“Nash Yarbrough!” The announcer called out.
“Holy shit, where is he?” Beau looked around.
“He’s in the chute ready to go,” I said, showing Beau.
“Eight seconds, right?” Beau asked, grabbing my hand.
“Yeah, eight seconds,” I said, squeezing his hand. “It's over quickly and Nash is really good at this.”
“Why is this so nerve-wracking?” he sighed.
“It's unpredictable,” I said, watching Nash raise his hand.
Beau let go of my hand, picking up his fancy camera and adjusting something as he continued to look through the lens as it shuttered. He’d been taking pictures on it all day and most of the pictures looked damn good.
The gate opened and the bronc came out kicking. Beau gasped dramatically. I had seen Nash do this twice, each time I thought it would get better, but it didn’t. The announcer was saying something, but I could only hear myself counting down. Nash made each buck look effortless as he stayed on and kept his hand up.
“Fuck,” Beau whispered, as a violent kick knocked Nash forward.
He adjusted quickly, just as the buzzer sounded and he jumped off the horse effortlessly. The rodeo clowns distracted the horse as Nash stepped away, waving at the crowd. Beau and I stood up cheering, and I whistled loudly, so he could see where we were at. He found us immediately, giving us a big smile. People around us probably thought it was for them, but I enjoyed knowing it was just for us.
“Damn, that was crazy,” Beau said, with wide eyes like he was high. “Is that all he has to do?”
“Today, yes. And if he has a qualifying score he will move on to the finals tomorrow,” I said, watching Nash disappear to the back of the rodeo.
“So, he usually has to ride twice?” he asked, taking more pictures.
“Yeah, sometimes it's twice in one day, sometimes it's several times during a short time frame, depending on how the rodeo or the stampede works,” I said, watching another rider get ready in the chute.
“You sound like a WAG,” he said.
“Oh, shut up,” I smacked his shoulder, messing up his shot.
“It’s not a bad thing,” he said, bringing his camera down. “You know if you guys stay?—”
“We probably won’t,” I said, cutting him off. “We don’t need to entertain that thought.”
“I’m just saying, you fit in well with this life,” he said, raising a brow at me. “It’s like a midwestern love story.”
“Oh, shut up,” I said, rolling my eyes. “That’s the last thing Nash wants. This is just temporary.”
“Then why invite us?” he challenged.
“We are just having fun, Beau, plus you said you had never been to one of these,” I said, feeling like a cornered cat. “Do you see all of us staying together?”
Beau studied me, biting his lip like he might want to say more. “Come on, let's go get some barbecue and not worry about it right now.”
I relaxed when he didn’t press the subject anymore. We scooted out of the stand, heading down the stairs.
“I noticed you said Nash wouldn’t want that, but is that something you want?” Beau said at the bottom of the stairs. “Just something to think about and that's the last thing I’ll say.”
He kissed my forehead, grabbing my hand, leading me to the small section of food they had. I didn’t know what I wanted, but when we got married a part of me had always hoped we would find common ground and maybe find love in an unexpected way. It was a stupid romantic idea, but I still held on to hope that maybe it would happen for us. Even after all this time, I was still that innocent girl from a small town in Texas.
“Did he say when he would be done?” Beau asked, as we made out in our hotel room.
I shook my head, moving my head to the side as he kissed down the column of my neck, sucking my skin at the junction ofmy neck and shoulder. Beau ground against me pulling a whine from me,wanting more, but didn’t know if we should get started before Nash showed up.
“I have an idea, but you can tell me no, ok?” Beau said against my mouth.
