by Elle Thorpe
I glanced down at the piece of paper. My name was at the top, in Preston’s barely legible handwriting, and beneath it was the name, Felix Kaur, with a string of numbers afterward.
Immediately I was jolted back to standing in that field at my parents’ place and staring down at the text message with my birth mother’s name. Maria Kaur. Felix Kaur.
“Is this a joke?” I snapped at Preston.
“Huh?”
Irritation pricked at the back of my skin. “Who told you I was adopted?” I turned to Summer. “You? Are you in on this, too?” I was all for practical jokes and having a bit of fun, but this wasn’t funny.
But she shook her head. “I’ve never told anyone that. Not my story to tell.”
Preston shoved his hands in his pockets. “I had no idea, man. I swear, all I did was pick up the phone and write down the message.”
I crumpled the piece of paper and shoved it in my pocket while I tried to calm down. “Right. Yeah, okay, sorry for snapping. I just…I dunno. Thanks, Preston.”
I led my horse toward the barn and handed it off to Hallie.
Summer followed me. “Hey, stop. Are you okay?”
Hallie shot us a curious look but moved the horse away to be taken care of, leaving me alone with Summer again. “I don’t know. Kaur is my birth mother’s surname.”
Summer’s eyes widened. “And this guy said he’s your brother?”
I shrugged. The crumpled note in my pocket felt like it was on fire, spreading heat and a creeping sense of dread.
“What are you going to do?”
“Nothing,” I said too quickly. “It’s probably not true anyway.”
Summer bit her lip, her disapproval in my decision evident. But at least it was a good distraction for me. Her white teeth, digging into that plump lower lip, drew my gaze, and it was near impossible to think of anything else when she looked at me like that.
It took everything in me not to reach over and pop her lip free, rub my thumb over the smooth skin, then follow it up with a kiss.
That would have been the best sort of distraction from the bomb that had just been dropped. But since kissing her wasn’t an option, the next best thing was work.
“It doesn’t matter,” I told her. “I’ll take care of it. Let’s just get Grave Digger loaded and get out of here. We’re going to be late.”
Summer seemed like she wanted to argue, but I strode away before she could, and hoped she’d get the idea I didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
A resounding crack of noise echoed through the cab of the truck, and Summer cringed, her fingers digging into the steering wheel a little tighter. “I told you he wasn’t going to make this easy for us.”
I turned around to peer though the peephole and found Grave Digger staring back at me with a ‘I might kill you’ glare.
“He’s fine. He’s just pissed off you took him away from his ladies. He’ll forgive you once we get there and get him something delicious to eat.”
We weren’t far off the arena now, anyway. The open fields and small towns had already given way to more tightly packed suburban areas, and in the distance, the city buildings loomed into the sky.
Summer huffed out a sigh of displeasure when she saw them. “They’re so ugly. And look at all the smog hanging around. It’s like a dirty brown haze.”
It wasn’t really as bad as she was making out, but sure, the air wasn’t as clear as what she was used to.
I changed the subject, not wanting to put her in a funk. It was bad enough that I’d been in one for most of the trip. It had been a pretty quiet journey, apart from the banging of Grave Digger in the back. “So where are we staying tonight? It will be easier to leave the truck at the arena and then just Uber to a hotel.”
Summer pointed at the glove box. “Your paperwork is in there. I printed out a confirmation slip for the room I booked for you.”
I pulled it out and scanned over it. “You only booked one room?”
She glanced at me. “Don’t worry, I’m not making you share with me. Austin is in the city for work. He always stays at the same hotel, and it’s right by the arena, so I’ll stay with him.”
I busied myself with putting the paperwork back into the glove box because I didn’t trust that my face wouldn’t screw up in distaste at the thought of her staying with Austin. I’d had no idea he was coming, too, and it was a bit of a kick in the gut to find out I would have to put up with him at the rodeo tonight.
