” Mikey raised up his can of beer. “A toast.”
I exchanged a curious glance with Hayden, and he shook his head as if to say, Just go with it.
Mikey cleared his throat, lowering his voice so it sounded more official. “Here’s to kicking ass here in Pendleton and bringing home the hardware!”
“And here’s to having Sierra and Keenan here with us,” Ellison added, her gaze floating over the two of us.
“Cheers!” Everyone raised their drinks and clinked them together, a little bit of beer splashing on the table, but all seven pairs of eyes were sparkling and bright.
“How about a game of pool, fellas?” Colter stood, patting the table with one hand. “How are we splitting teams here?”
“Nose goes for whoever has to pair with Mikey,” Jake blurted, tapping his finger to his nose.
“Hey! That’s not fair!” Mikey protested as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Reid tapped his nose next, and Colter followed.
Jake let out a loud cackle. “Sorry, Hayden, looks like you’re stuck with him.”
“Think I’ll actually sit this one out.” He winked at me. “Guess it’s all you, Colt.”
Reid shrugged. “Suit yourself.” The four boys and Ellison moved over to the pool table, leaving me, Hayden, and Keenan at the table.
“Not a big pool guy?” Keenan asked, nudging Hayden with his elbow.
Hayden took a swig of his drink, shaking his head with a smirk on his face. “Not a big fan of constantly losing because of Mikey.”
Keenan nodded in understanding, shooting me a wink as he said, “I’m more of a Beerio Kart guy anyway.”
Both Hayden and I groaned.
“Is that still a thing?” I grimaced just thinking about that cursed game.
“It can be if you want it to be. By the way, I know you guys cheated that one time we played.”
I jutted out my lip. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Kee.”
He dipped his chin, shaking his head. “I may have been drunk off my rocker that night, but your face turns beet red when you’ve drank too much, Skippy. There wasn’t an ounce of color in your cheeks that night.” A shit-eating grin spread across his features. “At least not from the alcohol.”
“Get out of here.” Hayden lightly shoved him, rolling his eyes playfully.
Raising his hands, he backed away from the table.
“You’re right, let me give you two some alone time.
” He wasn’t paying attention, though, and bumped right into a girl, causing her to spill her drink all over him.
Right before Hayden and I burst into laughter, I heard him turn on the charm and say, “Hey, how you doin’?
Sorry about the drink. Let me get you a new one. ”
“He hasn’t changed a bit.” I huffed a laugh. “Think he’ll ever settle down?”
After he broke up with his long-term girlfriend in college, it seemed like Keenan had entered his playboy era.
Hayden nodded toward Mikey. “If Mikey can settle down, anything is possible. Even for Keenan.”
“I’ll toast to that.” Grinning, I clinked my glass against his beer.
An hour and a few vodka sodas later, Keenan was on the dance floor with the girl whose drink he spilled, Ellison and the others were still playing pool, and Hayden was at the bar, leaving me alone by our table.
I took a slow sip of my drink, eyes scanning the room like a hawk.
When my eyes flicked back to the bar, a girl was talking to Hayden.
But not just any girl.
Michaela.
Even from a distance, I could tell she was all over him, twirling her hair around her finger and laughing obnoxiously at everything he said.
Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was just bold recklessness, but I marched up to Hayden just as Michaela said some bullshit about how she would have won the last race but her horse was being lazy.
“Hayes.” I shot Michaela a side-eyed glance as I snatched the cowboy hat off Hayden’s head to place it on mine, like a guard dog protecting her territory.
Apparently, I was the living proof of Mikey’s earlier theory about the protective girlfriends in the bunch.
Hayden wasn’t mine, but that didn’t mean I wanted to watch him with another girl. Especially not one like Michaela.
She may have taken second place in the barrel racing this week, but she wasn’t about to take Hayden as a consolation prize.
She wrinkled her nose, looking me up and down, her eyes catching on my face. “Oh. Sorry, Sierra, I didn’t know you were dating someone. I’m kind of surprised. He doesn’t seem like your type.”
I didn’t say anything, just offered her a saccharine smile, the tension finally melting out of my shoulders once she was gone, swallowed up by the crowd of strangers.
