Chapter 27
KADE
The crowds have already cleared by the time we exit the arena, leaving us with minimal lighting as we cut through the parking lot.
Most riders kick it once they’ve ridden, but I like to stick around and take in the atmosphere as a spectator, and Chloe didn’t object when I suggested it.
With none of my riding gear on, I’m just another guy enjoying the show, drawing zero attention to myself.
Chloe’s walking beside me, talking animatedly about how much she loved tonight and what her favorite event was. Disappointingly, it was the barrel racing, not the bareback bronc riding, which is my event. That I won, might I add.
Flicking through the pictures she’s taken, she holds the camera up, angling the screen toward me. “And this one, look at how good it looks, the lighting, the way the dust was a paid actor. It’s perfect.”
“A paid actor, huh?” I chuckle.
“Yeah, I couldn’t have asked for a better setup. These are going to look amazing in my portfolio. Oh, and look at this one of you.”
The muscles in my body contract.
Relax, Kade.
This is why I wear a face covering. People take photos all the time; this is no different.
Forcing my shoulders down from my ears, I look down at the picture.
I remember this moment. You can’t see my eyes because they’re obscured by my hat, but you can see the buckle my father gave me.
It was my Uncle Kurt’s. He won it in the show that made him a household name around here, and there it is, with the bucking bronc shining under the lights, in all its golden glory.
Fuck. I meant to swap it out, but I was so distracted with showing her around that it slipped my mind.
Here’s hoping nobody else recognized it tonight or my entire world is likely to implode.
I swallow around the panic clawing its way up my throat. “That’s a cool picture,” I choke.
Oblivious, Chloe flicks to the next picture. In this one, I’m on the back of the horse, one arm holding on to the reins with my back resting on the horse’s behind as I’m being thrown around. Again, you can’t see my face, but you’d know it’s me if you recognized that damn buckle.
I come to a stop in the middle of the parking lot. “You can’t show those pictures of me to anyone, Chlo.” The words come out panicked and harsher than I wanted.
A groove forms between her brows, and she drops the camera, leaving it to hang around her neck before she steps up to me.
“I won’t, I promise. Kade, I know how much this place means to you, but I also know how much you love your family.
You can trust me with these. They’re only for my eyes.
And yours, if you ever want to see yourself how I do.
” She pauses, like she’s not sure she should voice her next words.
“For what it’s worth, I think you should tell them.
I don’t think they’d be as mad as you think. ”
I scrub a hand down my face. “I can’t tell them, Chlo. Please, just leave it at that.”
She nods, but it doesn’t feel like she agrees, not fully.
Exhaling heavily, I search her gaze, hoping like hell she’ll hold on to my secret. God, how am I supposed to go on like this? It was one thing worrying about me slipping up, but to have another person know, that just adds a whole other layer of pressure to my chest. Was this a mistake?
“I won’t tell a soul. I promise.” The truth shines in her eyes, steady and sincere.
I continue in the direction of my truck, mentally shaking off the funk I’ve doused our night with before saying, “Show me the rest of the pictures, buttercup.”
The last thing I want is for Chloe to feel like she can’t be excited about her first ever night at the rodeo.
After a beat of hesitation, she picks up her camera, falling into step beside me as she continues to flick through the rest of the pictures. She has at least one of every rider, if not more.
When she’s gone through them all, she looks up at me, gratitude shining in her eyes. “Thank you for bringing me, for sharing this part of you with me.”
I throw an arm around her shoulder and place a kiss in her hair, inhaling her vanilla and fruity scent. “Thank you for coming,” I mutter.
When we reach the truck, I unlock the doors and hold hers open for her, outstretching a hand so she can climb in. She slides into the middle of the bench and busies herself with fastening her seatbelt as I throw my duffle in the bed and jog around the hood.
Climbing into the cab, I meet Chloe’s heavy-lidded stare, her excitement from earlier replaced with a fatigue that I feel to my bones. It’s been a long day.
“Let’s get you home,” I say, starting up the truck as I pull on my seatbelt.
She rests her head on my shoulder as I pull out of the parking lot, and within a matter of minutes, her breathing has evened into a steady rhythm beneath the hum of the engine. I’ll take her back to my place.
For a second, I wonder if I could have this—have her—for good, not just this temporary vacation fling that we’ve got going on. Part of me hopes that she’ll choose to stay, that the work Maddie can give her will be enough for her to uproot her life, but the truth is, I can’t guarantee that.
What if she doesn’t want that? What if she meets with Maddie tomorrow and still decides to return to Seattle? All we ever agreed to was for me to play the part of her devoted fake boyfriend. She’s never mentioned wanting more.
When I pull up outside my house, I kill the engine, sitting in the dark as I stare at the house I built for a family I didn’t think I’d ever have but can see more clearly every day since I met Chloe.
My gaze drops to her head still resting on my shoulder as she gently snores, the sound mixing with the soft tick of the engine as it cools. She shifts against me, her warmth sinking under my skin, and for a heartbeat, I let myself imagine that this is forever.
An ache settles into my chest, and I know that not having her doesn’t really feel like an option.
Tomorrow, I’m going to have to talk to her about what comes next. With only two full days left together, time is ticking.