“It’s good of him to come support you, with tonight being your first time as an owner.” I was trying hard to be the bigger man, even if hanging out with Austin was about as much fun as getting teeth pulled.
“Oh, he’s not coming to the rodeo.”
“No?” I could barely contain my excitement.
“No, I figured we’ll probably be backstage for a lot of it, right? Not much point in him coming just to sit in the stands and watch by himself. We only have two VIP passes. He’s going to leave a room key at reception for me, and I’ll meet him up there after the rodeo.”
I ground my teeth to keep from blurting out that I would have sat in the stands by myself if she were my girl. I would have been there no matter what. Summer might have been trying to play tonight down, but this rodeo world was important to her. Austin had no interest in it.
“Yeah, I see your point. Just the two of us then, I guess.”
“You, me, Grave Digger, and about seventy thousand screaming fans.”
“Speaking of…” I pointed to a sign for the arena. “You ready for this? Because we’re just about there.”
She made the turn carefully, then glanced over at me. “Ready as I’m ever going to be.”
10
SUMMER
I stared up at the huge building with a mixture of sadness and hopelessness. I really wanted to be excited for tonight. I knew Dom was, and I’d spent the whole drive quietly trying to pump myself up. Dom’s family was big into raising bucking bulls. But that had never been a focus for my family. Dom’s dad, Johnny, had been a good rider in his time, but he wasn’t one of the greats like my dad was. Johnny had been happy to retire early and move into the other side of rodeos. But my dad had to be dragged from the back of a bull by his ear and forced onto a new path. He’d been one of the oldest guys on the tour when he’d finally conceded defeat after a knee injury that he just couldn’t come back from.
Dom’s whole life had never been about riding, not like mine had. He’d done the rounds of the local rodeos, and he was good. Better than most guys out there, but he’d never had the desire to take his career to pro level.
That was all my life had been about. From the minute I’d been old enough to get on the back of a sheep and try to ride it around a paddock, I’d wanted to win. I wanted more titles than my dad had. It was who I was. I was Kai Hunt’s daughter through and through, and I was competitive to the bone.
It was incredibly hard to turn that off when it was all taken away.
I knew Dom and my dad were trying to give me something to fill the void. So for their sakes, I would try tonight. I would try to get excited about Grave Digger being the one out there in the spotlight, while I stood in the shadows.
I pulled my VIP pass lanyard over my head and forced a smile. I was at a rodeo, for crying out loud. This was one of my happy places, and at least I’d get to watch some good rides tonight. Then after that, I’d spend the night with Austin at the hotel. I’d barely gotten to speak to him all week, he’d been so busy with preparing for our move.
That move I still hadn’t told anyone about.
Ugh.
Walking through the behind-the-scenes area of a WBRA event wasn’t new to me. I’d never gotten to ride at this level myself, but I remembered coming back here with my dad when he’d still been competing. Dom seemed to know everyone. It felt like every second person stopped to shake his hand or ask how his dad was.
I nudged him. “You never told me how well-known your bulls are.”
He
made a face. “Hardly.” But then another guy in a cowboy hat called out to him and waved us in his direction.
“See?” I asked, following along. “Peter Popularity. That’s your new name.”
He rolled his eyes and greeted the guy who’d called us over. It took me a second to realize I knew the man, too.
Dom shook his hand. “Brad, hey. How’s it going? You know Summer Hunt, don’t you?”
The older man’s eyes widened from beneath his wide-brimmed hat. “Summer! Of course. How are you, sweetheart? Terrible injury you suffered.”
I tried to smile at the head of the WBRA, though I didn’t exactly love the reminder of my injury. “Yeah, it wasn’t the best.”
“Healed up now, though?”
I cleared my throat, trying to ease the uncomfortable lump that lodged itself there. The muscles I’d twinged trying to ride again had healed, and I was out of the sling, but I was never going to be completely healed. “Not exactly.”
