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“Is it my imagination, or was that fly as big as a horse?” Lexi Black swatted at a loudly buzzing insect as it dive-bombed us and then flittered off. She looked totally out of place as we took a seat on the metal bleachers under the hot June sun. Her white button up shirt and black linen shorts with the rolled hem screamed prissy. She blew her shoulder-length dark curly out of her face with an angry puff of air. Frustration rolled off of her in waves. “Tell me again why we agreed to come with you?”
“We agreed because our sisters have decided to annoy us to death until we become quote, unquote, besties,” Beth Frye picked up a piece of gravel and tossed it at the bleachers below. Her blonde, curly hair spilled over the purple Beat headphones wrapped around her neck and her emerald green eyes scanned the people running around the arena, setting up for the start of the 4H county fair.
I supposed their lack of enthusiasm was to be expected. The three of us had kind of been forced together by our older sisters to become bonus sisters. They’d been bugging us to hang all summer, so I’d finally given in and asked Lexie and Beth to go with me to see Hunter’s surprise.
“Listen, I’m not thrilled about this arrangement, either,” I said, leaning back. “Let’s just do this, punch our time cards, and get our sisters off our backs. They’ll forget about this crazy plan when they’re off at college in the fall. Then, we can each go our separate ways.”
That seemed to pacify them, which was good because that’s when my eyes clapped on the last person I’d wanted to see today. Sarah Claiborne, with her snooty nose in the air and her perfectly wavy shoulder-length blonde hair, was walking right toward us in a deceivingly innocent yellow sundress. Her combination of a pert little nose, sharp chin, and high cheekbones were probably considered beautiful, but they only made me grind my teeth. She was the tormentor of my nightmares. The she-devil of my school. I’d once done everything in my power to become her friend and it had nearly gotten me drowned.
“Hey Lottie,” Sarah said, her piercing gaze drilling into mine as she stopped near the bottom of the bleachers and smirked up at me. The nickname she’d chosen for me had once felt like an honor. Now, it felt like a curse. “I think you might be lost. The cows are supposed to meet in the 4H barn.”
I scoffed as Beth and Lexi bristled next to me. It was just like her to ruin what could possibly be the best day of my entire year.
“Would you mind?” Beth asked, leaning cooly back on the bench behind us. “You’re ruining the view of that guy shoveling horse poop.”
Her thin, pink-tinted lips curved into a cruel smile. “That’s right. Keep your eyes on the guy that shovels poop. That’s about as good as you girls can do. Leave the real cowboys to me.”
I stuck my tongue out at her as she threw her head back and laughed. Anything she could throw my way was going to roll right off my back. That was because it had been exactly thirty-seven days since Hunter McNally had broken the news that he was moving back home. Each day, I’d marked off the calendar in my room, excited to finally have him back for good.
Everything was going to go back to the way it was, before his Grandpa had broken his leg and Hunter and his mom had to move to Texas to help with the family ranch. Before my parents had made it their mission to throw me at every school club and association they could to help me find a passion. And before I’d had the worst sophomore year ever.
My best friend was back.
“Oooh, speaking of cowboys,” Lexi said breathlessly beside me, pointing down at the three stalls on the side of the arena.
I hadn’t noticed them until now. Or the handful of guys gathered around one of them. They seriously could’ve stepped out of an issue of Cowboy Monthly. Every one of them wore Wrangler jeans, cowboy hats, or baseball caps. I was pretty sure I saw the glint of a gold buckle or two among them as well. They were leaning over the stall, moving leather straps around and chatting excitedly about what was inside.
“Hot, chap-wearing, rugged cowboys,” Lexi said in a hoarse whisper. “Think any of them are single?”
I glanced sideways at her. She wore a vacant, dreamy expression, her eyes glued on the scene before us. I snorted and was about to poke fun at her when I spotted Beth on my other side with a similar expression on her face. It seemed I’d lost them both. Even Sarah had lost her focus and was staring at the cowboys with a predatory look on her face.
“Come on, guys,” I said. “Don’t lose focus. We’ve got to keep an eye out for Hunter. He’s around here somewhere.”
“Hunter McNally?” Sarah shot me a quick frown. “He’s back in town?”
I wrapped my arms tight around my torso. The fact that Sarah cared about Hunter’s return made me feel all kinds of twisted up inside. “Yep, he’s coming back to Rock Valley.”
The interested spark in her eyes made me growl internally. The girls in our class had always paid Hunter plenty of attention, but he’d never been very interested in pursuing anything with them. But Sarah had a way of sinking her claws into people. I wouldn’t have put it past her to try.
Beth shifted beside me, pointing at the stalls in the arena. “Actually, I think we already found him. Isn’t that him? In the helmet?”
My pulse thrummed excitedly as I redirected my gaze back to the group of guys. Sure enough, there was one among them that I recognized. Hunter McNally stood hunched over the side of the stall wearing a wire face mask and black helmet that covered up his short, brown hair.
Hunter had changed so much since he’d moved away. He was now taller than me by several inches, his lean body filled out with sinewy muscles that flexed and tensed as he climbed higher on the side of the stall. A ragged black t-shirt stretched over his broad shoulders and tight denim jeans hugged his hips. He put a leg inside the stall and straddled something inside it, giving me a flash of his tan cowboy boot with the rounded toe.
There he was – my best friend! And he was finally home.
I clutched hard onto Lexi and Beth’s arms as Hunter settled into the stall. There was an intensity in the way he moved that I wasn’t used to seeing. Curiosity blossomed inside of me. Was this the surprise he was talking about? What was he doing i
n there?
I didn’t have time to speculate much longer. He mouthed something to one of the other guys. With a firm nod of his head, they all stepped back and someone pulled a rope that opened the stall, revealing a massive thousand-pound horned white bull with Hunter sitting on its back.
“What the...?” Beth pulled the headphones off her neck. “Is he riding a cow?”
Not a cow. A raging, muscular bull.
My lungs had officially forgotten how to work. I stared breathlessly as the bull tore from the stall and began to kick up its hind legs and twist in midair, doing anything possible to dislodge my best friend from its back. Despite its best effort, Hunter remained in his seat, his legs holding tight to the thick backside of the beast.
