Same kind of truck you’d forget about if you weren’t paying attention. If you hadn't seen it parked by the Miller Land before tonight.
Except now I have.
My jaw tightens as I drag my gaze back to the chutes, forcing my focus in front of me where it belongs.
Coincidence.
Probably.
But the feeling from a minute ago doesn’t go away.
If anything, it settles in deeper.
Because Colt didn’t just react to me being back.
He reacted like it mattered.
And I’ve been around this long enough to know the difference.
Something’s off.
And whatever it is…
it’s not staying out here in the arena.
Chapter ten
This Life Is Dangerous
Riley
Ishouldn’t be here.
That thought sits steady in the back of my mind from the second we step through the gates, but it doesn’t slow Hadley down for even a second. She’s already pulling me forward, small hand wrapped tight around mine, eyes wide as she takes everything in like it’s the most exciting thing she’s ever seen.
And maybe it is.
The noise hits first, loud and constant, layered with music, voices, the sharp metallic clang of gates slamming shut. The smell comes next, dust and sweat and something heavierunderneath it that settles in your lungs whether you want it to or not.
It’s a lot.
Too much, if I’m being honest.
But Hadley doesn’t see it that way.
“Mom, look,” she says, tugging me toward the rail, already on her toes as she tries to see over the crowd. “They’re right there.”
I let her pull me forward, moving through the people until we find a spot close enough for her to grip the fence like she’s been doing it her whole life. I stay just behind her, one hand resting on her shoulder, grounding her without holding her back.
That balance matters.
It always has.
I tell myself I’m here for her.
That this is about letting her see something new, something that clearly means something to him, even if I don’t fully understand it.
But that’s not the whole truth.