He frowned. “That’s a shame. I was really hoping you’d be the first woman to make the team, what with being Kai’s daughter and all. I’ve still got a soft spot for him, you know? Would make for a hell of a story. Much better for publicity than Millicent Young.”
“Millicent Young?” The words flew out of my mouth, tasting kind of sour. “She’s trying to make the team?”
“She’s going to give the boys trying to qualify a run for their money, that’s for sure.”
A young man with a clipboard appeared and whispered something into Brad’s ear before stepping away.
Brad turned back to us. “Excuse me, you two. There’s always some sort of fire that needs putting out before the show starts, and it looks like I’m the only firefighter on duty. Real good to see the both of you. Say hi to your dads for me.”
He disappeared into the crowd milling backstage, and Dom and I headed toward the pens to check on Grave Digger again.
Dom’s arm brushed mine. “You haven’t been keeping tabs on the circuit? You seemed surprised that Millicent Young is competing.”
“I haven’t been able to watch it. It’s too hard. But Millicent? She can barely sit on the back of a stationary bull, let alone ride one for eight seconds.”
Dom chuckled. “I think we both know that’s not exactly true.”
I shoved my hands in my pockets grumpily. “Fine. She’s good.”
“But you’re better.”
Warmth flushed through me at his praise. The truth was, Millicent was extremely talented, and she worked just as hard as I once had. But I’d been damn determined to be the first woman in the WBRA. It pissed me off no end that she was going to get that title.
The first woman on the tour would make history. I had no doubt there’d be others who followed. But the first woman would pave the way. It would be her that little girls everywhere looked up to and tried to imitate.
Goddamn it. I’d almost forgotten how much I wanted it to be my name people talked about. Now here I was, trying to convince myself that training a champion bull would be enough for me.
Grave Digger was happier than a pig in shit when we found him in his pen, as were the other bulls that would be ridden tonight. These animals were a picture of health and vitality, and the security around them was huge. A prize-winning bull was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and I was still a bit shocked that Grave Digger had managed to make the cut. I recognized some of the other bulls and knew that Grave Digger couldn’t perform half as well.
“So what do we do now?” I asked, eyeing the locker rooms. If I’d been competing, that’s where I would have been, alone in the women’s area probably, but pumping myself up and getting myself ready.
“We just wait. Nothing much else to do now. We’ve done our part, getting him here. Let’s go find a good spot on the wings where we can watch.”
“Oh.”
Dom chuckled. “It’s a much better view from backstage. You’ll love it.”
He was only partially right. The lights went down, and the pyrotechnics the WBRA were known for lit up the darkness of the arena. The crowd cheered, eager for the show to start. And they wasted no time, getting the first bulls ready, and sending riders out into the arena to do their best to get points on the board.
Dom let out a yell when Cody O’Brien scored an eighty-nine on the back of Crimson Hide. I clapped politely when Jordan Baker managed to one-up him with a ninety-point-two.
But all I really felt on the inside was jealousy. I watched Cody pump his left arm into the air with complete ease, and it ate me up inside.
They took it for granted, that they were young and any injury they suffered they could come back from. Nobody left this sport completely unscathed, but nobody assumed they’d be taken out before they even really had a chance to show what they could do.
When Grave Digger was loaded into the chute, I watched with a keener interest. He performed well, bucking and kicking, giving his cowboy a decent ride. The guy managed to stay on, too, and score an eighty-eight.
Dom put his arm around me and squeezed my shoulders. “Well, that was a pretty great start. Let’s see what he’s got for his second rider.”
I winced at the stab of pain that rolled through my old injury. I suddenly wished I’d worn my sling, even though the doctors had told me I didn’t need it.
Dom dropped his arm immediately. “Shit, sorry. Are you okay? I wasn’t thinking…”
I brushed off his concern. “Of course.”
“You aren’t having a good time, though. Are you?”
I tried to smile, but I knew he’d see right through it. “No, not really. I want to love this side of the business like you do, but I just don’t. I just want to be out there, competing, with the adrenaline rushing.”
