Page 26 of Let Her Buck

Toward the bull.

Toward the crowd.

Toward the ride that’s gonna decide if I deserve her. Or not.

Chapter Nine

Laney

The fair is still alive with lights and noise, but it feels like everything’s dulled. Like someone turned the saturation down on the world and left me walking through a memory that doesn’t quite feel like mine anymore.

The music blares from the speakers near the arena, laughter echoing from the game stalls, cotton candy spinning in sticky pink clouds. All of it should feel familiar. But it doesn’t. Not anymore.

I make it as far as the popcorn stand before I hear a familiar high-pitched voice screaming my name.

“Laney!”

Sadie.

I stop walking, drawing in a breath I don’t want to let out. I know what’s coming. And I’m not in the mood to be seen right now, let alone peeled apart by my best friend’s sharp intuition.

“There you are!” she says, rushing up and pulling me into a tight hug. “You okay? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“I’m fine,” I mumble into her shoulder, groaning as her arms tighten around me. “Let…go. I—can’t—breathe…”

Sadie pulls back and narrows her eyes at me. “You silly liar. You’re not fine. Don’t pull that ‘I’m fine’ crap with me, Dawson. You’re practically vibrating.”

“I said I’m…” I trail off with a resigned sigh, because what’s the point? She knows. Of course she knows.

She links her arm through mine and tugs me away from the crowd, to a quieter edge of the fairgrounds near the old pie judging tent. “Why do you run away, Laney?”

I bite my lip, shaking my head. “I don’t know, Sadie. I don’t know.”

She waits, patient and quiet in that Sadie way that always makes it harder to hold things in.

“I—it was just so difficult,” I say finally. “Listening to those guys talking about me like I’m just…something easy. A notch on their belts. A buckle bunny.” I choke out the words like they’re poison. “And West—he just rode off like nothing happened. Like I should just sit and wait for him while he…while he—”

“Laney,” she interrupts gently, squeezing my hand. “West didn’t just ride off. You didn’t see it, but I did.”

I glance up, unsure whether I even want to know. But she continues anyway.

“Some drunk asshole made a comment about you. Nasty stuff. And West—he lost it. Swung on him. Would’ve kept going if the rodeo officials hadn’t stepped in. He was furious. Defending you like a man who didn’t care what it cost him.”

My stomach twists. “So what? He punched someone. That doesn’t fix this.”

“It’s not just about the punch,” Sadie says, searching my face. “It’s about how he looked while he was doing it. Like he’d rather get kicked out of the damn contest than let someone talk about you like that.”

My chest squeezes painfully. Deep down, I know she’s not lying. I felt it too—when he touched my face, when he begged me to wait. There was something in his eyes…something that made me want to believe.

But still…

“He says he wants me to wait,” I whisper. “That he needs me there. But then he rides off to do exactly what he said he wasn’t sure he wanted anymore. He even told me he doesn’t think marriage or a family is for him. So what am I supposed to believe, Sadie?”

She doesn’t answer right away.

So I do it for her.

“Red flag on that play, right? Says he wants me, but he’s still out there chasing bulls and prize money. Still acting like the road’s calling his name louder than I ever could.”

---