Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
He stops in front of a stall, and a black head immediately appears over the half-door. Midnight’s ears prick forward, and her dark eyes settle on me.
“Oh,” I whisper. “She’s beautiful. And she’s looking at me like she knows me.”
Levi grins. “Yeah. She does that.”
Midnight nudges his shoulder, impatient for attention. He laughs and rubs her forehead, then looks back at me.
“Come here. Let her smell you first.”
I step closer, suddenly aware of how close Levi is standing behind me. I hold out my hand. Midnight lowers her head and sniffs my palm before bumping it with her soft muzzle.
“She likes you.”
“You sure?”
“Pretty sure.”
I scratch between Midnight’s ears. “Maybe she just likes the smell of carrots. I haven’t had a shower yet and I did all the weekly prep at the diner last night before you guys got there.”
Levi laughs. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”
He looks at me for a second too long, his smile fading into something quieter as we stand there in silence, giving Midnight all the attention we’re suddenly too nervous to give each other. Yet it feels like an almost perfect moment and in the back of my mind, I wish Tripp was here to share it with us instead of off doing his own thing. But all cowboys have their own processes and I respect that his is different from Levi’s.
Levi opens the stall and enters. I stay safely outside the gate while he brushes Midnight and starts tacking her up, getting ready for the day's events, alternating between talking to her softly and explaining to me everything he’s doing and what the events will be like today.
Cowboys and cowgirls alike are starting to fill the dusty barn, tending to their own horses and nerves while we chatter. Tripp is still nowhere to be seen and I frown as I realize how much time has passed. Shouldn’t he be getting ready too?
I say as much to Levi, and he looks up at me and cocks his head to the side, sucking in his lower lip like he’s trying to decide what to say, and suddenly I know.
“No.” I shake my head in disbelief. “He’s not. Tell me he’s not.”
Levi gives a weird grimace-smile, but doesn’t say anything.
“Tripp is a bull rider?” I gasp. I’ve met a lot of rodeo riders, seen a lot of cowboys in my life, but bull riders are the ones I usually stay away from. They go out there and risk their lives on a regular basis. For fun. I can’t reconcile it.
But it makes sense. All the weird little rituals I didn’t know he had. His willingness to take risks. His nerves and how distant he’s been today.
My stomach turns and I feel a little bit nauseous about having to watch. But I know I’ll stay. I’m all in now, and if I skip it, I’ll just spend the day worrying about how it went.
But I’m scared for him. Terrified, even. And I can’t seem to find words. A moment that felt so sweet minutes before now feels heavy with fear.
Before Levi or I can think of anything else to say, a loudspeaker crackles somewhere outside, announcing that the rodeo will begin soon.
Levi glances toward the arena.
I follow his gaze. “I better get back to my seat.”
He nods. “I’d walk you back, but I need to start getting out there. I’m one of the first ones up.”
The excitement in his voice is edged with nerves now. I look at the saddle hanging nearby, then back at him.
“You really do this for fun?”
He shrugs, like it’s nothing. “Hopefully without embarrassing myself.”
“I’m rooting for you.” For them both, and I’ll be holding my breath the whole time. I’ll see the event through, but knowing what they do for a living, and getting to see the reality of it with them in the picture instead of random cowboys I don’t know from Adam has quelled any thoughts I might have had about a future with the two of them. I know I’m not cut out for this. I’m too old for this kind of anxiety and they’ve got too much life left in them to give up now.
As if Levi can read my mind, something softens in his expression. “Stay where I can see you?”
My heart skips, then drops as I remember what I’ve just resolved. But I can’t let him know what I’m feeling. I can’t throw him off his game. Messing up his headspace could be dangerous. Lethal even.
“I will.”
Levi gives Midnight one last pat, then turns toward me. For a moment, neither of us moves.
“Wish me luck?”
“Good luck, Levi.”
He smiles, and drops a soft kiss on my lips. I deepen it without thinking, and when we finally pull away our twinkling eyes meet.
I’m the first to speak. “Well, I better get a seat before they all fill up.”