Dom nodded. “I get it.”
“It’s just hard to watch other people take my spot. It’s not like I voluntarily gave it up, you know? It was taken from me before I was ready. I had goals. Things I needed to accomplish, and now I can’t. And that just eats away at me, a little more every day. It’s why I told Austin I’d move to the city. I’ve always known that if I didn’t make the pros, nothing else would be enough for me. I love teaching, but it doesn’t fill the gap. Neither will this. I need to move on. Find something entirely different to do with my life.”
“In the city, though?” Dominic studied me, searching my expression. “Is that really where you want to be?”
“It can’t be worse than watching other people fill my shoes and achieve the goals I’ll never get to have again.” I knew I sounded like I was having a pity party for one, and I hated it. But facts were facts.
Dom’s gaze hardened, then moved from me to the middle of the arena. It was empty right now as the next rider prepared himself in the chute, so Dom stared at nothing but sawdust. I didn’t miss the sudden tension in his shoulders, though.
His lips pulled into a tight line. “Fine, you want to go to the city, then go. But don’t do it without actually trying everything. How many times have you gotten back on that bull since you were injured?”
“Once,” I admitted.
His eyes widened. “Are you serious? And you’re giving it up because your first ride back wasn’t perfect?”
Annoyance bristled down my spine. “You think I expected to be perfect? I wasn’t even close! I’m giving it up because this injury is permanent, Dom! There’s no amount of physical therapy that’s going to fix it!”
“Says who?”
We’d both raised our voices, and people were starting to look in our direction. “Says my doctor.”
Dom seemed to come to the same realization I had, that we were making a scene, so he lowered his voice. But his words were no less pissed off than his yelling had been. “Then you see another doctor. You don’t just give up. The Summer I used to know would have never done that.”
That got me in the gut and set a fire through my body. How dare he? He had no idea about all the hours I’d worked with a physical therapist, trying to get movement bac
k in my arm. He had no idea about the pain it still caused. “Buck you, Dom. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I stormed off, pushing my way through the crowd.
There was only a moment’s pause before he ran to keep up with me. “Summer, stop. I’m sorry.”
I shook him off. “I don’t want your apologies.”
He huffed out a sigh. “At least tell me where you’re going?”
I had no idea, and I was too annoyed to talk about it. “Anywhere but here.”
11
SUMMER
I stared blankly out the window at the city that would be my home in a matter of weeks. I barely saw the skyscrapers and cabs and the people out on the street, though. Guilt was too quick to rear its ugly head and taunt me about what a jerk I’d been to Dominic. He’d been nothing but a friend, both this last week, last year, and all the times he’d visited before that, and I’d been a complete and utter bitch to him tonight.
This had always been one of my problems. I was quick to anger, but I was also quick to get over it. I pulled my phone out and shot off a text message to Dom, apologizing for having a moment of insanity.
It was why I’d stayed away from the rodeo ever since my accident. Every time I’d tried, it just sent me into a funk that I could never seem to talk myself out of. I wanted to enjoy it again, but it had lost its magic for me.
It probably didn’t really matter anymore, anyway. Austin hated the rodeo. Once we moved to the city, I doubted I’d have anything to do with bull riding. Sure, I’d ring my dad once a week on a Sunday, like a dutiful daughter, and I’d ask him how everything was going, but it would never be the same. It would never mean to me again, what it once had.
I tried to perk myself up with the thought of seeing my fiancé in a few minutes. I’d already let go of my anger over what he’d done last weekend, even though he hadn’t apologized. We hadn’t seen each other all week, and I didn’t want to ruin another weekend being mad at him. This was supposed to be the most exciting time in my life. Getting engaged. Buying our own place, even though I still hadn’t seen it. It was only Friday night. Maybe Dom could get Grave Digger home by himself tomorrow so I could stay here with Austin. I knew he was booked into the hotel until Sunday. Hopefully we could see the apartment and maybe even look at some wedding venues.
