“You gonna share what that means?”
“You want me to?” I smirked and she nodded, pushing hair from her face. It was cute as fuck.
“My name is Eero McCall.” She frowned, staring at me, but I saw the exact second her mind locked in.
“Shit, you’re rodeo. Bronco rider, right?”
“Was but yeah.”
Her brows inched in as she stared at my face. “How did I miss that?”
I smirked, knowing exactly how, Mrs. Mel. “You called me Ro, so I assumed she didn’t tell you who I was.”
“No, but honestly, I didn’t care. She’s good at reading people, and if she sent you to me, then she trusted you weren’t going to murder me or anything crazy.”
“Damn, that’s where your mind went?” I grinned and she shrugged again.
“World’s a crazy place. You have to think the worst and hope for the best.”
“I feel you.”
“So why was and not are?” she questioned.
“A year ago I was qualifying, but shit went wrong. Got thrown off the bronco and couldn’t get out of the way in time. His hoof came down on my back and also smashed my knee. Doctors said that was it. If I kept riding, I risked permanent damage and the potential of being paralyzed.”
“Oh wow, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Even if I thought it would never be me, I knew the risks. Faced them each time I entered the chute.”
I lifted my beer, needing a moment. No matter how much I accepted my reality, the shit still hurt. That was my entire life. I never thought about anything beyond retiring one day because I never assumed I would have to.
“That sounds very rehearsed and diplomatic but I’m sure it’s not that simple. The time invested, the dedication, the love for it—because let’s be real, you have to love that shit to be crazy enough to do it.”
I grinned with my eyes locked on hers. “So now I’m crazy?”
“I mean, considering you were willing to do the whole man versus beast thing, you’re a little off.”
I nodded. “Yeah, valid point.”
She toyed with the beer before she gave me her eyes again after pushing hair from her face. “And the other thing?”
The woman who broke my heart…
“You lose the career, you lose the girl who loves you because of it.”
“Well that’s pretty shitty.”
“Yeah it is.”
“Did you love her?”
I nodded.
“Do you still love her?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Do you want to?”
