Willa blabs to Loretta about how she met Cade when she dropped her panties in public. “Shh!”
“Okay, Mom.”
I ignore the dig. She can run her mouth after this is over. Right now, Theo is lowering himself onto the broad back of the bull, running his gloved hand over a rope methodically, in time with whatever heavy drumbeat must be playing in the arena.
Or maybe it’s just my heart thumping in my ears.
He wraps his hand. Tugs a couple times. His shoulders rise and fall on a heavy exhale.
Then he nods.
The gates fly open and the bull lurches into motion from a standstill. The timer at the top of the screen flicks through the seconds. He only needs to stay on for eight.
But seconds have never gone by so slowly.
I push up to stand above Vivi. Even she seems to feel my tension because she’s watching the screen raptly after ignoring it for the past hour.
Hands gripped on my knees, I don’t know what to do with myself as I watch the bull spin and leap and try to kill the man I want to spend the rest of my life with.
He better not fucking die on me.
The thought jolts me for a minute. It came so easily. So naturally. Like being with Theo is the most obvious thing in the world. Like, of course, we’ll be together. Who the hell else would I be with?
Who would put up with my moody ass?
Who would love Vivi the way he does?
Who would love me the way he does?
The answer is no one. Not a single other person would ever love me the way Theo does. No one will ever show up for me the way he has—protect me the way he has. I know it because it’s taken me thirty-one years to find someone who will.
What more proof do I need?
He’s artistry on the back of the bull, and I can’t take my eyes off them. My hands cover my mouth as the seconds tick down.
Left.
Spin.
Right.
Dip.
Buzzer.
“Yes!” I jump up and shout, hands in the air. I don’t even care if I look like a lovesick idiot.
I am.
Loretta lets out a relieved laugh and claps her hands.
Willa and Sloane seem interested, but not all that excited. So, fuck them. In a friendly way, of course. I’m too excited. No one can ruin this night for me.
“What a ride!” Summer humors me by joining in with my cheering as Theo easily leaps from the bull and pumps his fist in the air. He doesn’t take his helmet off, and he doesn’t take his eyes off the bull. He beelines it for the fencing and immediately climbs up. Once he’s safely over, he gets some hearty back pats from Rhett.
When his score flashes on the screen, I know it’s a good one from the internet stalking I did. Ninety-five point seventy-five is not just good. It’s great. It’s what he needed.
And goddamn, I am so proud. I don’t even know how to react. So I pace, biting my thumbnail while I watch him.
Helmet off, eyes on the camera again.
He winks.
I roll my eyes as I blush. As my stomach flips and butterflies erupt in my chest. Maybe he was winking for the fans, but it feels like he was winking for me.
I glance at Loretta. She saw it too.
“He did good,” she says.
I nod and grin at her, feeling antsy. Right now, I could walk around the neighborhood or go for a workout. “He really did.”
When the doorbell rings, my head snaps up. I have no idea who would be here on a Friday night.
Summer leans over the arm of the couch to peek out the window. “Looks like a flower delivery!”
She leaps up to follow me to the door, clearly living for the level of mushy happiness in my life right now.
“Hi,” I say breathlessly as I open the door and take in the man in street clothes, holding a bouquet of roses and an envelope.
“Winter Hamilton?”
“Yes!” I beam.
“Great.” He holds the flowers out to me and the minute my fingers wrap around the vase, he says, “You’ve been served.”
My smile freezes and my blood runs cold. “What? Is this even a thing that happens outside of movies?”
“’Fraid so.” The man’s mouth twists. “You have a good night now.” He jogs down the stairs and takes off to his car.
“What. The. Fuck.” I stare down at the blood-red roses, confused. Shocked.
“Give me this.” Summer swipes the envelope off from where it’s taped to the side of the vase and rips it open. She unfolds the papers, and I watch her chocolate-brown irises move back and forth over the lines of typeface.
Her eyes burn with fury when she looks at me again. “Rob wants a paternity test.”
34
Theo
Winter: Congrats! You look hot in your chaps. Let me know when you’re at your hotel so I can call.
Theo: You can call me anytime. And also send nudes anytime.
