With a grin, he takes the bill out of her outstretched hand. “Bet accepted.”
Cooper grins at Jamie like she’s hung the moon, and Jamie’s cheeks turn scarlet. She’s trying not to smile, but one pops out anyway.
“What’s the bet over?” Luke calls out from where he’s leaning against the bartop.
“JB doesn’t think I’ll beat Chase tomorrow,” Cooper says.
Chase chuckles. “Always glad to be in on a bet I didn’t make.”
“You both will place,” Luke says confidently. “No one else who’s competing is any good at broncs.”
“Not true,” Chase counters him. “Mack and Jones are both decent riders.”
“Mack hasn’t placed since he had the scare six months ago,” Luke says. “And Jones has never done well at this county fair. So he’ll be spooked.”
“You sure know the field,” Sophia says.
Luke locks eyes with her.
Sophia’s cheeks turn pink. “I’m just saying, Cowboy…” She puts her hand on her jean-clad hip and winks at him. “You have strong opinions on rodeo.”
“You like strong opinions?” Luke asks her, his gaze locked on her like the rest of us don’t exist.
She takes a step closer almost like she’s being magnetically drawn toward him.
“That depends,” she says. “On what the opinion is.”
Luke clenches his jaw and goes silent.
Sophia’s casual smile almost turns into a glare.
And…
For a moment, they just stare at each other.
Almost like they’re…
I elbow Leleila next to me. “They look into each other…”
“They’re both too stubborn to right their wrongs,” she whispers back. “I’ve tried, believe me.”
“I think they’re hot together,” Jasalie murmurs to me.
Luke drags his gaze away from Sophia’s and clears his throat. “You two will be fine,” he says to Cooper and Chase. “Mark my words.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Michael
I’ve been at Lucky Cowboy for nearly two hours, and I’ve been nursing a single glass of whiskey the entire time. Not so for Emery.
The women were already drinking hard when we arrived, but Jamie Beth ordered a pitcher of beer when the guys and I arrived, and only the ladies drank. Cooper and Chase want to be fresh for the rodeo, Luke isn’t a big drinker, and I’m enjoying being sober and watching how cute Emery is drunk.
Because my girl is hammered.
At one point, she and Jamie Beth get up onto the bar and dance to a popular country song.
“Emery’s fun,” Cooper says next to me.
