“I saw a loose horse in the parking lot. It looked like yours.”
“What?” Emily shouts. She releases Trey and dashes off the dance floor toward the parking lot.
I take her position with Trey and start dancing. He looks shocked but doesn’t miss a step. “I should go help her,” he says, looking in the direction she ran.
“I’m sure she’s fine. She seems capable.”
“Wait a second, what color was the horse?” I can see the wheels turning in his head.
Shit, I have no idea. I just made it up.
“Uh, a–a b–bay,” I stutter.
“Jessie,” he groans. He stops to pull out his phone. I watch as he fires off a text to Emily telling her I was mistaken. “She doesn’t own a bay horse.”
“Oops, my mistake.” I smile brightly.
“If you wanted to dance, all you had to do was ask.”
“Oh, did Emily ask permission?”
“As a matter of fact, she did. She was trying to make a calf roper jealous, but then I kept her out here, and it ended up working out for me. You looked like you were about to fistfight her over me.” His cocky smile makes my stomach drop.
“You didn’t.”
“Oh, yes, I did. Do you still think we need rule number nine?”
The nerve of this man.
“Excuse me. Can I cut in?” One of the bull riders I met earlier taps Trey’s shoulder.
“Fuck off, she’s taken,” he barks, and the man practically leaps backwards.
“Well, I’ll be. Trey Bennett finally settling down. That’s a bet I would’ve lost.” He strides off, still laughing.
“Now who’s jeal—”
“Yeah, yeah,” he cuts me off, pulling me closer. “Let’s just call it even.”
I bite my lip as he spins me around. We dance the rest of the night.
“That woman ran away from you. Literally ran away. What the fuck did you say to her?” Carson asks on our way back to the truck.
“None of your business. This is your reminder never to get on my bad side.” I give him a sickly-sweet smile.
He scrunches his nose.
I watched Kacey tell Knox goodbye. The sadness in her eyes and silence in the truck on the way home is just one more reason Trey and I are over when he leaves. Kacey has the flexibility to take time off and travel with Knox, and it’sstillso hard. She misses him so much. Sure, Trey and I have a lot of fun when we’re together, but I don’t have that flexibility or financial freedom. We would never see each other.
It’s the middle of the night when we get home. Trey locks the door behind us, and we both brush our teeth before practically falling into bed.
He immediately pulls me into his chest. We’ve fallen into the bad habit of always sleeping together, even on the nights we don’t have sex. I already know when he leaves, I’ll miss his arm draped over me, the safety and comfort. Not to mention the heat that radiates off him.
“Kacey seemed sadder than normal.”
Trey hesitates before saying, “Yeah. I know she worries about him traveling alone. It’s a lot of driving.”
“What about you? Do you prefer traveling alone or with someone?”
