Page 27 of Sunshine

Jason nods. “No problem, we have somewhere to be, anyway.”

“We do?”

He plucks the other half of the cake from my fingers and drops it into his mouth, eyes crinkling as a warm grin spreads wide. “Yeah, come on.”

We untangle ourselves from the bench seats and throw our trash away. The sun is high and bright in the sky as Jason grabs hold of my hand and leads me deeper into the grounds, where a small arena comes into view—just past the Wacky Shack funhouse full of screaming children—and I remember the banner on the highway. “A rodeo?” I ask.

“Yeah, it starts at noon,” he says, pulling his phone out of his jacket pocket to check the time. “We have about ten minutes to find a seat.”

He looks more excited than I’d expect over a county rodeo—but maybe I’m learning something new about him, a golden nugget I can tuck away for later. He pulls me into the bleachers where we walk the metal platform before spotting an open spot six rows up. We take our seats just as the national anthem starts playing over the loudspeakers.

There’s an undercurrent of anticipation that buzzes as a red tractor drags an industrial-sized rake across the dirt, forming neat lines as it goes. It’s not long until I notice horses being led toward the line of chutes as cowboys work to fill them one by one on the other side of the arena.

Soon the first event starts: saddle-bronc riding. The first contender makes it nearly six seconds before being thrown from the saddle, a dull thump sounding as his body hits the earth. I can’t help but flinch. Coordinators throw their arms upto appear bigger as they attempt to herd the fuming horse back to safety, and within moments the second rider starts. But it’s the third rider that has me gasping into the palm of my hand.

Wells.

There’s no mistaking him and next to me, Jason is beaming, eyes locked intently on his best friend. “Hell yeah, Wells,” he mutters under his breath. “You got this.” I’m struck by the pride in his eyes, so obvious it’s almost palpable. It knocks something loose in my heart to witness a display of support like this—of friendship—especially when I hold it up against the experiences I’ve had in my own life.

Friendships haven’t always come easy to me. In middle school I often felt used and discarded; other girls would temporarily try me on just to toss me into the go-back pile when all was said and done. No one ever seemed to stick, and at times I felt downright lonely.

I guess I still ache to belong to someone the way I’m realizing Jason and Wells belong to each other.

I fasten my attention back to Wells, on the black cowboy hat he wears as he waits in the chute. I’ve only seen him wear that hat once, when he and Kasey were getting ready at the ranch to take their mother to Beaumont to visit her sister. It’s a stark difference from his usual dirty ball cap—it makes him look so much more grown up.

An air horn sounds, and the cowboys on the floor of the arena yank open the gate. The white horse Wells straddles bursts out like a strike of lightning and my heart leaps in my throat as he begins to thrash. Wells has one hand out in the air, and even from here I can see the determination set in his jaw, his mouth nothing but a firm line. He wearsblack chaps over his jeans, dark fringe bouncing with the movement of the horse.

For what feels like the longest eight seconds of my life, I can’t drag my eyes away from his face, bracing myself for the moment when he’s bucked so hard he goes flying. But he doesn’t. Even as the horse bucks harder, Wells keeps control of his body and stays rooted in the saddle beneath him, until the air horn sounds again and the crowd in the stands roars with applause.

Twenty minutes later the saddle-bronc event ends when the tenth rider is thrown into the stadium fence, and Wells makes his way to join us in the stands with a joy in his eyes I’ve never seen before. Something silver flashes in his hands as Jason gets up to hug him. “Dude, that was so sick,” he says, slapping his best friend on the shoulder with an open palm. “You literally fucking won!”

Wells grins, and I’m stunned by the casualness of it. He seems . . . pleased. As if that horse knocked his standard-issued attitude right out of him. I’m surprised when he turns his focus to me next, his earthy brown eyes filled with that familiar edge of curiosity. “What about you?”

I stare blankly at him. “What about me?”

“What did you think?”

Jason turns to look at me too, just as a loud buzzing starts an assault against my thoughts.What do I think?“About you? On the horse?”

The corner of his mouth tics, and I feel a flush crawl up my neck. “Yeah,” he confirms.

“Oh, um . . . I—” I stall, looking around at the people around us. “It’s impressive,” I fumble. “You . . . I mean.Youwere impressive.” His eyes flash with something likeamusement and before I can stop myself, I ask, “Can you teach me how to ride?”

His face blanks, all traces of humor gone. “You want to ride?”

“Yeah. I mean . . . not likethat,” I jut my chin toward the arena. “I’m not trying to get hurled into the dirt or anything. But, I’d like to try riding a horse, I think.” My ears burn hot as Wells and Jason look at me like I just asked them to take me to Europe for the summer.

“Um,” Wells starts, looking at Jason as he shrugs. It’s clear I’ve caught him off guard. “Sure.”

Jason looks back and forth between us with a layer of gratitude in his expression. Wells is one of the most important people in his life, and I know he wants us to get along. “Okay, but she’s on her own. Last time I got on a horse I ended up in the mud.”

Wells rolls his eyes. “That’s ’cause you’re a moron and you didn’t listen to a word I said.”

Jason laughs, his eyes dropping to Wells’s hand. “Aw shit, you got one?!”

Wells turns the buckle over in his hand, that soft smile playing on his lips. “Kasey’s going to freak.” He looks around, a thought triggered by the reminder of his brother. “Speaking of . . . he’s around here somewhere.”

Jason’s smile grows bright. “Let’s find him and go have some fun.”

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