The phone buzzed again.
The wilder bunch
Wren
We’re baking our asses off out here, so make it a good ride.
We’re rooting for you.
Me
You guys stay hydrated. I’ll make it a great one.
Wyatt
Good luck. Maisie says to hold on tight so you can bring home the big heavy buckle.
Me
Tell the bug I’m bringing her a buckle home. If it’s not this one, one of the old ones.
Colt
Can I have one too?
A short laugh rumbled in my chest. I loved how they kept blowing up my phone right before a ride. It bled the nerves out of my muscles.
I locked the screen and shoved the phone deep into my bag, zipping it shut. Sienna’s picture was already burned into my head. I grabbed my rosin bag and rubbed the pine tar into myglove, letting the familiar grit ground me despite all the noise and chaos around me.
"Sticky enough to pull the paint off a truck?"
I glanced up. Tate Jenkins, a Texas kid who’d been having a hell of a rookie year, dropped his gear bag next to mine.
"Gettin’ there," I said. "You draw good today?"
"Got a roan mare from Calgary," he replied, pulling his chaps out. "She should buck. You see who ain’t on the day sheet?"
"Didn’t look."
"Dawson. Scratched this morning."
I paused, my thumb pressing deep into the leather. "Dawson? He’s been chasing points like hell, fighting to crack the Top Fifteen. Why?"
I hadn’t forgotten how Dawson talked to Sienna back in Cheyenne, or the way he’d acted like a smug bastard ever since. But pulling out of a rodeo this big meant something was wrong.
"His old man had a heart attack." Tate shook his head. "Passed away before he could even get to the airport."
The noise of the stadium faded for a second. My chest tightened.
I stared down at my glove as the old hate I carried for Dawson drained away. All that was left was a familiar, heavy ache in my gut.
I’d lost my mom. And it didn’t matter if you wore a gold buckle or hit the dirt. Grief cut everyone the exact same way.
"Damn," I muttered. "That’s a hard one."
"Yeah," he said quietly. "Sucks. Anyway… good luck out there today."
"You too. Ride safe."
