Learning the Ropes (6 page)

David looked at his saddle and adjusted his reins, unable to hide the grin that spread across his face. “You mean, besides a comfortable bed, a filling breakfast, and a pretty girl giving me a kiss this morning for good luck?” He shrugged. “I guess nothing.”

“I thought you didn’t care about dating, that it was a waste of your precious time?”

“I’ll admit it. Ali wasn’t what I expected.”

Chris took off his sunglasses and handed them to the cowboy opening the gate for them. “Then maybe you should be thanking me instead of giving me a hard time.” He shot a sidelong glance at David, still grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Ali kissed you, huh?”

He looked over at David suspiciously. Maybe he was just screwing with him? Chris hadn’t missed the funny look David gave him after seeing him on the dance floor with Ali; maybe this was his way at getting back at him. Or testing the waters to see if Chris was interested in Ali for himself? The thought struck him in the chest. He wasn’t, was he?

Chris didn’t want to even begin to think about why he felt a knot of dread forming in his gut any more than he wanted David to suspect his jealousy. It was irrational so he stuffed it deep within but it chewed at the edges of his mind. Ali wasn’t the type of girl to kiss a guy right after meeting him. At least, she hadn’t been before. Maybe she’d changed in the past two years since he’d spent any significant amount of time with her. People could change and not always for the better. Chris clenched his jaw, trying to focus on the task at hand. He didn’t have time to be worrying about Ali.

Easing his horse into the chute, Chris turned Jaeger so he could back the gelding into the corner. He casually flipped the loop over his wrist and slid the eye of the rope forward until it felt right. Jaeger’s hind end tucked under him as Chris adjusted his reins, shortening them. He looked over at David who waited, watching for Chris’s nod, with his rope at his hip. Chris tipped his chin down at the chute operator just before the steer burst through the gate, jerking the barrier rope free as it passed. Jaeger came out of the gate quickly, eating up the ground with his long stride as Chris swung the rope over his head. He let it fly as he came alongside the steer and watched it hit the tip of a horn before slipping off and circling in front of his horse.

How could he have missed? He never missed.

The crowd’s groan echoed across the arena. Chris quickly rewound the rope and set his loop again, swinging over his head as David kept the steer running straight. This time, it circled the steer’s horns cleanly and he twisted the rope around the saddle horn, turning Jaeger sharply to the left. David was already in place and immediately caught both heels. He looked toward the clock as the announcer called out their time: 9.6.

This was definitely going to keep them out of the money and knock them down a few places in the overall standings. He braved a glance at David. His face was a dark mask of fury as he refused to look at Chris. Clenching his jaw so tightly it caused his teeth to hurt, Chris headed to the back of the arena with the steer as he watched David ride out.

Damn it!

Chris might act nonchalant, like he was coasting through life, but he knew this was a big loss and was going to cost them. He didn’t want to face David right now, not when he was the reason they’d lost. What the hell was doing worrying about Ali kissing David when they needed this win? He’d never let himself get jealous over a woman before, why now? He’d better get his head on straight or David was going to kill him.

A
LICIA WATCHED THE
pair make their run and cringed when Chris missed. It never happened and she worried Chris would spend the rest of the rodeo beating himself up about it. She could see it in the way his shoulders slumped as he rode to the back of the arena and the way he ignored the other cowboys as he dropped his rope over his saddle horn. She knew he wasn’t as carefree as he wanted people to believe, at least not when it came to his chosen profession. She wanted to say something, to console him the way she knew he would do with her, but he hurried out the gate before she could even say anything, not even noticing her waiting for him. She hurried to the trailer and found David dismounting. He threw his rope into the tack compartment of the trailer.

“Damn it!”

“You okay?” She was apprehensive. She didn’t know David well enough yet to predict how he’d take the loss. She could predict Chris’s reaction but David might be one of those guys who preferred to wallow in a loss alone.

He spun to face her, looking surprised to see her at his trailer. “Yeah.” He tucked his glove into the seat, behind the saddle horn. “This just really messed us up and he knows it.” He leaned against his saddle. “I just don’t get it. He never misses.”

