Chapter 14 #2
“Hey, the last rider is coming up. Let’s watch, and then we can go look at this bull-riding thing.” Casey says.
“I want to eat too!” Chelsea tells him. “I’m surprised you guys aren’t hungry. You guys are constantly hungry.”
“I ate a sandwich before we left, but I’m ready to eat again.” He nods, then points at me. “Bo had two breakfasts today. One at the field after our workout and one when we got home before we left.”
“It wasn’t two breakfasts. That quesadilla I had before we left was just a snack.” I pat my stomach. “I’m ready to eat again though. I went hard at the gym today.”
“We can go in about”—Casey looks at his watch—“five minutes or less, depending on how quickly this guy gets thrown off. Unless the girls want to stay for the barrel races. But those don’t start for, like, forty-five minutes.”
“I don’t think I can wait that long to eat,” Chelsea says.
“Me neither.” Charlie joins in. “I’m getting hungry too, but I did want to see the barrel races. Those girls are badass.”
“Maybe we can find another rodeo and go watch the girls some other time.” She claps her hands. “Oh! Maybe when the guys are at an away game.” Chelsea nods excitedly.
“Yes! I love that plan. I’m so glad you’re in our mix of friends now, Chelsea. We needed another brain in here for all the good ideas.” Charlie leans over and holds her hand out to Chelsea for a high five.
“Aww, thanks, Charlie. I’m glad to be part of the group too.” She high-fives her and then turns to look at me, smiling.
“Hey, I have good ideas!” Brooke says.
“You do, babe. But Chelsea’s, like, really smart.” Charlie puts an arm around Brooke.
“And I’m not?” Brooke laughs, but she doesn’t seem offended.
“You totally are. I’m just saying, it’s good to have another brain in the mix. Whatever. You know what I mean. Let’s watch this last guy and go.”
They both laugh.
I wrap my arm around Chelsea and pull her in closer. “I’m glad you became part of the group too. Who knows if we would have met otherwise, you know?” I kiss her on the temple.
“I was thinking about that the other day. We were having a discussion in one of my classes about circumstance. There’s a fancy name for it—apophenia. It’s when people see meaning or patterns in random things that aren’t really connected.”
“So, you’re saying, me running into you wasn’t the universe working its magic? It was just … random chance?”
“Maybe. Or maybe apophenia’s just the brain’s way of explaining what the heart already knows.” She pauses and pulls in a deep breath. “Like maybe I met Noelle during our freshman year so that it would lead me to you.” She looks down, almost shyly.
“I couldn’t agree more.”
I cup her face and turn it toward mine and kiss her softly. It’s meant to be a quick kiss, but the tenderness of the moment makes me linger on her lips for a beat longer than appropriate in public. And I couldn’t care less.
We made our way to the food tent after leaving the arena, which also happens to have the mechanical bull.
The mix of smells from all kinds of food permeates the air with a smoky, but sweet scent like funnel cakes.
Casey, Silas, and I all got some barbeque while the girls got a variety, opting for more traditional fair food from what they tell me.
Charlie and Brooke decided to split nachos and a big pretzel, and they each got a corndog.
Noelle went the safe route with a slice of pizza.
And my girl got a turkey leg that’s possibly larger than her entire arm. With a side of fries.
There are rows of bench style seating in the food tent, and we find a spot near a stage area where a country band was playing, but they’re packing up now.
Our table is so full that it looks like a buffet.
I look around at some of the other tables and see they resemble ours in terms of the amount of food.
I guess eating at the fair is a big deal.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many options in one place.
“I can’t believe that guy broke his arm!” Silas speaks loudly over the noise of the room. “That bull tossed his ass up into the air. Looked like a clean break, but that dude is cooked.”
Brooke sits next to him and shivers. “I have seen you guys take some bad hits and even break some bones, but with all the padding, I’ve luckily never seen any limbs dangling. That poor guy.”
“That dude will probably be back on a bull within a week. Those guys are nuts. Literally no fear.” Casey shakes his head and chuckles.
“I would imagine you can’t get on a bull if you are scared. Animals sense that kind of thing.” Noelle lifts her brows at Casey.
“That’s totally true. They can. I used to”—Chelsea pauses like she’s thinking about something—“volunteer at a farm that worked with kids who had experienced trauma in their lives. It was incredible to see how they would respond to the kids when they first came in.”
“I didn’t know you did that. That’s awesome.” Noelle smiles at her.
Chelsea clears her throat. “Yeah, it wasn’t always easy, but it was rewarding.”