Hayden chuckled beside me. “I’ve always loved the color green on you, Skip, but this is a new one.”
I flicked my eyes toward him, fighting the urge to roll them. Whatever jealousy that had come over me was already disappearing. “Here.” I took the hat—which was far too big for my head—off, holding it out to him. “You can have this back.”
“Nah, keep it. It looks good on you.” Hayden’s lips quirked up into a grin as a slow country song started playing.
Couples gravitated to the dance floor like a mushy love fest.
Hayden grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the crowd. “Come dance with me.”
“Hayes,” I started to protest, but he cut me off.
“You don’t get to stake your claim on me like that and not give me at least one dance, Sierra. You can claim ‘friends don’t dance’”—he put it in air quotes—“all you want, but friends also don’t do what you did back there.”
I drew my lip between my teeth, conceding with a nod. Hayden led me out to the middle of the hardwood, maneuvering between couples swaying back and forth to Lady A’s “Dancin’ Away With My Heart.”
My hand found its place on his shoulder as the other grasped his, our fingers connecting like puzzle pieces. His palm was warm against my waist, but the heat between us wasn’t stifling. The opposite, actually. Being in Hayden’s arms was comforting. Safe.
My eyes darted around the room as I let him lead, my steps falling perfectly into place with his. My gaze bounced back to him, finding his deep-blue stare already trained on me.
“Funny, it feels like just yesterday we were dancing like this. Coldplay, though, right?” He smirked, and memories flooded my mind.
The high school gymnasium floor was covered in a black tarp, with string lights and a giant disco ball straight out of the seventies hanging from the rafters.
Blue tulle and silver stars covered the gym as decorations for the “Starry Night” homecoming dance theme.
Students crowded the dance floor and the snack and drinks table as conversational chatter floated around.
A DJ in the corner played school-appropriate pop music that was a little bit boring for my tastes, but what did I know?
I watched as the girls in my class flirted with their boyfriends or the ones they wanted to go out with.
I wasn’t really friends with them—even Clare and I had drifted apart once I stopped riding the bus.
I just didn’t have much in common with them.
They liked shopping, getting their nails done, and talking about the various boys they had crushes on.
They weren’t interested in horses or rodeo, and there was only one boy who I liked.
Lilac satin hugged my body, and the applique flowers on the straps of my dress scratched my skin. I resisted the urge to pull the tiny petals off the dress, keeping my hands at my sides instead. The only comfortable part of my outfit was my brown cowboy boots.
I didn’t plan on going to the dance at all, much less dressing up, but Mae was so excited. She didn’t have a daughter, and with Hayden and I being seniors, this was her one opportunity to play dress-up with me. How could I deny her that?
Mae was more of a mother to me than my own. My mom wouldn’t have cared if I wanted to go to a high school dance—be a normal teenager. She would have done whatever my dad wanted, which was to probably not let me go.
Truthfully, I hadn’t seen my dad in a while. Maybe he’d skipped town or gotten arrested somewhere. Or better yet, maybe he’d gotten hit by a car.
Fingers tapped on my shoulder, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Wanna dance?” Hayden asked as I spun around.
“Uh…I don’t really know how to,” I mumbled, fidgeting with my dress.
He took my hand, leading me out onto the makeshift dance floor. “I’ll teach you.”
The song hit its crescendo, and he spun me out—all of my daydreams of the past dissipating—then back into his arms.
“What’s on your mind?” he murmured into my hair.
“Nothing, really. I’m just trying not to step on your feet or trip,” I admitted with a laugh.
He hooked a finger under my chin with a delicate touch. “I’ve got you, Skip. I won’t let you fall, remember?”
Too late for that.
My mind latched onto the lyrics, thinking about how perfectly they described my feelings toward Hayden. All these years, all this time apart, and we still wound up back in each other’s lives.
Like planets set to always revolve around each other, forever in the same orbit. They may have been apart for some time, but eventually, even if it was only once in a lifetime, they’d find their way back to each other—find a way to align once again.
I wanted to believe this was mine and Hayden’s once-in-a-lifetime chance.
Perhaps he believed it, too.