Rick let out a whistle.
“She’s gonna break it,” he said, and chuckled. “Five bucks says she screams before it even starts.”
I didn’t answer.
Then someone in the crowd yelled, “If you make it thirty seconds, I’m taking you to dinner!”
Another voice jumped in, “If you last a minute, I’ll give you my truck!”
That opened the floodgates. One by one, the guys started calling out offers like we were at a damn auction.
“You can have my horse!”
“I’ll buy you a ranch!”
Rick started jotting names on a napkin, laughing his ass off. It was a show. She hadn’t even started moving, and already half the bar was hitting on her.
It snowballed fast. The regulars started shouting over each other. The room got louder, hotter, more electric by the second.
Rick could barely keep up. “This is the most romantic bullshit I’ve seen all year. Romance is alive and well in Dalmore, folks,” he said, grinning like a fool.
The place exploded. Bets flew like popcorn.
All eyes on her. And she just sat there, calm as hell.
I didn’t say anything. I just watched.
She hadn’t even looked at me. But something about her—maybe the way she owned the room without trying—made it impossible to look away.
Whatever it was, I leaned forward and said it before I could stop myself.
“If you stay on for three minutes… I’ll marry you.”
Not loud. Not showy. Just enough for her to hear.
She turned her head, slow and deliberate, and looked straight at me.
Smirked like she already knew how the story ended.
Then rolled her eyes.
And just like that, Rick hit the button.
She was calm as ever, laughing at all of it.
And I just watched her. Still laughing. Still looking like she belonged somewhere else—and somehow didn’t care.
The bull jerked to life, and so did the room.
She lasted eight seconds. Maybe nine.
It wasn’t a graceful fall. Her leg slipped, her balance went, and then she was off—back hitting the mat with a loud thud.
The bar groaned like they’d all lost a bet at once.
I didn’t move. Not right away. Just watched her blink up at the ceiling like she was checking to see if the world was still spinning.
Then she sat up, grinned, and said, “Okay. That was fun.”
