Wade shifts Hudson higher on his hip. “We’ll be right here.”
“I know that too.”
Quinn gives me a look that says she’s already running through every possible outcome, filing it away, ready to act if she needs to.
Summer smiles, soft but sure.
Addie doesn’t say anything, just meets my eyes for a second like she gets what this means without needing it spelled out.
Luke claps a hand on my shoulder once, firm.
Grounding.
I take a breath, deeper this time, letting it settle all the way down.
Then I turn back to the chute.
Because they showed up.
Now it’s on me to do the same.
I swing up onto the rail and drop into position, boots braced, one hand gripping tight as I settle over the bull. The animal shifts under me, muscle rolling, power coiled and waiting, and everything in my body locks in with it.
This is it.
The handler nods, quick and sharp. I set my grip, lean forward just enough, and when the gate snaps open, the world explodes.
The first jump hits hard, violent and fast, the kind that tries to throw you before you’ve even found your rhythm. I stay with it, hips moving, arm loose, riding the motion instead of fighting it.
Second jump. Twist. Kick.
I adjust, center, hold.
The noise disappears, replaced by instinct and timing, every second stretching and snapping back at the same time. Dirt flies. The bull spins, changes direction, tries to catch me off balance.
Not today.
I ride it out, staying clean, staying sharp, letting muscle memory do exactly what it’s supposed to do. One second. Two. Five.
Almost there.
The final kick hits, and I release at the right moment, dropping clear as the buzzer cuts through everything. Boots hit dirt hard, knees bending on impact before I push up and move out of the way fast as the bull clears past.
The crowd surges back in all at once.
Sound. Movement. Heat.
I drag a hand over my mouth, catching my breath, adrenaline still pumping hard through my system as the pickup men close in and the bull is guided off.
Clean ride.
Solid.
Exactly what I needed.
I turn toward the fence, rolling my shoulders once, waving my hat at the crowd, and that’s when I see them.
Riley.
