He smiles, the gesture brightening up his whole face. “I asked when you start your rodeo stuff again?”
The way he says“rodeo stuff”makes me chuckle. “The season starts in the spring, but finals are in December, and I’ll be participating in those.”
“Where’s that at?”
“Las Vegas. It’s a huge national event.”
“And what do you do there? Do you just…” He gestures his hand in front of him in a circular motion like he’s trying to find the right words. “Ride the horses?”
Throwing my head back, I half-laugh, half-groan before tossing my balled-up foil at him. “How many times do I have to tell you, it’sbroncriding.”
His smirk tells me he knows exactly what he’s doing. He shrugs, though, like he has no idea. “So sorry, Mr. Cowboy.Bronc riding.”
Something about the way he says that has my stomach bottoming out. The way he affects me is so strange. I don’t feel like this with any of my other friends, and plenty of them give me a hard time, just like he’s been doing.
“But yes, it’s a ten-day event where the best of the best go up against one another in each sport. There’re nightly winners and prizes given, but at the end of day ten, an overall winner is crowned in each category, and they take the prize and the title.”
Xander’s thick black brows furrow. “Prize? Like money?”
“Yup, like money.”
“Is it a lot of money?” His eyes go wide as soon as the words leave his mouth. “Shit, am I allowed to ask that?”
Chuckling, I wave him off. “It’s fine. I don’t mind. But yeah, it can be a lot of money. We have the ability to earn throughoutthe season too, depending on where we place, but NFR is a much larger pool of money, and it’s what most of us live off of year-round. Well, that and sponsorships.”
“NFR?”
“National Finals Rodeo,” I explain. “It’s the name of the event.”
He nods, downing another sip of the water. “Think you’ll win?”
“Shit, I hope so.” I laugh. “I got close last year. Took second place, but I’m gunning for the world champ title.”
We fall into a comfortable silence as we finish our lunch, taking in the view. I need to hit the gym after this, and I told Shooter I’d come over and help him build a fence later on today, but being right here is so relaxing and nice. There isn’t a part of me that wants to end this.
Eventually, once Xander’s done, he looks over at me and says, “I looked you up.”
It takes me by surprise, and I couldn’t hide the grin that grows on my face even if I wanted to. “Oh, yeah?” I ask, quirking an eyebrow. “And what did you find?”
“It, uh…” He threads his fingers through his hair. “It looks dangerous.”
I nod. “It can be.”
“Have you ever gotten hurt?”
“Oh, plenty of times. When I was first learning, I’d end up black and blue for days. Once—it was my first year pro—I didn’t have a good enough grip on the reins, and ended up getting bucked off. I landed wrong and dislocated my shoulder when I fell. Hurt like a motherfucker.”
The color drains from Xander’s face as he stares at me with widening eyes. “Jesus,” he mumbles. “Why do it if you can get hurt?”
“Why do anything?” I throw back. “You can get hurt doing anything in life, whether that be physically or emotionally. I enjoy bronc riding. The thrill is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. When I’m out there, I feel unstoppable. On top of the world. I’d rather get to experience that high than stay on the sidelines where it’s quote-unquote safe. Life’s too short to play it safe, in my opinion. Not to mention, I’m damn good at what I do.”
A slow smile creeps up on Xander’s lips as he nods. “Your passion is…inspiring.”
“It’s intense,” I mutter with a laugh. “You can say it. I can get a little intense about rodeo.”
“Well, yeah, but it’s also really cool to see how passionate you are about it. It’s not often you see people go after what they want and what truly makes them happy.”
“What about you? How’d you get into your line of business?”
