Page 132

"Confirm what?"

"That cowboys have terrible taste."

Tripp nearly falls out of his chair laughing. Even Briggs' mouth twitches.

"There."

Briggs looks up. "’There’ what?"

"You smiled."

"I did not."

"You did."

"I think she's hallucinating."

"Three drinks, and suddenly I'm the problem?"

"Always."

She points at him. The gesture would've been a lot more intimidating if she wasn't fighting a grin at the same time. Across the table, I catch Briggs grinning at her.

The idiot isn't fooling anybody. Least of all her.

By the time the third drink is gone, whatever nervousness she'd been carrying around all day has finally disappeared. She's laughing louder, leaning into conversations without thinking about it, and smiling so much my face hurts from watching her.

The mechanical bull starts up near the side of the bar, and I make the mistake of looking over. Autumn is looking, too, and her smile is as big as the Montana sky.

"No." I shake my head.

She blinks. "No, what?"

"Whatever you're thinking."

The grin that spreads across her face tells me everything I need to know. Ten minutes later, she's climbing onto the bull while half the bar gathers around to watch. Tripp whistles loud enough to make several people turn around, and Autumn immediately flips him off.

The bull starts moving, and she settles into the seat with entirely too much confidence. The operator increases the speed. She keeps riding and laughing the whole time. The crowd gets louder as the bull bucks harder.

Autumn nearly falls off because she's too busy making fuck me eyes at Briggs, and I laugh so hard beer comes out my nose. When she finally slides onto the padded mat, she stays there laughing for a second before somebody helps her up.

The entire bar applauds.

By the time she makes it back to the table, she's flushed, breathless, and entirely too pleased with herself.

"You looked worried."

Briggs doesn't even blink. "I wasn't."

Tripp and I immediately start laughing.

The rest of the night passes in a blur of drinks, dancing, and stories from other competitors. At one point, I come back from the bar and find Autumn looking toward the far side of the room.

Her smile is gone.

"What?"

Autumn shakes her head.