“What can I say? She stuck me in the friend zone, and I tried to claw my way out.” From his seat on the pickup tailgate, Cord swung his legs to get his blood circulating again. He’d followed Nick to the parking lot so he could retrieve his cell phone from his truck. “She never led me on, but I couldn’t help falling for her. So say whatever you want to me, because nothing’s going to make me feel any worse than I already do.”
Beside him, Nick made a sound that could’ve been a laugh or a groan. “I guess the
re could be worse things than having you as a brother-in-law.”
“Have you listened to anything I said?” Irritation rose to the surface, and he relished feeling something other than dead. “She doesn’t love me. I thought there was hope if I stuck with it, but she made her choice… Parker.”
“I have a great idea how to get rid of that dude,” said Nick. “Let’s sign him up for the bull riding competition. I’d love to watch him get bucked to the ground in his fancy new western duds.”
“Bull riding!” Cord leapt off the tailgate, scanning his phone for the time. “I have to get back before it starts!”
“I thought you weren’t competing.” Nick eyed him with suspicion before standing up to slam the tailgate closed.
“I promised McCaffrey I’d be on standby in case the bullfighters need backup.” They started back toward the arena at a brisk pace.
“Why you? You’ve got to be greener than the bullfighters you’re paying to do the job.”
Cord’s already-shaky confidence took a nose-dive. “Probably punishment. Sitting on a fence for a couple of hours in retribution for trying to compete without a doctor’s release.”
“That seems fair.” Nick chuckled as he glanced at his cell phone. “I doubt J.J.’s even got her phone with her. She hasn’t sent any messages. But she’ll probably come sit with us—she and Parker, I guess. What do you want me to say to her?”
“She was worried, so let her know I’m not riding tonight. But please don’t tell her what I told you. I’m humiliated enough.”
“You don’t want me to put in a good word for you?” Nick grinned, his eyes crinkling in the corners.
“Best I can tell, Jess does the opposite of whatever you suggest. So, please don’t.” Cord sighed. “Although it’s too late to matter, anyway, now that she’s back with Parker.”
“I think you’re overestimating Parker. Or underestimating J.J. He was a jerk to her. I can’t believe she’d take him back.”
“You didn’t see them together,” said Cord.
Surprisingly, Nick didn’t answer with a smart retort, though he scowled like he was thinking one.
“I have to tell Mr. Anderson I’m not riding.” Cord jotted off an apologetic text to Finn, who was up in the stands somewhere. “He flew all the way from New York to watch me ride.”
“Wow! Will you introduce us after the rodeo?”
“Sure.” Cord couldn’t match his friend’s enthusiasm. “This is so humiliating.”
“Look at it this way...” Nick’s laughter bubbled out as he clapped Cord on the back. “It’s probably not as humiliating as your bull ride would’ve been.”
At first, Jessica felt sorry for Parker. No doubt he was devastated about his grandfather. But by the time they had talked and eaten their fill of corn dogs and turkey legs, he was beginning to push the boundaries. Twice, he’d put his arm around her shoulder, and she’d firmly removed it. In the grandstands he’d sat with his leg plastered against hers, closing any distance she attempted to make between them. It was particularly awkward with her grandparents sitting behind them. She’d whispered to Nanna about Parker losing his grandfather, but Nanna’s sympathetic expression only lasted a fleeting second.
Nick was no help at all, making even more snide remarks than usual, from his seat next to Nanna. “Nice boots, Parker. Did you order those from Cowboys R Us?”
“At least my boots don’t smell like cow manure,” Parker retorted, with a congenial smile.
“That’s enough, Nick.” Jess raised her eyebrows in warning before her brother could respond with one of his off-color jokes about cow manure. “Watch what you say in front of Nanna.”
“Don’t mind me,” said Nanna, with a mischievous grin.
As the announcer proclaimed the beginning of the bull riding event, Jessica’s stomach twisted into a pretzel. She wiped her palms on her jeans, the sweat having nothing to do with the temperature. She just knew something terrible was going to happen to Cord, and the last words between them had been cross ones. She’d hoped Nick might be able to talk him out of competing, but as far as she knew, that didn’t happen. If only she could find a way to ask her brother about Cord without alerting Parker.
She looked over her shoulder. “Hey Nick, did you ever find your friend?”
“What friend?” Nick batted his long lashes, like he didn’t know who she meant.
“Cord,” she rasped.