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He heaved a sigh, urging his horse into a faster gait. “In a few weeks,” he hollered at her.
“I can’t wait,” she said.
He thought that was the end of the conversation, but then she climbed up on the fence and crossed her leg over her knee provocatively. Her skirt barely came to her mid-thigh, and if he looked hard enough, he might have seen more than he was prepared to.
There would be no staying focused. Having Dahlia here, uninvited, was too big of a distraction.
His eyes narrowed and he put his weight on his toes, pushing his horse faster.
Dahlia whistled—loud.
The horse threw his head and reared up. It was only one jump, but Adam hadn’t expected it. He held tight to the reins with one hand and the saddle horn with the other, but it didn’t stop him from falling from the back of the horse just like he had in front of Faye. A cloud of dirt exploded up around him as his backside landed in the dirt. The horse trotted to the far side of the corral. Adam lifted his head to watch him go and then dropped his head back to the ground.
A groan seeped from his chest after he caught his breath.
“Oh, my gosh! Are you okay?” Dahlia ran over to him, kneeling at his side. Her hand trailed over his arm. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize your horse would do that. I thought it would be better trained.”
“Me neither,” he bit out.
“Well, you should probably figure out how to stay on better if you want to stand a chance in your division.”
He shot her a sharp look. “You realize I wasn’t trying to ride a bronc, right? I was getting some practice in riding and momentum.”
She let out a giggle. “Yeah, but didn’t you say you wanted to do bronc riding? That horse didn’t even kick up his legs.”
Adam waved her off as he dragged himself into a seated position. She scrambled to her feet, reaching for his hand to help him up, but again he waved her off. He glanced at her once before he swiped up his hat from the ground and dusted it off. “I appreciate your support, but I think I’ll be able to focus a little better if I work on my own for the rest of my practice session.”
She stepped toward him and her lower lip puckered. “Oh, are you trying to get rid of me?” Her finger traced little circles on his chest. “We used to spend a lot of time chatting as we watched some of the competitors. I thought we were friends.”
He grasped her finger and tugged it away. “We are friends. That’s why I was willing to change your oil before the shop even opened. But right now, I need to focus, and I need quiet.”
Dahlia tilted her head in what she probably thought was a flirtatious motion. “Well, maybe you could make it up to me and meet me out at Sal’s for a piece of pie when you’re done.”
“I’ll let you know.” He brushed past her. That was weird. It wasn’t until recently that Dahlia had shown even a smidge of interest in him. Now she seemed to be showing up at every turn.
He glanced over his shoulder to find her slipping through the corral bars and heading toward the club. This could be a sign. He’d wanted to date her before. It wasn’t until he spent more time with Faye that he had dropped his interest in Dahlia. Maybe this was how it was always supposed to be.
Adam shrugged off that thought. If he even entertained that possibility, wouldn’t that just be him going on the rebound? Dahlia deserved better than that.
Faye deserved better than that.
All at once, his heart lurched, shattering and crumbling. He clutched at his chest and focused on taking a deep breath. If it weren’t for the fact that only his heart was hurting, he might have thought he was having a heart attack. The moment passed, and he shrugged off the unease that swarmed him.
He grabbed the saddle horn and shoved his foot into the stirrup before climbing into the saddle. The only way he was going to get over Faye was to continue staying focused on the plan. He’d get through the competition. Then he’d see what his heart wanted. It was entirely possible he wasn’t meant to be with anyone at all.
Adam dug his heels into the horse’s flanks and moved him forward. Around and around the corral, faster and faster. If only he could go fast enough to escape from the pain, longing, and guilt he currently felt.
As much as he tried to push Faye from his thoughts, he was unsuccessful. The lump in his throat grew and his breathing shortened. His head pounded, and he had to pull the horse to a stop before something bad actually happened.
Who was he kidding? Practice was over for the day.
25
Faye
Faye gripped the steering wheel of her mother’s truck as her stomach roiled. Everywhere she looked, everything she did, she couldn’t stop seeing Adam’s face. His smile and his laugh haunted her. It had only been two weeks since she’d last seen him, and they had been the worst weeks of her life. Her head and her heart continued to battle over whether she’d been too harsh on him. She ended up rationalizing that Adam had lied to her by omission and that deserved the reaction she’d given him.
This wasn’t just about the rodeo anymore. This was about him losing her trust. He wanted something badly enough that he’d gone behind her back to do it. If that wasn’t a sign, she didn’t know what was.
