Yeah.
Today was never about winning. It’s about her.
It’s always been about her.
Like a magnet pulling me across the arena, my feet start to move, but the announcer is right there, shoving a microphone in my face.
“Look at that score,” he yells. “Ladies and gentlemen, our new champion!”
The crowd goes wild, and then there are cameras everywhere. More microphones. People all around, crowding around me, cutting me off from my girl.
“Congratulations! That’s a ride no one’s going to forget anytime soon,” he says with a low whistle and a laugh. “You looked like a man possessed, Travis.”
I shake my head, slow and deliberate.
“No,” I say into the mic, taking it from the man. My voice carries across the arena. “Not possessed.”
The announcer blinks, surprised, but I don’t care about his reaction to what I’m about to say. There’s only one person who matters.
My eyes find her in the crowd again before I continue. “Like a man in love,” I say directly to her.
The reaction is immediate. A ripple goes through the crowd. There are a few cheers and hollers of support. I see the cameras whip around, searching the stands for the target of my love.
To Maisey.
“I know this was supposed to be thirty days, Maisey,” I continue. Despite the adrenaline still buzzing through my veins, I’m steady. “Thirty days and done. A fun story to laugh about.”
I start walking toward her, the cameras following me.
“But I’ll be damned if I let the best thing that’s ever happened to me walk out of my life. Not without a fight.” I swallow hard, fully aware of what I stand to lose.
“She’s talented, ladies and gentlemen,” I continue. “And she has dreams,” I say clearly. “Big ones. And I don’t care where they take her.”
A hush falls over the arena.
“I’ll move to the city,” I say plainly. “I’ll quit rodeo.” That elicits a strong reaction from the crowd, but I don’t stop. “Whatever it takes, so you can chase your dreams, sweetheart.”
The noise swells, louder this time, but I’m not done.
I point to her, sitting frozen in the stands, with my family.
Where she belongs. “Because that woman right there is my wife.”
I will never tire of saying that out loud.
“And I don’t care how it started,” I add. “I care how it ends.”
The crowd erupts.
“I’ll take you back to Vegas, sweetheart,” I say, eyes locked on hers. “But only so we can celebrate...before I bring you home for good. I can’t let you go, Maisey. Because the truth is, I am so goddamn in love with you it would kill me to let you go. And I hope like hell you feel the same way.”
For a heartbeat, the thousands of people who just bore witness to my confession are impossibly quiet.
Then it explodes.
I hand the mic back, toss my cowboy hat into the dirt behind me, and start running toward the edge of the ring. I vault over the fence, boots hitting the dirt hard, moving toward her.
Maisey meets me halfway.
