Page 11 of September’s Cowboy Travis

I turned back to the bay by my side and checked the cinch even though it didn't need checking. If Kaycee wanted to find me, she could. I wasn't going to stand around waiting.

“Quick question,” she said behind me.

I turned, but she was talking to Jace.

“If this is about receipts, I deny everything,” he said.

Kaycee held out a sheet of paper. “That's very reassuring.”

His radio crackled. Jace spotted me and pointed. “Cole can show you.”

I straightened. “Show her what?”

“Apparently I need to learn about steer wrestling,” Kaycee said.

That was one job I didn't mind getting handed.

“She wants to know what the practice-stock charge covers,” Jace said. “You can explain it better than I can.”

Then his radio went off again, and he headed toward the arena without waiting for an answer.

Kaycee watched him go. “Does he usually abandon people in the middle of conversations?”

“He's busy.”

“So I get you instead.”

“You say that like it's a hardship.”

“I haven't decided yet.”

I secured my horse at the rail and headed toward the steer pens. Kaycee fell into step next to me while a pair of volunteers pushed a loaded cart past us, one of them swearing when a wheel caught in the dirt.

We hadn't made it far before I gave in. “Convince me.”

She stopped. When I turned around, she was staring at me over the top of her glasses.

“Are you planning to bring that up forever?”

“You sent it.”

“I sent two words.”

“Good ones.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I meant convince me steer wrestling was worth watching.”

“That's how I took it.”

“Liar.”

I grinned and kept walking.

The steer-wrestling setup occupied one end of the arena. Cody and another hand checked the gates while cattle shifted behind the fencing, their hooves scraping over packed dirt. Kaycee leaned against the top rail and studied the chutes like she expected them to explain themselves.

“Okay,” she said. “What exactly are you doing while you’re out there?”

I pointed toward the chute. “The steer breaks. Hazer keeps him running straight. I ride alongside, come off the horse, catch the horns, plant my feet, and turn him.”