Not when she’s already looking at him like he’s something solid, something she can count on.
The ride stretches, seconds pulling long enough that it feels like it should already be over, like my body can’t hold this tension much longer.
Then the buzzer sounds.
The release hits almost as hard as the fear did.
I watch him clear the bull clean, hitting the ground on his feet before moving out of the way in one smooth motion. The breath I’ve been holding finally leaves my lungs all at once.
“He did it!” Hadley shouts, bouncing beside me, pure excitement lighting up her whole face.
I nod, but it takes a second for my body to catch up with the reality of it. The tension to unwind enough that I can actually see what just happened instead of everything that could have gone wrong.
He’s fine.
He’s more than fine.
He made it look easy.
And that doesn’t make me feel better the way it should.
It makes it worse.
Because if this is easy for him, if this is something he can do without hesitation, then it’s not something he’s going to walk away from.
And that means this risk…
this life…
It’s part of who he is.
Hadley leans further over the rail, waving both arms now, completely caught up in it, and I steady her again, my hand firm on her shoulder even as my gaze tracks him across the arena.
He looks up.
Finds us.
And for a second, everything else fades out again, not because of the ride this time, but because of the way something in my chest tightens when our eyes meet.
Relief.
Sharp and immediate.
Followed just as quickly by something heavier.
Because the second he steps into that arena again…
I’m going to feel this all over.
Hadley doesn’t come down from it the way I do.
If anything, she leans further in, energy still buzzing through her like the ride never really ended. Her hands grip the rail, feet bouncing in small, restless movements that make it clear she’s already looking for what comes next.
“That was so cool,” she says, turning just enough to look back at me before snapping her attention right back to the arena. “Did you see how he stayed on?”
“I saw,” I answer, my voice steadier now, even if the feeling underneath it hasn’t fully settled.
“He wasn’t even scared,” she adds, completely certain of that.
