Always Enough (Meet Me in Montana 2)

“Ty, there’s a party tonight for one of the camera guys who works down in the chutes. You should come—it’d be a good way to let everyone meet you,” Melissa said, tucking my mic into place.

My gaze lifted quickly to Bill and Rich. They both nodded, indicating it was probably a good idea. “Sure, I’d love to go.”

Her smile widened. “Great, I’ll write down the information for you.”

“You’re on in five,” a voice said in my earpiece.

“Or you could just send it to me in a text message,” I replied, grabbing a pen and writing my number on a piece of paper and handing it to her.

“Great, will do.”

When Melissa left, the three of us took our positions outside the control booth, with the arena and chutes behind us.

Rich bumped my arm and leaned in close to me and said, “And no fucking anyone on the crew, Shaw.”

I grinned. “Killjoy.” Rich didn’t need to know I had no desire to fuck anyone.

Kim walked up to us, another woman following behind her.

“Rachel?” I said, stunned to see the one girl I had hooked up with multiple times standing in front of me.

“Ty? Oh my gosh, you’re the guest commentator?” she asked with a smile as she quickly walked up and threw her arms around me. When she took a step back, she let her gaze sweep over my body. “You look amazing. How are you?”

“It figures the bastard would know her,” Bill said to Rich.

I shot him a smirk, then put my attention back on Rachel. “I’m doing really good. How about you?”

She shrugged. “I’m good. Listen, let’s catch up after, maybe grab a drink in the bar?”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Her smile faltered some, and I felt like a dick. Rachel had always assumed we would be something more than what we were. To me, she was a fuck buddy. The one girl who hadn’t been simply a one-night stand. She was good in bed, and I liked talking to her. It was never anything serious, although I knew she’d wanted it to be. She’d worked as an assistant to one of the CBS hot shots and flew in every week and followed him around like a fucking puppy.

She liked kinky sex, which I wasn’t all that much into, but I’d found it a challenge when she dared me to have sex in the strangest places. She’d once asked me to fuck her on the back of a bull. The thought had crossed my mind, but somehow it had just seemed wrong. For the bull, not me.

“Okay, well, good luck!”

“Thanks.”

Kim stepped up and gave me a quick hug. “Welcome back, Ty. Talk later.”

You could for sure tell Kim was pregnant, but she didn’t stick around long enough for me to say anything other than, “Sounds good, Kim.”

After the two of them had walked away, I glanced at Bill and Rich. They both gave me that look that said they wanted to know how in the hell I knew Rachel.

“What?” I asked, a smirk on my face.

“You bastard, you’ve had sex with Rachel, haven’t you?” Rich asked.

I laughed. “Yes, yes, I have. More than once.”

“Bastard!” Bill hissed as the countdown started in our ears.

“It’s showtime,” Rich said as the three of us looked straight at the cameras.

I felt an excitement I hadn’t felt in a long time. I fell right in line with my cocommentators, like this was a job I was made to do.

Chapter Twenty

TY

The moment I stepped into my hotel room, I wanted to do a face plant on the bed. I was fucking exhausted. Trying to keep a smile on my face, thinking about everything we were talking about, and attempting to remember not to swear on live TV had worn me the hell out.

My phone buzzed, and I reached into my pocket for it. It was a text from my mother.

Mom: You looked so handsome. We all loved seeing you on TV. You for sure take after me. Sprinkle in some of your daddy’s good looks, of course.

I smiled, typed out a reply of thanks, and then tossed my phone to the side, rolled over, and stared at the ceiling. An image of Kaylee popped into my mind, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she had watched as well.

Sitting up, I reached for my phone again.

Me: We? Was there some sort of watch party?

The little dots started to bounce on the screen as my mother typed out her reply.

Mom: Everyone was here, except of course for Tanner. He’s riding in Colorado Springs tonight, but he said he would try and catch the highlights.

I laughed.

Me: Brock and Lincoln there?

Mom: Yes, and Kaylee came with them.

And there it was. The answer I had been looking for.

Me: Thanks for all the support, Mom. Was Kaylee with Channing?

I stared at the blue arrow, trying to decide if I wanted to send that message or not. What the fuck did I care if Channing was with Kaylee? I didn’t. I hit the delete button and stopped at Mom before hitting send.