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Once he’s finished warming his rope, Cooper puts his palm in position and wraps it the way I taught him. At any second now, he’ll give the nod, letting them know he’s ready for the chute to be opened. Those ten seconds pass so slow, but when he does, it all goes by so fast.
His positioning is perfect with a straight back and his chin tucked. With his toes forward, Cooper rides with total control. I watch him and glance up at the clock. Five seconds. Six seconds. And right as it switches to eight, the buzzer goes off, and he purposely falls. He quickly bounces up with a big ass grin on his face and rushes out, waving to the crowd. I cup my hands around my mouth and yell his name. He sees me and points right in my direction, happy as can be.
Maize’s beaming when I glance over at her. “He’s going to win, isn’t he?”
“Yeah! He just won this whole damn thing! There’s no way the competitors can catch up to his score now.”
She squeals and wraps her arms around me, and I love seeing her so excited about a sport I’m so passionate about.
Cooper eventually finds me, and he’s on cloud nine. “I did it. I kept it simple just like you said. I felt like I was fucking flying!”
I pat him hard on his back. “Fuck yeah. You placed, man. That means if you keep it up, you could go pro, join PBR, and become a world champ.”
Cooper gives me a tight hug. “Thanks, Gavin.”
“You’re welcome. Now get ready to go out there and smile real big for the cameras when you get your fuckin’ buckle. Congrats. You made me proud.”
Cooper’s family meets him by the stands, and he goes over to them. They’re head over heels excited for him, just as I am. I let out a deep breath as I lead Maize over to the stands. We finish watching the riders, and I can tell she’s really into it. After it’s over, Cooper’s brought to the center of the arena where he’s declared the Eldorado Rodeo winner. He does just as I said and shows all his teeth when he’s handed his first buckle. I’m sure he’ll win many more after riding like that. The crowd cheers for him, and he eats up the attention. Hell, when I was his age, I did too.
As the people disperse, Cooper finds me and lets me know he won’t be staying on-site tonight, so I can have the camper if I want. I happily take the keys, glad not to be driving home after all the excitement. After Cooper’s gone, I wrap my arm around Maize and pull her tight.
“So, whatcha think?”
She melts in my arms. “I’m impressed, like totally blown away by all of it. I’m just not sure how you did that for so long.”
I grin. “Me neither.”
We walk around the rodeo and grab some food because we’re both hungry. When I look at the clock, I see it’s just past nine.
“You nervous ’bout tomorrow?” I ask her just as we finish our blooming onion and fried shrimp.
“Yeah. But after seeing guys nearly get trampled by thousand-pound animals, I realize I don’t have it so bad.” She snickers. “And if I don’t place, I’ll just try harder next year.”
“But if you do?” I ask.
“Then I might gloat a little,” she admits.
“You should ’cause you deserve it. You work too hard not to be recognized on a high level like this.”
A blush hits her cheek, and in the distance, I think I hear a band play. “You like to dance?”
She points at herself. “Who me?”
I laugh.
“Not getting amnesia again, are you?” I pop an eyebrow at her. She picks up a shrimp tail and throws it at me but misses.
“I’ve been known to two-step a few times,” she admits.
After we clean our mess, I lead her over to where a cover band is playing. A temporary stage was erected, and some people have blankets on the ground watching while others dance in the grass.
I place my arms around her body as the group plays “Keeper of the Stars” by Tracy Byrd, a country classic. Her body fits with mine perfectly as we sway to the music. Maize looks up at the sky, and I follow her lead, humming the melody. The lyrics make way more sense with her in my arms like this. I silently thank the keeper of the stars for this moment.
“Oh look, you can see Regulus perfectly,” she says, pointing up at the sky. I smile because all this time, I’ve been so amazed by her to notice the sky is full of stars. When another song begins, she looks up at me, and I place my hand under her chin and capture her lips in mine. Our tongues twist together, and that same fire I felt the first night we were together nearly burns me alive.
