Thirty-Five
Quinn
Montanawasbeautiful.I’dalmost forgotten how beautiful it really was. I hadn’t been back since I moved in January, since I packed up my entire life and started over in Alpine Ridge, but nothing compared to these mountains.
The past months since my birthday, Wyatt and I had been all over the country, hitting any circuit we could, keeping my rank solid. Tennessee, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas…we’d been almost everywhere. I even joked it was a new goal to hit rodeos outside of the United States. Australia had some pretty amazing rodeos,and the Calgary rodeo had always been a bucket list item of mine—even if I was just attending. Wyatt’s response to my new goal: “We’ll make it happen, baby.” He sealed his promise with a kiss.
And now back in Montana—one of the last stops before we slowed down for the fall and trained harder for the National Finals Rodeo coming up in December—seeing everything that we had done, that I had done, that goal didn’t seem so far off.
We could do it.
Icould do it.
I took a deep breath, taking in the crisp autumn air, and grinned.
“I do love it here.” I sighed.
I heard the trailer door squeak open right before I felt Wyatt's lips on my cheek.
“It is gorgeous,” he agreed. “And I think Hook knows where we are. He’s bouncing.”
Leaning back and craning my neck into the trailer, I finally registered the clanging on the trailer floor. Hook was indeed dancing.
“My family home isn’t too far away. He can sense it, probably. Home.”
Wyatt stepped into the trailer, opening the separator and unlatching Hook. “We should stop and say hi to your”—he caught my gaze—“old stable. You know the one you used to work at.”
I shook my head. “Nice catch.”
I swallowed. I’ve heard from my dad on a constant basis—we texted and called weekly—but my mom…I hadn’t heard or seen her since I told her off. Even Dad kept her out of the conversation. She had to be here somewhere; this was one of the biggest rodeos in Montana. But I kept my focus and wouldn’t seek her out. There wasn’t any point. I was here to win and get closer to the NFR—not for a family reunion.
“We won’t have time anyway. After tonight, we’re back on the road. Three more rides after this and then back home.” I slipped my arms around his waist as he tried to step out of the trailer, making it physically impossible for him and Hook to move forward.
“Do your parents know you’re here?” he asked gracefully, most likely not wanting to strike a nerve.
Wyatt was that person—my person—that I could talk about anything with, but the topic of my parents never seemed to stick. He respected that aspect, and I loved that he did. My life had been a lot easier since I stopped worrying about what my mother was thinking, doing, or where she would be. Hell—when I booked this rodeo, I knew very well that she was going to be here. But it didn’t stop me. I wanted to ride in this arena again, and nothing was going to take the feeling away.
I nodded. “My dad does, yeah. If he told my mom, that’s a separate story.” I rested my chin on his chest. “She has to be here, though. Miss Rodeo Montana is, and she comes with Kelly.”
He raised a brow.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m still taking home the biggest check.”
He grinned, leaning in to kiss me. I’d lost count of how many kisses we shared, how many times he’s made my knees weak with just his lips, but each one was still just as perfect.
“I’ll go get checked in,” I said softly.
“And I’ll saddle Hook. I’m going turquoise. Please tell me you brought the shirt Abi got you.”
“The satin one?” I begrudgingly let him go. “I did. It’s in the garment bag for tonight, steamed and ready—unless your hat box crushed it.” I gave him a wink and before he could respond, I jumped from the trailer and jogged with a skip in my step—literally—to the check-in booth.
Once I had my number and was ready to go, I spun on my heel. We had a few hours before the event actually began, and I planned to spend those hours with Wyatt. One of the reasons why I picked this rodeo was for the fair that accompanied it. I wanted to get an overpriced churro. I wanted to buy him another hat from a local vendor. I wanted to play stupid carnival games and win an oversized stuffed animal. I wanted to walk hand in hand with him, showing him one of my favorite things about my home state before we both got busy with the chaos of the rodeo. I couldn’t wait to whisk him away, kiss him against a tree, tell him I loved him, do all the things a couple would do. We’d been together for four months and still had yet to go on an official first date. I wanted tonight to be that.
But the moment I rounded the corner, that vision vanished.
I took a deep breath and reminded myself of what I told Wyatt just a few minutes before.‘It doesn’t matter’—and here she was, her arm linked with my dad’s, talking to Wyatt as if they were old friends.
Wyatt met my gaze, and his smile widened. I closed the gap between us, forcing that hurt down and focusing on the baby blues I was headed towards.
