Page 83 of A Montana Rodeo Star

The first person Brent wanted to tell was Faith but he wasn’t sure he could call her about this. Not when they were on unsteady footing. Then he’d wanted to call her brothers, but he knew better. They might congratulate him, but they weren’t exactly thrilled with the way things had gone down. It would be better to wait until they were better prepared for the news.

Then there was his family.

Boy, he wanted to march into his home and throw this in their faces.

And that’s when it struck him.

This wasn’t something he should want to lord over them. This was something he wanted to celebrate with them. He wanted his parents to pull him into a hug and tell him how proud they were of his accomplishments. He wanted them to promise they’d figure out how to make it work so they could come to some of the competitions nearby.

But most of all, he wanted them to accept him for who he was and who he wanted to be without question.

Brent tapped the card on his palm, not even sure at this point if he truly wanted it anymore. If he couldn’t share his wins with his family, then what was the point?

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Tap.

Tap.

Faith opened her bleary eyes and glanced around her room. It was dark and she still had the remnants of a headache. Something had woken her up, but her sleep had been restless. Dreamless. She sat up and placed her head in her hands, rubbing the heel of her palm to her forehead.

Tap, Tap.

Her head snapped up and she looked toward her window.

Tap.

She climbed out of bed and approached the window cautiously. But when she looked down below her window, her anxiety drifted away. In its place was a longing she wouldn’t be able to rid herself of in this lifetime or the next.

Brent stared up at her window, his brows furrowed. In the dark, she wasn’t sure he could see her. He lowered his gaze to his hand, and his fingers seemed to be fumbling before he moved one hand to the other. Then he pulled back his arm and flung a pebble at her window.

Tap.

Then another.

Tap.

She couldn’t help but smile. How long had he been out there, trying to get her attention? How long until he gave up? But the biggest question of all was what did he want? She’d only stayed at the arena long enough to find out his score. He’d done amazingly and based on everything she knew about the sport, he’d likely won.

The longer she stared down at him, the more her heart squeezed. The part of her that wanted to go down to him and pull him in for a hug warred with the scared little girl who didn’t know if they were still friends.

It had been easier being the quiet girl who didn’t get paid any attention. She could slip through unnoticed by everyone—including the man she’d had a crush on for ages. She’d been able to admire him from afar. It had been bliss.

Until she’d gotten a taste for more.

Now she craved him more than ever and yet she wasn’t sure he was going to be hers. That solitary fact was what kept her rooted to her spot as she studied him.

He didn’t seem to be losing his focus.

Tap, Tap, Tap.

Both hands fell to his sides and he moved closer to the house where the landscaping would allow him to seek out additional stones.

With a sigh, she pulled away from the window and retrieved her robe. Cinching it tight around her waist, she moved through the quiet house until she exited out the front door. She could still hear the little taps as he tossed more pebbles at her window. And when she rounded the side of the house, her breath caught.

There was something to be said about the way her body reacted to him when he was close enough to touch, to smell. The need to wrap herself in his arms was even worse than her desire to comfort him.

Because that was what he clearly needed.