Rhett walks into the empty dressing room and tosses me a beer. “You hiding out in here?”
The can hisses when I open it. “Just taking a second to soak it all in. It’s weird being back.”
“You know what isn’t weird? Watching you kick Emmett’s ass. You’re coming for him, and he knows it. Spent the last couple months feeling a little more comfortable than he should have. Sleazy fuck that he is.”
“You still mad at him for hitting on Summer?”
Rhett nods and takes a sip of his beer. “For the rest of my life.”
We’re alike in that regard, but we’re different in a lot of other ways. He wears his cowboy hat and jeans like it’s a second skin. Me, I love the sport. I love the rush. I love the competition. But it feels like a uniform to me.
Rhett loves being on the road. I don’t think he misses riding, but he loves coaching. He’s still got his hands in the pot.
Me . . . I can’t see myself staying here once I hit the top. I don’t know what I’ll do, but it won’t be settling down as a lifer in the WBRF.
I’ll want to be at home. Close to Winter and Vivi.
“You going out tonight?”
“Nah.”
Rhett points at me like that question was a test for how focused I am right now. “Good answer.”
“Gonna head back to my room and see if Winter is still up.”
Rhett waggles his brows at me.
“Fuck off.”
“You’ve come a long way, you know.”
“Well, I’ve been told I have an excellent mentor.”
“No, I mean as a person. As a man. I know I was hard on you, and maybe that came off as hard on Winter. I just . . . I’ve seen you sow some wild oats over the years. I wasn’t sure you had it in you to be what she needed.”
I nod, not offended by what he’s saying—because it’s true. “I know you mean well, but you’re still a total prick.”
He scoffs at me and then my phone rings on the bench beside me, lighting up with a photo I snapped of Winter and Vivi snuggling together in a sunny bed surrounded by white linens.
It makes me smile.
“There she is.” I swipe a finger across to answer the phone. “Tink,” I say and take my first swig of beer.
“Hi. Congratulations! Pretty good tonight, huh? We watched you.” Her voice is soft, but there’s tension there too. A tightness like she’s holding something back.
“Yeah, felt good to shake the cobwebs off.”
“And beat Emmett!” Rhett calls out loud enough that she can hear.
“Summer shared that sentiment too.” Winter laughs, but it feels forced.
“Everything alright?” I ask, not wanting to ignore that troublesome tone in her voice any longer.
What I get back is a loud, tired sigh.
“What’s wrong?” Panic edges into my voice.
“Nothing, nothing. I’m good. Vivi is good. Where are you right now? I wasn’t sure where you’d be. Maybe call me when you get back to the hotel?”
“How about you tell me now so I don’t freak out? It’s just Rhett and me in the changing room, having a beer. There’s nothing going on.”
“Okay . . .” she whispers, and my heart thumps wildly against my ribcage. When I glance over at Rhett, his brows are drawn, body held taut.
“Okay, so I’m just going to come out and say it. Because you need to know. But you do not need to freak out. I’ve got this. Okay?”
“I’m not going to promise not to freak out over something you haven’t told me yet.”
She doesn’t respond to that, she just forges ahead. “Tonight, my ex served me with papers requiring me to take Vivi for DNA testing.”
I feel like every noise in the stadium shuts off at once, replaced by a whoosh of shocked and confused white noise.
“What?”
“Rob is contesting her paternity.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. He was too big of a coward to deliver the letter himself. But if I had to guess? Just to stir shit up. Just to insert himself where he doesn’t belong.”
I can hear quiet murmuring.
“He did the same thing to Summer. He’d just pop up out of the blue. Call her, show up to see her. It wasn’t until Rhett dropped that bomb on him that he stopped.”
“Is Summer there with you?”
“Yeah. She’s been looking over the papers. We’ve been having a long overdue conversation.”
“What’s going on?” Rhett steps closer at the sound of his wife’s name.
I wave him off. “Report him. Drop your own bomb.”
The line is quiet for a few beats. “You know that’s complicated. I just . . . I don’t want to drag everyone into this. They set the court date for next week. Summer is going to track me down a good family lawyer.”
“Us, Winter. Track us down a good family lawyer.”