“Of course, son.” He turns to Knox. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Knox. Good luck this season—we’ll be watching.”
“Thank you. Good luck, boys. Keep practicing. I look forward to seeing you on TV one day.”
I’m getting butterflies watching him. I blame hormones; I must be ovulating. It’s definitely not the fact that the sexiest man alive is currently ruffling the hair on the little blonde’s head. Or that I can’t get that kiss out of my head.
We haven’t kissed again, and I haven’t said anything about it, or us. I’ve been trying to sort through my thoughts, but I just don’t see a future for us. He’s leaving for rodeos soon, and he doesn’t even live here. He has a whole other life in Oklahoma to go back home to. I can tell he’s waiting for me to say or do something, being patient with me. And I almost asked him what his thoughts were on it all the other day, but I chickened out.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve spent enough time with him to learn what type of man he is. He’s patient, kind, and selfless, always thinking of others before himself. It’s rare to find a man who possesses just one of those qualities, let alone all of them.
And it’s getting harder to pretend there is nothing between us.
I know he feels it, too, the undeniable spark—of course, I’m attracted and drawn to him in ways I can’t ignore. That kiss proved that. But it’s become more than that for me, and it scares me. The more I’ve gotten to know him, the more I could see myself truly falling for him.
I just don’t know if he’ll catch me.
Just thinking about him leaving makes my stomach churn. He’s become a constant in my life over the last six weeks and as hard as I’ve tried to keep him at arm’s length, we’ve grown closer than I expected. The other night, I texted him about a funny scene in a book I was reading because it made me think of him. I’ve been finding myself thinking about him a lot lately.
“You get that a lot, superstar?” I ask once we’re out of earshot.
In a rare turn of events, it’s his cheeks that turn pink, not mine. “Oh, I wouldn’t say a lot, but it’s not uncommon either.”
So that’s a yes—he gets it a lot.
Dad heads off to chat with some old friends while Knox and I find Jessie in the grandstands. We haven’t been sitting for two minutes when another little boy comes up asking for Knox’s autograph and a photo. He’s just as genuine as before, asking him questions and smiling for a photo.
After the boy leaves, Jessie pipes up. “Hey, Mr. Hotshot, Kacey has something she wants you to sign.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” He gives her a sarcastic side eye.
“It’s not appropriate for a public place, but it rhymes with noobs. And if you’re lucky, she might ask for a picture, too.”
Knox laughs. I put my face in my hands and groan. Sometimes I wonder why I’m friends with her. But Knox pulls his phone out. “Smile girls, I want proof of how red Kacey’s face is right now.”
All three of us lean in close and take a selfie, then Jessie snags his phone out of his hand.
“Okay, now just you two. Smile and sayboobs.”
We both laugh and then turn to look at each other, making eye contact. I can hear Jessie snapping away at the camera before she hands him his phone back. He reaches out and takes the phone without breaking eye contact with me. We slid close together for the photo, so now our faces are only inches apart. I can feel the heat radiating off him and when I feel his hand slide up my lower back.
I lean into him.
Is he going to kiss me?
It feels like my heart is about to pound out of my chest when I hear Jessie say, “Oh, he’s up! Chet is riding into the box.”
I look away first. Then slide back into my seat and try to calm my breathing. I can still feel Knox looking at me before he finally looks away at the sound of the roping chute cracking open.
Chet is actually a way better calf roper than I expected. He was 9.8 for third place.
By the time the calf roping is over, we’re all ready for a snack and a drink, so we head to the concessions and run into Carson. Once we’ve all grabbed something to eat, we make our way to the coffee stand.
Lainey is out front, chatting with a couple of girls while her baristas manage the trailer. She's dressed in a cute sundress with her brunette hair cascading in waves down her back.
“Hey, Lainey, how’s business been today?” I ask as we walk up and the other girls wave goodbye.
A smile breaks over her face as she turns toward us. “Hey, gang! It’s been great. This is the first break I’ve gotten all day. I was about to head over to the mini doughnut stand. How did the roping go?”
I see her glance at Knox. Every woman looks at him, and I can’t say that I blame them, but an irrational territorial feeling rises up in me. “It was good, we all placed. Knox, this is Lainey, Lainey, this is Knox. He’s been shoeing horses for Jack and breaking a colt for us the last few weeks.”
