Chapter 9 #2
I drag a hand over my mouth, catching my breath, adrenaline still pumping hard through my system as the pickup men close in and the bull is guided off.
Clean ride.
Solid.
Exactly what I needed.
I turn toward the fence, rolling my shoulders once, waving my hat at the crowd, and that’s when I see them.
Riley.
Hadley beside her, small hands gripping the rail just like the other kids, eyes wide, locked on me like she hasn’t looked away since the gate opened.
My chest tightens, something sharp and unexpected cutting through the adrenaline.
Riley’s standing just behind her, one hand resting light on Hadley’s shoulder, her expression steady but not distant. Watching. Taking it all in.
She didn’t have to come.
I didn’t expect her to.
But she did.
Hadley’s face breaks into a grin the second I look their way, bouncing on her toes like she can’t hold it in. “You did it!” she calls, loud enough that I catch it even over the crowd.
I find myself smiling back before I can stop it, a quick lift of my hand in her direction.
Riley doesn’t smile.
But she doesn’t look away either.
And for a second, standing there with the dust still settling and the noise building back around us, it feels like something just shifted again.
I turn back toward the chutes to clear out, rolling my wrist where the rope bit in, letting the last of the ride bleed off my system.
“Nice seat,” Colt says from my left.
I glance over. He’s closer than before, hat tipped low, smile in place but not reaching his eyes. Up close, it’s easier to see what’s off. Not nerves. Not respect.
Something tighter.
“Thanks,” I answer.
His gaze flicks past me toward the arena, then back again like he’s checking something instead of watching the show. “Been a while,” he adds.
“Couple months.”
“Mm.” He nods once, slow. “Timing’s interesting.”
That lands wrong.
“Is it?” I ask, keeping my tone even.
He shrugs, casual on the surface. “Just saying. Things change when people come back.”
Behind him, Ryker laughs too loud at something that isn’t funny, slapping another rider on the back before drifting off again, attention already somewhere else. Colt doesn’t follow him this time.
He stays right where he is.
Watching me.
A handler calls for the next rider and the gate slams, the bull hitting hard, but Colt’s focus doesn’t shift with it. Not like it should.
“Ride clean tonight,” he says, same words as before.
Different weight.
“Always do,” I reply.
For a second, nothing moves between us. Then he smiles, easy again, like the moment didn’t happen, and steps back, giving me space he wasn’t taking a second ago.
“Good to have you back, McCallister,” he says, louder this time, like it’s for anyone listening.
He turns and heads off toward the far end of the chutes.
Before I follow, I glance back toward the stands without thinking.
Hadley’s still there.
Still bouncing on her toes like she’s got too much energy for her own body, waving both arms now like I might’ve missed her the first time. Riley stands just behind her, hand steady on her shoulder, watching everything.
I shake my head under my breath and push off the rail, cutting across the dirt toward them.
“Hey,” I say when I reach the fence, resting my forearms on the top rail.
Hadley beams up at me. “You did it!”
“Yeah?” I ask, a hint of a grin pulling at my mouth. “You think so?”
She nods hard. “You didn’t fall.”
“High bar,” I tell her.
She giggles, leaning closer like she’s already decided this is her spot now.
I glance up at Riley, holding her gaze for a second. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
Her expression stays steady. “Hadley wanted to come.”
“That right?” I look back at the kid. “Guess I owe you for the support then.”
She nods like that’s already understood.
Riley doesn’t say anything else, but she doesn’t pull Hadley back either.
That’s enough for now.
I straighten and tap the rail once. “I’ve got to get back,” I tell Hadley. “But I’ll come find you after.”
“Okay!” she says, like that’s a promise I better keep.
“It is,” I reply.
I step back, giving Riley one last look before I turn away, heading back toward the chutes where everything feels a little less simple than it did five minutes ago.
Something doesn’t line up.
Not the words.
Not the timing.
Not the way Colt kept looking past me like he was waiting on something.
I shift my stance and glance out across the arena again without meaning to, scanning the edges instead of the center this time.
Movement where there shouldn’t be any.
A truck beyond the lights.
Parked too far back to be part of the crowd, angled just enough that I can’t see inside.
Same kind of truck you’d forget about if you weren’t paying attention. If you hadn't seen it parked by the Miller Land before tonight.
Except now I have.
My jaw tightens as I drag my gaze back to the chutes, forcing my focus in front of me where it belongs.
Coincidence.
Probably.
But the feeling from a minute ago doesn’t go away.
If anything, it settles in deeper.
Because Colt didn’t just react to me being back.
He reacted like it mattered.
And I’ve been around this long enough to know the difference.
Something’s off.
And whatever it is…
it’s not staying out here in the arena.