Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
juniper
I’d never been to Houston before, and my jaw dropped at the sight of the city skyline before us. The drive down had been long—just under twenty-four hours—but we’d survived without ending our fake relationship early.
The long road trip was actually helpful to get to know each other better. Luckily, since the relationship was new, we had an excuse for not knowing every single minute detail about each other. But eventually, we’d be expected to know simple facts about one another.
“Where are you from originally?” I’d asked on a long, boring stretch through Wyoming.
“Colorado,” he replied. “The southern part. Where are you from?”
“I’m from Michigan.”
“What made you move to Montana, then?” He looked over at me with curiosity in his eyes.
“It truly was for a change of scenery. Admittedly, I’d seen photos of the wide open spaces and big blue skies and was immediately drawn in. SGU had the program that I wanted to go into, and even though it was more expensive than an in-state school, I was ready to get out. How about you?”
“It was a similar whim. I’d been traveling from place to place for a while, never really finding anywhere to settle.
Colorado is where I grew up, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it home anymore.
When I met Colter and Reid, it felt right to come up to Montana.
I honestly didn’t plan to stay, but somewhere along the line it became home.
I don’t have a house or land, so I can always leave if the urge to roam comes up again, but I do consider the guys family,” he confessed, the words seeming to pour out of him.
“I think Montana may be the place I finally settle.”
I didn’t mean for it to slip out, but I still confessed, “Sometimes I’m not sure what to do with myself. I had this whole future planned out and then…”
“Then what?”
“Things changed. I changed, I guess.” I didn’t want to divulge what had happened for fear that I’d be found out, but it wasn’t necessarily a lie either. Brady cheating on me was humiliating enough as it was; I didn’t feel the need to open that can of worms.
“Was it at least a good change?”
“Yeah. It was, I think.”
Once we’d gotten settled and everyone had unhooked the trailers, we started to make a plan for the evening.
“I think Colter and I are going to take a trip out to the ranch, but we can meet you all later?” Ellison explained.
I’d learned from Mikey that she was born and raised in Houston.
Her father was once a famous cowboy, but a rodeo accident had taken his life when Ellison was a child.
By a stroke of fate, she’d run into Colter at a bar then saw him again on the one day out of the entire year she went to a rodeo.
The rest was history, a love story for the ages.
“Isa should be coming around soon,” Reid said.
“We could wait for her then grab some food or something. Meet you two at the bar later?” Jake suggested.
A few murmurs of agreement rose within the group.
“Juniper’s never been to Houston before, so I say we give her the full experience.” Mikey winked at me.
Heat flushed into my cheeks. I hadn’t told anyone else that I’d never been.
I wasn’t sure why it was embarrassing to me, but for whatever reason, it made me feel almost inadequate.
I’d never been involved with the rodeo, or particularly well-traveled, so I didn’t feel part of this circle.
Brady had tried to get me to go to the Goldfinch rodeo before, but I always made up some excuse.
I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d flirted with other girls at the events.
Ava never protested going to a rodeo and, now that I thought of it, they’d gone without me a few times.
“Oh, this is going to be so fun.” Jake rubbed his palms together.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Please.” Ellison spun around on her heel, pointing at the guys as she and Colter started walking away.
“Didn’t you almost punch a guy in the mouth the night you and Colter met?” Hayden asked.
“Yes, but I’m a changed woman, Hayden. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do now. We aren’t going to talk about my past,” she joked.
Colter and Ellison jumped in the truck and headed out, leaving the rest of us to wait for this Isa they’d all been talking about. From what I understood, Isabelle was Ellison’s best friend and Reid’s long-distance girlfriend.
I admired them for being able to maintain a relationship thousands of miles away. I don’t think Brady and I would have ever survived long-distance. We didn’t even survive close proximity. You can’t get much closer than living together. He was practically under my nose and still cheated on me.
Damn, I needed to think about something else, otherwise my mood was going to get depressing really fast.
Before I could let my mind wander any longer, Mikey pulled a cooler out of the bed of the pickup truck and dropped it on the ground. The sound was enough to distract my restless mind.
“Anyone want a beer while we wait?” Mikey asked the group.
“Toss me one, yeah.” Jake nodded.
Hayden and Reid declined.
