“Yes, you do. And what’s more, you want to know me better.”
“I don’t think I do, and I’m not being a smart ass when I say that.”
“You can’t help yourself any more than I can.”
“I don’t know, Tucker. It would be so much easier to walk away, find another guy who doesn’t have a twin brother, for one. Someone who doesn’t have so many damn problems.”
Tucker and Blythe’s phones both pinged at the same time. If they hadn’t, neither might have looked. But it was Jace and he was getting ready to ride. He wanted to know if either one of them were still there.
Blythe stormed off, leaving Tucker unsure of which way he should go. There was one thing she’d been right about, he was a shitty brother. Instead of following her, Tucker went in the direction of the chutes.
Blythe got back to her seat in time to see Jace lowering himself on the back of the bronc. She held her breath as she waited for him to signal that he was ready for his crew to pull the door of the chute open.
Lyric leaned over. “Marking out is the first step. Do you know what that is, Blythe?”
God, she could kiss Lyric. That would certainly solve some of her problems, but this was for a different reason. Blythe had no idea what to look for, and Lyric was going to explain it to her.
“He has to have both spurs touching the bronc above the point of the horse’s shoulder on its first jump out of the bucking chutes. If he doesn’t, he won’t get a score.”
“Then what?”
“Then he has to time his movements with the horse’s jumps. He’ll need to move his feet in an arc from the horse’s shoulders back to the saddle skirt. The more even and accurate his movements, the
more points he’ll earn. Course, he’s gotta stay on for eight seconds, if he gets bucked off, none of the rest matters.”
“Thanks, Lyric.”
When the chute opened, Jace looked like he was in the right position based on what Lyric told her. Blythe couldn’t tell if he was doing the rest of what she’d said; she only watched the clock. Six, seven, eight seconds…the pickup men scooped him off and he was on the ground, celebrating.
Blythe jumped up and down, clapping her hands. Renie let out a loud whistle, and Lyric was hooting and hollering. He saw her, she was sure of it. He knew she’d watched him ride.
Tucker made her blood boil, but Jace—he melted her heart. She’d never feel about him the way that she did about Tucker, but it didn’t matter. In that moment, she knew exactly what she had to do.
By the time the excitement died down and anyone was paying attention, Blythe was gone. They’d assume she went to see Jace, or to find Tucker, but she wasn’t doing either.
“What do you mean she’s not with you, Renie?”
“I thought she was coming down here.”
Jace ran his hand through his hair. Where in the hell had she gone? She wasn’t with Tucker, he was standing right next to him.
“Call her,” Jace barked at Renie.
“What do you think I’ve been doing? I called her, I texted her. She isn’t answering. And you can stop yelling at me now, Jace Rice.”
“What’s goin’ on?” Billy put his arm around Renie’s shoulder and scowled at Jace.
“Blythe left. We don’t know where she is.”
“Call her dad.”
“You think she would’ve called him?” asked Jace.
Billy shook his head. “Why the hell would I tell you to call him if I didn’t think so?”
Renie had her phone to her ear and was walking away. A couple minutes later, she came back, no longer on the phone.
“He said she’s fine, but that’s all he’d tell me.”