Page 86

The arena is loud enough that I can barely hear myself think. Thousands of people fill the stands around us, music pounds through the speakers, and the announcer is saying something I stopped listening to the moment Addie came out of the gate. I lean farther over the rail as Dusty stretches out toward the second barrel, and beside me, Eli does the same.

We haven’t talked much today. Hell, we haven’t talked much all week. Things between us are still weird, which I suppose is to be expected when your best friend finds out you’ve been secretly fucking his little sister all summer. At least we’ve moved past the part where I thought he might punch me in the face every time I walked into a room. He’s been civil. I’ve been civil. We even managed a couple of beers together two nights ago at the Rusty Spur. Granted, everyone else was there, but progress is progress.

I know he’ll get over it eventually. Eli’s been my best friend for most of my life, and losing that matters more than I’d ever admit to his face. But I’m not walking away from Addie to make things easier for him. That isn't an option.

Dusty clears the second barrel, and Addie immediately sends him toward the third.

“Come on,” Hazel says from somewhere behind me.

Shae is yelling something much louder, but I barely hear either of them. I’m too busy watching Addie settle herself for the final turn, her body moving with Dusty like they’re one being.

“Go, baby. Go.” My fingers curl tighter around the rail as Dusty opens up beneath her and they tear toward the line. I swear those last few seconds take longer than the entire damn run.

Then the clock stops, and the number flashes overhead, and for half a second I just stare.

“Yes!” Hazel screams behind me, Shae grabs hold of her, and even Eli lets out a yell as I slap my palm against the rail hard enough to sting.

I know almost immediately that the time isn’t enough to win the whole thing. There are still riders to go, and this is the finals. The best of the best are here.

But I don’t give a shit. That was one of the cleanest runs I’ve watched her make all season, and she just did it here, at the finals, with everything she spent the last two months fighting for on the line. I watch her disappear through the exit gate and feel my chest go so tight I can barely stand it.

She fucking did it.

Every early morning. Every mile we put on my truck. Every time she questioned whether she belonged out here and climbed back into the saddle anyway. She earned her place in this arena long before tonight, but now everyone else has finally been forced to notice too.

I push away from the rail, already wanting to get down there to her. Getting to the finals in Billings was always the goal. What comes after this is a little less clear, but strangely, that doesn’t scare me the way it would have a couple of months ago.

I’m still considering Cole’s offer. As much as it pains me to admit, the asshole might have done one honorable thing in his life. The stock contract could give me something I haven’t had since bull riding ended— something I’m good at.

I’ve spent years bouncing between whatever work Eli could give me, odd jobs, hauling, and whatever else paid enough to keep Nana taken care of. The idea of actually building a career around something I’m good at, something that keeps me around the rodeo without requiring me to climb onto the back of a two-thousand-pound beast every weekend, feels almost too damn convenient. Maybe there’s a catch. With Cole, there usually is. I’ll read the contract before I decide anything.

That might be the strangest part of all. I don’t need to know exactly what the next five years look like anymore. I spent so long convinced that if I wasn’t riding bulls, then I had no fucking clue who I was supposed to be.

Turns out I was looking at it all wrong. Whatever comes next, Addie is in it. We haven’t skipped a beat since the engagement party. If anything, having everything finally out in the open made things easier. Mostly.

While Eli is still working on the whole best-friend-sleeping-with-his-sister situation, Addie and I stopped pretending we don’t want this more than everything. We wasted no time practically moving in together. Eli’s old place has apparently been sitting empty since we left for the circuit. He and Hazel temporarily moved into the main house at Clark Ranch to be closer to her aunt Mae.

With his house empty, he told Addie it was hers if she wanted it, but only after making it very clear the invitation was open to her and her alone. Not that either of us gives a shit, because I’ve spent every night there in her bed anyway. If tonight goes the way I think it will, though, we might not be spending nearly as much time there as we expected.

Addie needed people to notice her. After that run, they fucking will.

By the time we make our way down to the cool-down area, I spot Dusty before I see her. He’s still breathing hard, his coat damp with sweat, while Addie stands beside him, surrounded by people I don’t recognize. One guy has a major western brand stitched across his chest. Another is holding out a business card while Addie listens to whatever he’s saying, looking a little overwhelmed. I should probably go bail her out and help her navigate the attention, but I’m going to let her squirm in it for another minute. She deserves this.

Hazel makes a little sound beside me. “Are those...?”

“Yep. Sponsors.” I stop walking for a second and just watch.

“She did good.” I glance beside me and find Eli watching his sister too.

“Yeah,” I say, looking back at her. “She fucking did.”

He nods, and for a few seconds we stand there without saying anything. It’s not as uncomfortable as it would’ve been a week ago, which I suppose is another sign we’re getting somewhere.

Then he clears his throat. “Hey, man.”

I turn toward him, and Eli shoves his hands in his pockets as if he’d rather be doing damn near anything else right now. “I know shit’s been weird between us.”

“That’s one way of putting it.”