“Peach?” Mikey raised his brows at me.
“No, I’m okay. Thanks.” I gave him a soft smile. I wasn’t much of a beer girl.
“So, how was the last leg of your drive?” Reid turned to me, pulling out some lawn chairs for everyone to sit. He set mine up, not letting me lift a finger.
I sat, crossing my legs. “Thanks. And it was good.”
“Mikey hasn’t driven you insane yet? You’re not about to run for the Texas hills are you?” Jake teased, nudging Mikey with his elbow.
I puffed out a small breath of air, shaking my head. “No, it was fun. Learned a lot about you all, in fact.”
“Uh-oh. Not sure I want to know what he told you about us. Probably can’t be anything good.” Jake laughed.
“Nothing good about you, at least,” Mikey jabbed back, a wide grin on his face.
“Figures.”
Before anyone else could poke fun at Mikey, a gray Honda Civic pulled up to the trailers.
“That’s Isa.” Reid practically jumped from his chair.
I turned my head toward the vehicle just as Isabelle stepped out.
The guys weren’t lying when they said she was short.
But she was like a real-life version of Barbie, with perfectly curled blonde hair, long eyelashes, and pouty lips.
Even her clothes looked perfect. A twinge of envy rose in my chest as I took her in.
“Oh my goodness, hi! I missed you all!” she squealed, walking right past Reid to hug the other guys.
Reid just laughed, his eyes sparkling at the sight of her. Like he wasn’t even bothered that she didn’t go to him first. Reid looked at Isabelle like she was the only girl in the world. As if she hung the moon and every single star in the sky.
“You must be Juniper! I’m Isa. I’ve heard so much about you!” She came up to me next, immediately pulling me in for a hug, too.
I blinked a few times, never having been one for physical affection. “I’ve heard a lot about you, too.”
“Hopefully nothing bad.” She smiled.
“Only good things,” I replied, pulling back. “I hope you haven’t heard anything bad about me.”
“What? No, never. Anyone who can keep Mikey in line is a good one.” She shot him a teasing look. “I like her already. I’m sure we’ll have lots to talk about.” Isa laughed. “You probably have tons of stories already just from a couple weeks with him.”
I knew Mikey had a reputation for being a playboy, but I didn’t realize how often he seemed to be the butt of everyone’s jokes. Don’t get me wrong, he had a decent sense of humor and was a good sport, but he was almost always the target.
“Have you eaten anything yet?” Reid asked, pulling her away from me. “Also, it’s nice to see you again, Short Stack.”
“I just talked to you on the phone, you’re fine.” She stuck out her tongue. “I haven’t eaten yet. Is that what you’re planning to do? I’m guessing Colter and Ells went out to her mom’s?”
Reid nodded. “Yeah. They said they’d meet us later tonight at the bar.”
“For someone who claims to hate the bars, she sure goes to them a lot.” Isa snorted. “I guess it’s different now that she’s married.”
“Well, let’s head out then?” Hayden stood, stretching his arms out. “Who’s riding with who?”
Isa glanced at me then directed her attention to Mikey. “Hey, you should go with Hayden and Jake, and Juniper can come with me and Reid! I want to get to know your girl.”
My eyes widened. That wasn’t part of the plan. Not that I only wanted to hang out with Mikey, but I wasn’t exactly prepared to spend alone time with his friends.
“You’ll be okay?” he asked, and I reluctantly nodded because what else was I supposed to do? “I can go with you, if you want. It’s up to you.”
I shook my head. Eventually I’d have to hang out with Isabelle—and Ellison—alone. Once the guys started competing, Mikey wouldn’t be attached to my hip. Might as well start to get to know her now.
“Perfect! Finish your beer, Jake, let’s go!” Isa put her hands on her hips, ordering him around like a tiny drill sergeant.
Jake shrugged then chugged his practically full beer, tossing the can in a trash bin close to the trailers.
“Man, I didn’t even get to open mine.” Mikey sighed when Isa shook her head at him.
That evening, we strode through the doors of the Ace in the Hole Bar.
Apparently, it was sentimental to the group.
I couldn’t tell if the bar had a nostalgic vibe to it or not because of how crowded it was.
I imagined when it wasn’t overflowing with people, it had an old-timey western feel.