I watch her face closely to see if she’ll continue, and when she doesn’t, I try to ease the conversation to a place where she’s not the center of attention. “Okay, but do you think that bull felt bad when the guy got hurt?”
Silas tosses a tater tot at my head and laughs. “You’re an idiot.”
I laugh. “What? I wanna know.” Obviously, I’m joking, but I wanted to divert from anyone asking Chelsea more about her experience. “I never had a pet, so I have no idea.”
They all stop eating and look at me.
“You’ve never had a pet? Of any kind? Not even a goldfish that died the next day?” Charlie asks, looking dumbfounded.
“Not even a goldfish. Although when I was little, I had a stuffed dog that I carried around with me everywhere, and I think one of my aunts bought a leash for it, so I would take it for walks.” I smile and shrug. “I loved Spike.”
Charlie brings her hands to her chest and pouts her lips. “Spike? Oh, bless your heart, Bo Callaway. You walked your stuffie. Didn’t it get, like, really dirty?”
“Yep, but my mom washed it every day for me.” I look at Chelsea and smile. “My dad is allergic to animals of all kinds, apparently, so we couldn’t have them.”
She leans her head on my shoulder. “My poor guy.”
Casey holds out a hand. “Okay, but who else is picturing a little Bo dragging a stuffed animal behind him on the sidewalk?”
Everyone raises their hand and laughs.
“Ha-ha. Laugh it up. He was a good friend. A loyal friend.” I try to stay serious, but I can’t, and I bark out a laugh.
“You should definitely get a dog or something someday.” Chelsea squeezes my arm.
“We should,” I say and watch her eyes widen in surprise.
“Oh! I’d better go get us tickets for the mechanical bull so we don’t have to wait forever.” Noelle stands and swings her legs over the bench seat.
“I’ll go with you,” Brooke says, standing to follow her.
Charlie takes a bite of her pretzel. “I’ll leave you girls to do that, but, hey,” she calls out as they walk away, “I don’t want a ticket! I just want to watch you guys fall off.” She laughs and nearly chokes on her pretzel.
“Noelle won’t fall.” Casey defends her.
Charlie drops her head and looks down her nose at him. “Case, I love Noelle, but she doesn’t have an athletic bone in her body. She won’t last a minute on there.”
He lifts his shoulder. “I think she will.”
“I have faith too, Casey,” Chelsea says.
Charlie has a piece of pretzel in her hand and uses it to point at Chelsea. “You’re doing it, right?”
Chelsea nods. “Yeah. Why not? I’ll probably make a fool of myself, but I don’t really care.”
“I mean, it’s not like you’re dragging it around by a leash or anything,” Silas teases me.
“Fuck off.” I chuckle.
A few minutes later, the girls come back with three tickets.
“You guys didn’t want to try, right?” Noelle asks, looking at us guys.
“Pretty girl, Coach would be pissed if one of us got hurt by messing around on that thing. Even for fun.” He holds her hand as she climbs back over the bench.
“That’s what I thought, so I only got these three since Charlie’s a party pooper.” Noelle sticks her tongue out at Charlie.
My girl sets her turkey leg down on her plate and wipes off her hands. “I probably shouldn’t eat any more of this if I’m going to be going up soon. What number are they on?” She looks over toward the mat where the bull is.
“I think there are, like, five people in front of us.” Brooke glances over at Noelle. “Right?”
“Yeah, I think so. Are you guys done? We should probably go over there.” Noelle stands again, holding on to Casey’s hand.
I grab my plate and look at Chelsea. “Are you done with your leg, or do you think you’ll want more?”
She giggles. “I’m done with my leg. I’m saving room for that funnel cake. And I might switch out the Twinkie for a fried Oreo instead.” She drops her mouth open and wiggles her brows.
“Living dangerously. I like it. But please don’t puke on the way home. I’m a sympathetic puker, and I really don’t want to do that in front of you.” I scrunch my face in disgust.
When I stand, I hold out my hand for her so she can climb over the bench. Once she’s standing behind it, I pick up my plate and hers as the others walk ahead of us.
She looks up at me while we walk. “So, you really never had any pets growing up?”
I drop our plates in the trash, then take her hand in mine. “I really didn’t. My mom’s sisters and her parents had dogs, so when we visited, we’d get our puppy fix, I guess. Never really bothered me much as I got older because I was so busy playing sports.”
“Did you play anything other than football?”
I nod. “Yeah, I played baseball and a little basketball. By the time I got to high school, I was only playing baseball and football.”
Casey calls my name to tell me where they are, and I lift my chin to acknowledge him as we make our way over to the group.