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LeAnn wanted to bang her head against the barn wall. “I’m twenty-two. When you were my age, you were living in Dallas in a shitty apartment trying to make ends meet by working all sorts of jobs, in between cheerleading.”
“Talk about wasting time,” Dolly said. Her forced smile looked more like a grimace.
LeAnn gripped her shoulders. “You lived your dream.”
“And now the dream is over and I’m back in reality. I don’t want you to have to struggle like I did.” Dolly gently broke out of LeAnn’s grip and turned away. She rubbed her arms as if she was cold.
LeAnn had always wondered about that time after Dolly had been cut from the team. LeAnn had been on the road with her parents, and hadn’t been aware that Dolly had been struggling. When Dolly finally came back home to Paris, there had been shadows in her eyes, and it had taken a long time for the haunted expression on her face to go away. They didn’t talk about what had happened. Not ever. And LeAnn wondered if maybe it was time.
“Dolly…” she said.
“Forget it.” Dolly waved her hand. “It’s nothing. I’m just concerned about you.”
“I’m still living my dream,” LeAnn said instead. “And I keep dreaming up more things. Like being the first woman bull-riding champion.”
“And then what?” Dolly asked sadly.
“I’ll find something else. But right now, this is what I’m going to do.”
“When’s it going to end?” Dolly asked. “Are you going to jump out of planes next?”
LeAnn didn’t have the heart to tell her that was on her bucket list of things to do. “I need you to keep this a secret from Mom and Dad.”
“You want to be an adult, but you’re too afraid to tell them what you’re doing?”
“I’ll tell them myself,” LeAnn said, feeling defensive. “I want to get some more practice and training under my belt so when the WPRC announces the event, I can ease Mom and Dad’s minds that this is the right thing for me to do. Then when I win it all, I can send them enough money that they don’t have to worry about retirement or anything else.”
“I’m sure they’ll find something to worry about. But I’ll keep your secret,” Dolly said reluctantly.
“Thank you.” LeAnn hugged her hard.
“On one condition.” Dolly squirmed free.
Oh crap.
“What?”
“I’m going to set you up with a trainer while you’re on the road with the Texas rodeos. He’ll be competing in the men’s events as a bull rider, but he freelances on the side. You should be able to connect with him after hours to practice. He’s a good guy. His name is Dylan Porter. He’s not cheap, but we’ve got money in the budget to pay him, thanks to your big win last season.”
“Dylan…Porter?” LeAnn said, her heart sinking. Her mind flitted back to that night and his sexy smile and smoldering eyes.
“Is there a problem?” Dolly pinned her with a glare.
“No. No problem.”
Not one that she was going to tell her sister about anyway.
“Do you know him?”
LeAnn tamped down on the hysterical giggle that almost threatened to erupt.
He took my V-card in the wildest one-night stand I had ever.
“We’ve met.”
And then I ghosted him because I was so damned embarrassed about how I acted.
Although, Dylan hadn’t tried all that hard to reconnect with her either, so maybe he had been content to keep it as a one-and-done sort of thing. While that had depressed her, LeAnn hadn’t let it distract her from training and working the competition. In the end, it was probably for the best she hadn’t chased after Dylan and had concentrated on winning. Still, the thought of seeing him again brought up all sorts of confusing emotions.