The music definitely gave that impression.
Most of the songs being played were from the eighties and nineties instead of the top twenty radio hits.
“Do you know how to dance?” Isa yelled into my ear over the music.
“No.”
“You’re going to learn!”
“Wait, what?” My stomach dropped as she yanked me out on the dance floor, pulling Ellison with her other hand.
“You’ll get used to it.” Ellison chuckled. “Dancing is also a bit of a requirement to be friends with Isa.”
The corners of my lips drooped as I gave her a downturned smile. “Noted.” Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Mikey leaning against the bar with a beer in hand, an amused look on his face.
More people joined us on the dance floor, lining up in rows.
“What’s going on?” I admittedly hadn’t been to a lot of country bars, surprising considering I went to school in a town where cowboying was popular.
“A line dance.” Ellison sighed. “Don’t be afraid to bail out if you have to. She won’t expect you to stay on the floor the whole time.”
My chest thrummed with nerves as the song started.
Isabelle stood on my right and Ellison on my left.
Immediately, I knew I wasn’t going to last very long.
Everyone else made it look easy, but I felt like my left foot was on my right side and my right foot was on my left.
Eventually, I stumbled backward into someone, embarrassment flaming red-hot into my cheeks.
“Sorry,” I muttered. She gave me a sympathetic smile, and I decided that was enough. I maneuvered my way out of the formation of people, finding the guys sitting at a table near the dance floor.
“What happened out there, Peach?” Mikey teased, and I shot him a glare.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Don’t worry, here comes Ellison.” Colter grinned as Ellison approached the table, sweat slicked across her forehead.
“I tell her every single time that she’s going to end up out there by herself, but does she ever listen?” Her words came out shaky as she caught her breath.
“No, never.” Reid laughed softly, although his eyes still sparkled with adoration.
The song ended, and Isa came strutting back to the table. “You guys left me out there all by myself!” She pouted in mock disappointment.
“It’s on you at this point, Is.” Ellison shrugged.
“Come on, Short Stack, let’s go dance.” Reid grabbed her hand and tugged her back onto the dance floor as a slower song came on.
“Want to?” Mikey offered his hand.
“I clearly don’t know how to dance, so as long as that doesn’t bother you.” I snorted.
“We can struggle together.” He winked as he led me out, placing his hand on my waist and positioning my free hand on his shoulder. My skin tingled at the contact, and butterflies attacked my stomach when he murmured, “That’s it, slow and steady.”
“How did you learn how to dance?” I asked as we swayed to “She’s Everything” by Brad Paisley.
“Started going to street dances and bars after rodeos. There’s always people looking to dance, so it wasn’t hard to pick up on it. Besides, it’s good to have rhythm. Helps with riding bulls, you know?”
“Makes sense. I never would have pegged you as a dancer.”
“No?” The corners of his eyes wrinkled as he cracked a small smile, his lips curling up slightly underneath his mustache.
I shook my head, but then light flashed on our left side. I turned my head just in time to see someone holding up their phone then quickly putting it back in their pocket.
“What was that?”
Mikey looked over to where my eyes were, but the person was already gone. “Huh?”
“I thought someone took a photo.” Maybe they weren’t taking a photo of us. It probably didn’t matter anyway, as I was sure plenty of people took pictures of Mikey without him knowing.
“If they did, it’s probably not a big deal. Don’t worry about it. Hey, you’re getting the hang of this.” He changed the subject. Probably spoke a bit too soon, though, because a moment later I stepped on his toes.
“Sorry.” I laughed quietly. “So, what’s the plan for tomorrow?”
He spun me quickly, my hair flying into my eyes as we turned to face one another again. “We’ll probably watch some of the competition tomorrow night. It’s the last night of the first series, and then I’ll be competing the next day.”
“You don’t compete every day?”
“No, definitely not. There are five different groups that compete on a set of days and then the semifinals and championship if you make it that far. That’s why we didn’t need to be here right away,” he explained.
“Got it. So, like a bracket, kind of?”
“Yeah, exactly. It’ll be fun, and I think you’ll really enjoy all this. I mean, as long as you enjoy watching me win the whole thing, we’ll be golden.” He flashed a bright smile, and I couldn’t help but grin back.