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Adam pulled away from the car and rubbed his hands on an oil-soaked rag. “I signed up for the rodeo. I’m not getting any younger, and after having thought about it for the last couple of days, I knew I needed to.”
“Youneededto,” she muttered in disbelief. “Youpromised,” she accused. “You said you’d stay away from it. I don’t understand. Why would you do this to me?”
He shook his head, and she couldn’t understand why he was so calm. Meanwhile, her heart pounded like it was about to explode. He was going to get on one of those broncs and get seriously hurt or worse.
“You can’t.”
Adam lifted a brow. “I can do what I want to do with my life. You can make your choices too. If this is something that is a deal breaker, then…”
“Then what, Adam. Then we break up? Well, it sure seems like you don’t care about me nearly as much as I care about you.” She let out a heavy groan and paced beside the car. “I’m not asking you to cut off a limb here. I’m just asking you to think clearly about this.”
“Iamthinking clearly. I’m not going to let you pressure me into not doing this. I’m going to do what I want to do for a change.”
She whirled around and faced him, a snort escaping her lips. “You havealwaysdone what you want. You left here when you didn’t want to be a small-town boy. You came back when the city wasn’t working out for you. And now you’re joining the rodeo like it’s the next big thing. You’re not thinking about this at all.” She threw her hands into the air. “I can’t do this. Itried. I even confessed my feelings for you. And what do you do? You break the promise you made.”
Faye stormed toward the door.
“Where are you going?” he called after her.
“Home. Call me when you grow up.”
24
Adam
Adam stared at the door long after it slammed shut. All day long, from the moment he handed over his signup form to this very second, he’d thought about what might happen when he finally told Faye.
In his defense, he’d felt cornered into making that promise. He hadn’t been given the chance to really think it over. He’d been interested in competing for a few months now. How could Faye ask him to just let go of that interest when their relationship was so new?
That was the cause of his foul mood.Thatwas the reason he couldn’t focus or sleep lately. And the fact that all it took was one conversation with Dahlia for him to go back on that promise was enough to make him realize he wasn’t ready to give up on his dream.
He should feel guilty. That would be the normal response. He probably should apologize to her. Knowing Faye, she was feeling betrayed by what he’d done. A spark of that guilt he’d been expecting ignited, but he snuffed it out. No one had the right to tell him what he could or couldn’t do in his free time. If he wanted to try a new hobby, Faye nor anyone else could stop him.
“What did youdo?”
Adam swiveled his focus to Bridget, who stood beside the door leading to the waiting area. She had her hands on her hips and her face contorted with suspicion.
“Pleasetell me you didn’t do anything stupid.”
He shrugged.
“Oh no, you don’t.” She stormed toward him. “Faye has been acting like a puppy dog around you all afternoon, and suddenly she charges out of this place like you slapped her across the face. What did you do?”
His defenses went sky-high. “Why do you assume that I’m the one who did something? What if she’s the one who did something? Have you ever thought about that? A few days ago, I went over to her house and she had a family dinner.”
Bridget set him with a dumbfounded look. When he didn’t elaborate, she threw her hands in the air. “Oh, heaven forbid your girlfriend wants to introduce you to the rest of her family. You can’t seriously be angry at her for that.”
“It wasn’t the dinner that was the problem. It was that her family tore me apart.” He crossed his arms as if the act alone would keep the woman in front of him at bay. This was why they didn’t have women mechanics in the city. Too many hormones. Up until this point, Bridget had stayed out of his love life—well, for the most part. It was like she didn’t care until Faye got hurt.
If Faye was upset, it was by her own hand.
Bridget still stared at him with expectations, and he groaned. “You know I wanted to compete in the rodeo.”
“Yeah? So?”
“Well, apparently the Callahans are against the rodeo. They don’t compete, and they don’t support competitors.”
She snorted. “I doubt that.”
