When Huck and I college rodeoed on the same team, his dad was always real hard on him. Always rubbed the other parents the wrong way. I felt bad for Huck until I realized he was just like his father. Just because your old man is a dick, doesn't mean you have to be one too. I would know. But damn if I didn’t try to be his friend when we first started school. He was always a great bareback rider but it was his cocky attitude that always got him in trouble. Clearly he never changed.
I’m waiting out in the hall for them to finish up, checking a few emails when I get a text from my buddy about performing at a pro rodeo this weekend. I start up a group FaceTime call with the guys to make sure they’re all in. I’m sure they’re itching to get back on stage.
“Hey, y’all, there’s a pro rodeo in Great Falls this weekend. The Big Sky pro rodeo. It’s three days and we got offered to perform every night. Y’all in?”
“I’m in,” Parker says while he’s brushing his teeth in the background.
Johnny pulls his wild dark hair out of his face. “As long as Sorrel's hot friend is gonna be there I’m in,” he chides.
Grady chimes in next. “She’s way out of your league, dude.”
“Yeah right, she totally wants me. We’d make the cutest little tan babies together.”
Johnny has a mischievous grin on his face. I look over my right shoulder and see Sorrel is standing behind me.
“Did you guys know she was there the whole time?”
They all start laughing, Sorrel too.
“Well, I guess you have some matchmaking to play,” I say to Sorrel and then look back at my phone. “All right y’all better be ready this weekend. I gotta go.” I hang up the phone and smile, looking up at Sorrel.
“What’s this weekend?” she asks.
“We just got an offer to perform at the Big Sky rodeo all weekend. Are you gonna enter?”
“I’m entered,” she says, giving me a smirk.
The corners of my mouth turn up. “And you weren't gonna tell me, were you?”
“Nope, figured you were playing anyways,” she says, walking away, changing the subject. “So, the rest of the family got hotel rooms to stay in town tonight, but I want to get back to the ranch since I left Dash. I can drive?—”
“No, it’s fine. I’m good to drive.”
My stomach dips thinking about Sorrel and I being alone at the ranch together. There’s always been someone around so it’s been difficult to get any alone time with her. We would have over an hour car ride home and the rest of the night alone. I can’t deny how excited I am to be around her some more. Especially just the two of us. Still, I’m not trying to rush anything with her. I know the kind of trauma she’s been through isn’t the kind of thing you just get over.
Something similar happened to my sister and it didn't just hurt her, it hurt us all. It took years of therapy before she was able to start dating. Hell, I probably should have gone to therapy too. The anger and hate I felt in my soul took time for me to move past but music helped. I wrote a song for my sister and it was healing for all of us. I’m a huge advocate for women whohave been in similar situations and I do what I can to give back. Any man who does something like that to a woman is no man in my eyes. They’re the scum of the earth. I just wish the legal system were better. If it were up to me, I would have taken things into my own hands and gotten justice for my sister—but I’d probably be in prison right now—and I’ve learned that you have to let the victim handle it how they want. You can’t force anything on them. I know her situation is different from what happened to my sister. But it still doesn't make what Huck did okay. So, I’ll do the best I can to be there for Sorrel—even if it’s never anything more than just friends.
On that thought maybe she doesn't feel comfortable being alone with me? Maybe I ought to let her drive herself home.
“Are you sure you’re comfortable with me driving you home alone tonight?”
“Uh yeah, just said I was. Why? Am I gonna find out you're like Garth Brooks and everyone thinks you’re actually a serial killer?”
I start full-blown belly-laughing. “People think he’s a serial killer?”
“Yeah, there’s a whole Reddit thread about it. Let’s just say I went down that rabbit hole one day, and honestly, I think they might be onto something.”
“Well, I’m not a serial killer. I just want to make sure you’re comfortable, that’s all.”
She purses her lips in thought. “I do feel comfortable with you, Denton.”
And there goes my heart again.
Sorrel asks all kinds of questions as we drive home. Everything from wanting to know about me and my family, to being on the road and performing in honkytonk bars. Anytime I try to turn the subject back to her, she changes it again and asks more about me. Her curiosity’s peeked and I think she’s trying tofigure me out. If she doesn't know by now, I’m an open book. I tell her everything she wants to know.
“So how are you feeling now that all that legality stuff is over? Was it hard seeing Kenzingtons’ parents again?” I ask, finally getting a question of my own in.
We’re almost back to the ranch now. Lightning strikes in the distance and it looks like a storm is coming in. There go my plans of sitting out on the porch with her all night. I want to know how she’s feeling before she can run off into her cabin.
