She laughed.“Yes.There was the man baby.I had a boyfriend in college who was far more interested in binge drinking than studying, which was weird because when I met him, he seemed like kind of a nerd.But eventually he figured out that if he drank enough, people were happy to have him at parties.And that was the direction he went.And that’s pretty much it.”
“What about teaching?”
“Oh, I started at a private school.It was interesting, but not for me, ultimately.”
“Why not?”
“Oh, nothing specific.It was fine.I was part of the living rosary.”
“You … you’re not Catholic.”
“No.But the school was.It’s a fun one to use in Two Truths and a Lie.”
“I bet.”
“The thing I love the most is connecting with kids.Getting them excited about reading.So the best teaching positions I’ve had were at schools that were willing to let me choose books that would get the kids interested in reading.That often meant graphic novels and books by younger, diverse authors with different worldviews.Kids get tired of reading the same dusty books.I love the classics, but I believe you have to mix them in with more contemporary literature so that kids understand that there are books for everyone.And that books can be written by people who look like them.People who think like them.And even more importantly, people who don’t think like them.Because everyone has the freedom to write and express their views on things.And if you read something, and you really don’t like it, you can write your own book.Add your ideas to the conversation.We always need more information, not less.”
“You’re a radical,” he said.
“I’m a literature teacher.I should be a radical.By definition.”
“All right.I like that.”
“What about you?What have you been doing during all the in-between?”
“Winning championships, mostly.There was one year when I had a pretty gnarly injury.I think we saw each other.It was the night we were down at that honky-tonk in Albany.When I was trying to get Ty out, he threw a punch at me and hit me, because I was extra slow since I had broken ribs.”
“Oh.I didn’t know that.”
“I didn’t want to advertise it.But anyway.Yeah.I won a lot, invested a lot, because in careers like mine, you have to.Your body doesn’t want to get thrown around like that forever.Being in rodeo is like being any professional athlete.You know you’re not doing it forever, and you have to figure out where your money is going to come from in the future.So I did that.”
“You mentioned before that you had endorsements.”
“Yeah.Western apparel–focused, so probably not something you saw.”
“Wait.Are you telling me you were modeling?”
He narrowed his eyes.“They were endorsement deals.Sponsorships.”
“But you posed in ads for them.”
“Yes,” he said.
“I guess that’s where being dangerously handsome gets really useful.”
He laughed.“Well.Only if you’re winning.”
Right then, he had the urge to ask if she really thought he was handsome.It mattered.
He wished that it didn’t.
“Why rodeo, though?”
“Because when you do that, you’re connected to your body.You get a rush, but you don’t need any substances.I’m not an adrenaline junkie.What I like about it is the clarity.The full experience of being present in your body in that moment.It’s not like anything else.And it reminds me of who I am every time.”
“Were you ever worried about what your life was going to look like when you didn’t have that anymore?”
“A little.That’s why I made plans to run this ranch.It’s why I had the house built, I suppose.”