“I have only a second before I have to go get Beast warmed up but I wanted to make sure you’re okay.” Alicia glanced over her shoulder, looking through the horses for Chris.

“It’s fine.
I’m
fine,” David clarified, waving her off, distracted. “Hey, good luck,” he said as she started to walk back toward her trailer.

“Thanks, I think I’ll need it.”

“Hang on.” He reached for her hand and pulled her toward him. His fingers found the back of her neck and he leaned forward, his lips meeting hers. He caught her gasp of surprise, taking advantage of the moment to pull her against his chest. Her heart skipped a beat before pounding almost painfully in her chest as her hands found his shoulders.

Even though she hadn’t expected it, David’s kiss wasn’t unwelcome. Last night, he’d barely given her a chaste peck on the cheek after her mother insisted he and Chris take the spare room instead of heading back to the Thomas ranch, even though Chris was already passed out in the backseat of the truck. This morning, she’d barely been bold enough to kiss his cheek for good luck. She certainly hadn’t expected this from him.

It had been a long time since a guy had kissed her like this, as if he was trying sear her, to mark her as his own, and she wasn’t sure what to think. Last night’s sweet gesture sent the butterflies residing in her stomach into flight. By comparison, this kiss should have been enough to melt the sunscreen she’d applied that morning but instead, she felt awkward and she wasn’t sure why. When he took a step back, she rocked back on her heels and bit the corner of her lower lip, unsure what to say or if she should say anything.

“I just wanted to wish you luck properly.”

She could easily read the desire in his dark eyes and wondered at her lukewarm reaction. It wasn’t as if she felt nothing, but it wasn’t the electric fireworks she wanted to feel when she found that guy who was meant for her. It might be a girlish fantasy but she couldn’t shake the desire to find the guy whose kiss made her heart stop mid-beat. A guy who could send a sizzle of excitement to her toes with a mere glance.

She heard a quiet cough. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

Alicia felt a slow burn creep up her neck and cover her face. “No, I . . . I mean, we . . .” she stammered, turning to see Chris smirking at them.

Her heart tripped up and was suddenly off to the races, beating faster than when David kissed her. The tension between them almost sparked and the heat curling in her belly worried her.
You’re supposed to feel this with David. He’s the emotionally available one.
But the knowledge didn’t stop her heart from racing, or the heat from spreading through her limbs as Chris gazed down at her.

He didn’t move to dismount and just stared at her from atop his horse. She wished she could read his eyes but he had those damn sunglasses on again. His grin and words implied he was joking but his tone said otherwise.

“I’ve . . . uh, gotta go,” she said to David, jerking her thumb toward her trailer. “I’ll see you in a bit?”

She knew she must sound like a babbling idiot but she had to get away and get her head on straight. If she didn’t gain at least a semblance of control over her body’s reactions she was going to make a fool out of herself in front of both men. She needed to focus before her event or she was going to end up the same way they had—at the bottom of the pack and without a paycheck. She glanced back at Chris and David as she walked to her trailer. Chris was just dismounting and tying his gelding to the trailer when David approached him, looking furious. Things were about to get heated when David brought up their run and she didn’t want to be there when that bomb went off.

“W
HAT IN THE
hell was that?” David was furious and barely restraining his anger. Chris had seen him like this before, usually after David spent time with his father, but he knew this time he deserved it. “If you can’t sober up enough to do the job, maybe, just maybe, you shouldn’t get shit-faced the night before, Chris.”

“It had nothing to do with that,” he grumbled, loosening the cinch on the saddle.

“Really?” David looked doubtful. “Because you threw like you were still drunk.”

“I get it. I screwed up.” He shook his head, knowing there was no excuse, prepared to take whatever punishment David saw fit to dole out.

What could he say? That his mind wasn’t on the steer running down the arena? That he was too preoccupied thinking about the sexy brunette he’d just seen David kissing? That it had driven him nuts trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with him to even consider kissing Ali last night?

Seeing Ali with David had sucked the wind from him and made him want to punch his best friend. But he couldn’t let either of them know how he was feeling. He didn’t want to settle down and he certainly didn’t want a relationship, not even with someone as great as Ali. Even the thought sounded boring—settling. The mere idea had him feeling like he was being strangled slowly, but the thought of her with anyone else . . . he clenched his fists at his sides and took a deep breath.

