Chapter 22
I’ll Be Your Small Town - Cole Swindell
Wyatt
“ S o, you guys went on a date?” Grady asked.
We were sitting in the empty bleachers overlooking an outdoor sand ring, watching the barrel racing practice. Kinsley had Cherokee out and was warming her up at a nice, easy trot around the perimeter.
“Yeah, I guess. It wasn’t planned or anything,” I replied.
“Are you guys back together?”
The sun beat down on my neck as I leaned forward, my elbows resting on my knees. I couldn’t take my eyes off Kinsley as she guided Cherokee around the barrels, a small, fierce smile playing across her lips.
“I don’t know,” I mumbled more to myself than to Grady.
It had been so easy, so natural, to fall back into our old rhythm. The way she’d laughed at my jokes, the way her hand had fit perfectly in mine as we’d walked down the street. It was like no time had passed at all.
But that was the problem, wasn’t it? Time had passed, and things had changed. We had changed. Hadn’t we?
I rubbed my jaw, feeling the stubble that had grown in over the past few days. I had probably given Kinsley the impression that we were back together. The way I had looked at her, held her close in the dark theatre... Since her accident, we just sort of started falling back into a relationship. But I honestly didn’t know if I meant it. I thought I did. I hoped I did. But doubt still played around in the back of my mind, and I didn’t know if I was ready to dive back into that particular rodeo.
And yet, I couldn’t deny the way my heart had skipped a beat when she smiled at me over that burger. The way my skin had tingled when her fingers would trail over my arm. It was good to be with her again, to feel that connection that had always been there between us.
Kinsley guided Cherokee to a stop, patted the horse’s neck, and whispered something in her ear. She looked up then, her blue eyes finding mine across the distance.
My breath caught in my throat, and I felt that tug in my chest, that longing for something I wasn’t sure I could have.
“But you’re on good terms, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Would you happen to have her sister’s phone number?”
Grady’s question caught me off guard.
“Really? Abby?” I turned to him in disbelief.
“I liked her.”
“Then why didn’t you ask her for her number?”
“I did. She said no.”
I couldn’t help but laugh because he looked so perplexed.
“Well, you have your answer. She doesn’t like you and giving you her number would cross a line or something.”
“See, I think she does like me, but she’s in denial.”
“I’m not sure the denial lies on her side.”
I was a bit surprised at Grady’s persistence. I didn’t think he and Abby had that much in common. I didn’t know Abby all that well; she and Kinsley weren’t close, and she rarely came out to rodeos.
“I don’t see you two together. You’re a bull rider; she does dressage.”
“That’s the word! She mentioned it, but I couldn’t remember. Dressage.” He mulled over the word. “What is it?”
“Uh…” I scratched the back of my head. “It’s like horse dancing or something.”
“Huh?”
“Google it.”
He whipped out his phone and started watching YouTube videos. “What the fuck?” he exclaimed after a moment.
“I know.”
“This is a sport?”
“Yep.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Like I said, you two are very different.”
“Oh, look at this one go! He’s dancing to the music!” He tilted the phone so I could see, but I only glanced down briefly.
“What are you guys watching?” Finn said as he and Rhett came over and sat down beside us.
“Grady has a hard-on for Abby Jackson, so he’s learning about dressage,” I explained.
“Oh gawd.” Finn shook his head. “Good luck with that.”
Kinsley’s turn came up, and she held Cher outside the arena. Suddenly, Cher leaped from her mark and raced towards the first barrel. I held my breath, but they took the turn beautifully, and the next two as well.
“There you go. She survived,” Finn said.
I stood up, swatting his hat off his head as I walked by them. Jogging down the bleacher steps, I made my way over to Kinsley. She was standing beside Cher, talking to a couple of cowboys I didn’t recognize, which only made me quicken my pace.
“Hey, you,” she greeted when she saw me.
I brushed by the cowboys without a care that I was interrupting and took my place at her side.
“Well, good run, Kinsley,” one of them said, and they both waved and retreated.
“You scared them away.” She turned and smiled up at me.
“They’ll get over it.”
“Jealous?”
“Who wouldn’t be?”
“Good answer. Ready to win again today?”
I nodded and gazed down at her, drinking in her face. “How do you want to celebrate tonight?”
“Ooh, getting a little cocky, are ya?”
“Something about that question rings true.”
Her laugh burst forth, contagious and bright. “C’mon, cowboy, walk us back to the barn.”
I helped her get Cher untacked and started brushing her soft, coppery coat. Kinsley brushed her from the other side, and I found my eyes drawn to her delicate wrists and her precise flicking motions.
“What’s got your concentration, cowboy?”
“Your wrists,” I blurted without thinking.
“My wrists, huh? Interesting choice. He’s a wrist man.” She was smirking at me, and I couldn’t suppress my smile. “Do you want to come home with me in a couple of weeks?” she asked suddenly.
“What?”
“We have a break in the schedule coming up. I thought maybe you would want to come back to the ranch with me for a while. Bring Drifter, maybe leave him there? We could turn him out with our horses for the summer; he’d love it.”
I thought it over. It would be nice for him to spend the summer grazing instead of being hauled around from rodeo to rodeo. I wouldn’t mind the break either, to sit still for a while.
If I agreed to go home with Kinsley, it would mean something to her. I wouldn’t be able to keep pretending we were just friends. But I wanted to be close to her again and make her happy.
“Sure, I’ll come.” My voice came out softer than I’d intended.
Kinsley’s face lit up, her smile brighter than the sun streaming through the barn windows. “You will?” She bounced on her toes in excitement. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun! Drifter will love it there. We have this big pasture with a creek running through it, and the grass is so green and lush...” She rambled on, her words tumbling over each other in her enthusiasm.
A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. It was impossible not to get caught up in her energy.
“I’ll call my parents and let them know.” She pulled out her phone.
My smile tightened at the mention of her parents. Not that I didn’t like them—quite the opposite. They had always been kind to me, welcoming me into their home with open arms, but they were a class above me with their sprawling ranch and their expensive horses. It made me uncomfortable, like I didn’t quite fit in their world.
Kinsley paused, her finger hovering over the call button. “You okay?” Her brow furrowed.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I forced my smile back into place. “Just thinking about how happy Drifter is going to be.”
She grinned, then hit the call button and put the phone to her ear. As she talked to her mom, I leaned against the stall door, watching the way the light played off her hair and the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed.
I knew I was in trouble, that this trip would change things between us, but for the first time in a long time, I looked forward to the future, whatever it might bring.