Chapter 25 – Sunshine #2
“He can see family,” Tag said, waving back. “He knows we’re here for him and that’s all that matters.”
“Right,” I said, more to myself than to anyone listening. The crowd noise was far too loud. “Family is all that matters.”
When the bull riding was done, the women competed in barrel racing, and I told anyone who was listening that Shirley and I, if given a chance and years of training, would probably be awesome at that.
“Sure you would,” Mac said, patting me on my arm. “Hey, Tag. Isn’t that the girl from Big Horn you used to date?” Mac pointed at a stunning brunette down in the arena who’d just finished her ride.
“Abby.” Was all Tag said.
“She’s gotten really good.”
“She has.”
“I need the bathroom!” I announced. A little too loudly.
I pushed past Tag’s long legs, doing my best not to touch him, and made my way through the crowds.
Behind the bleachers, riders and fans mixed and mingled.
The riders were celebrities, and, by the look of the crowd of people around Seth, he was the biggest celebrity of all of them.
He glittered in the lights from the concession stand, and I couldn’t help but smile just looking at him. The charm just oozed off that boy.
As I took my time, wandering through the crowd, people from town stopped and talked to me, congratulating me on the financial miracle I’d pulled off.
“It’s hardly a miracle,” I said to Mrs. McCormick, another old teacher of mine.
“Honey,” she said, pushing her round, little glasses up higher on her nose. “I know a miracle when I see one.”
It was awkward being hugged by all these people.
Squeezed and thanked. But, it was also very, very nice.
So nice, in fact, I felt my eyes well up.
I’d made a lot of rich people more rich.
But, I’d never had such an impact on people’s lives before.
It was satisfying. Satisfying in a way I’d never felt in my job.
Seth looked up, and he must have seen me amongst everyone. Because, to my surprise, he excused himself from his fans and walked across the dirt and grass to where I was standing.
“Hi, Seth. It’s good to see you again.” I held out my hand for him to shake and he picked me up off my feet and gave me a huge squeeze. I could only laugh and hold on for dear life.
“Always wanted a sister,” he said into my ear, for me alone.
He put me back on my feet, and the lump in my throat was so big I didn’t know what to say.
Just then, the stands started to empty out, and soon after, we were surrounded by family. There was back slapping and hugging. Seth stood there with his arm slung over Mac’s shoulder and turned back towards me.
“My brothers said you saved everyone in town,” he said.
“That’s an exaggeration,” I assured him.
“No, it’s not,” Tag said, his arms crossed over his wide chest.
“They said a little bit about you too, Tag. We need to have a word about how you treat our sister?” Seth said with a grin, and slapped Tag’s chest. Tag grinned and smacked him back and suddenly the two of them were wrestling like boys.
Carter’s son got in on the action and Tag heaved the kid up over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
“Good ride,” Tag said to Seth. “You keep going like this, you’ll get another buckle in no time.”
“God-willing,” Seth said then. He was pulled away by fans, sponsors and event organizers. So, that was the last we saw of him.
The rest of us headed for the trucks and I wasn’t quick enough. Ethan took my seat in Harmony’s truck and I was left to ride with Tag. We stood side by side, watching everyone drive off.
“Come on, Sunshine,” he said. “Like I said, I’m not poison.”
“Not exactly lemonade, either,” I muttered, under my breath .
“What was that?”
“Nothing,” I said.
The truck ride was silent and infinitely worse than sitting next to him in the arena because the whole truck smelled like him. His soap. His skin. His sweat.
My eyes were drawn to his hands on the steering wheel. The veins in his wrists. The confidence with which he did everything.
“Keep looking at me like that and I’m going to think you want to play, darlin.”
My body flooded with heat. Desire. I was immediately wet between my legs. My nipples hard, and I knew he knew it.
I stiffened and looked away, dying a little of shame and heartbreak. “No, thank you.”
“That’s better for both of us.”
In a thick, painful silence we made our way home. When he pulled off the highway onto the long driveway to the lodge, he slowed down.
“Come home with me,” he said, in a rush. “It’s our last night. Come home and let’s say goodbye the right way.”
His eyes were liquid in the moonlight. Serious. My body responded in a rush. Of course, I wanted that. In that moment, I knew I would always want Tag.
And what, I wondered, could be the damage of one more time? I was already shattered, couldn’t I let him make it up to me with the best sex I would probably ever have in my life?
I opened my mouth to say yes as we crested the last hill into the Swinging D valley.
“What the hell?” Tag said.
I saw what he saw, two large, black tinted windowed, luxury SUVs parked out in front of the Lodge .
The second I saw that there were two cars, I could feel my stomach drop.
Jared didn’t warrant two SUVs. Only one person in my organization did.
“It’s him,” I muttered.
My time here had officially run out.