Why hadn’t he thought this through before he set her up with David? Why didn’t he set her up with anyone else, someone he wouldn’t have to see her with at every rodeo? He’d spent so many years pretending his desire for her didn’t exist that he’d forgotten how strong it was and convinced himself that a lie was truth. Now there was nothing he could do but cowboy up and ignore this jealousy until it faded again.

In the meantime, he owed it to David to bring their rank back up. Chris knew the pressure David was under to be a champion and, even if Chris wasn’t faced daily with the same overwhelming burden, it was a big part of their future plans for a rodeo school. Without the title that came from winning the National Finals Rodeo at the end of the year, marketing would become a much more difficult prospect.

“We have a few days before our next rodeo. We can stay at Mom and Dad’s this week and get some practice time in.” He leaned against his saddle and looked at David over the gelding’s back. “I promise, we’ll do nothing but work.”

David eyed him, dubious, arching a brow before tossing his Western shirt into the tack compartment and slipping a t-shirt over his head. “Nothing but work?”

Chris shrugged and laughed quietly. “Okay, mostly work. And I’ll buy tonight.” David knew him too well.

David glared at Chris. “I’ll believe that when I see it.” He crossed his arms over his chest and Chris could tell he was debating the proposition. “You’re driving, too.”

Chris slipped his horse’s bridle off and hung it in the tack compartment, trying unsuccessfully to hide his victorious grin. “Deal.”

He was getting off cheap with a couple of rounds considering he’d just put them out of the money today. It was the least he could do for David. “Does this mean you’re scrapping your ‘no women’ policy?” He took the saddle David held out to him.

David took a deep breath and Chris could practically see the wheels turning, forming excuses. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I don’t know. I really like Ali but . . .” David shrugged. Chris clenched his jaw hearing David call her Ali again and sighed. “I just don’t know . . . what?” David asked, irritably.

“I didn’t say anything.” Chris slid the saddle onto the rack and held his hands facing his friend. He might not have said anything but it didn’t stop him from getting frustrated with David. Couldn’t he see what he had right in front of him?

“You didn’t have to say anything. She’s a distraction, Chris. All women are. You missing today just proves what happens when even one of us gets distracted. Neither of us can afford it, especially if we plan on moving forward with the school in the next year.”

Chris glared at him. He didn’t need any more reminders about how he let David down today. He wouldn’t be forgetting any time soon. “I wouldn’t expect her to wait for you. At this rate, by the time you get around to settling down, you’ll be too old for any woman to want.”

“You’re one to talk.” David rolled his eyes. “Look, I’m not trying to beat a dead horse, just stating the facts. We need to figure out what’s most important and give that everything we’ve got.”

“You sound like your dad,” Chris muttered.

“Screw you, Chris.” David started to walk away. As if thinking better of it, he spun on his heel and glared at Chris. “How many NFR buckles do you have? Just because the man acts like a jackass doesn’t make him wrong. Maybe, you need to grow up.”

He watched his friend storm off, leaving Chris to finish taking care of the horses. He should have kept his mouth shut. He knew David and his father had a complicated relationship. Any conversation about the man was bound to lead to trouble. As much as David hated the pressure his father put on both him and his brother to succeed, both sought the man’s approval. As a past roping champion, he ran his sons ragged, pushing them to exhaustion, forcing them to uphold the family name in rodeo. It didn’t leave much room for anything else, including the wife and kids Chris knew David wanted or the rodeo school they’d planned to open next year.

D
AVID WATCHED FROM
the stands as Alicia’s horse pranced to the back gate of the arena. The crowd pulsated with excitement, eager for the ladies speed event. He knew how nerve-wracking it was to be the first in any go-round, especially with the crowd as loud as this one, but he could see the determination in her eyes as she focused on the first barrel. Alicia nodded and the cowboy shoved open the gate as her sorrel paint rocked back onto his hind legs, rearing slightly, before bursting into the arena in a flash of color, triggering the time clock. Heading to her right, she pulled the horse’s head up as he wrapped his body around the barrel before pressing on toward the second turn.