Page 54 of The Pieces We've Lost

Her only response was an eye roll emoji, which I had to chuckle at.

Friday

Goodnight, Blaze.

Blaze

Goodnight Sparky

I grinned at my phone, knowing these little pieces of her life were more than enough for me. She could give me crumbs for the rest of my life, and I would gobble them up like they were my last meal.

“Ellison?” Reid asked, looking over my shoulder.

“Yeah.” I fought the urge to hide my phone or turn off the screen. It wasn’t that I was keeping her a secret; no, I would scream my praises for her from the rooftops if I could, but it was nice having some things that were just ours too.

“Tell her I said hi.” He was so casual about it, it made me a little embarrassed that I was trying to hide our conversations like I had gotten caught watching porn or something.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

ellison

Iwaited a little too eagerly for Colter’s update on the rodeo in Arizona to come through. I never wanted to text him too much because I didn’t want him to lose focus or be distracted because of me. But I had to admit that sometimes not hearing from him for a few days at a time made my heart feel heavy. I’d never been dependent on someone, though, and I wasn’t going to start now. Besides, he always made sure to reach out when he was done.

Ace

You there, Blaze?

I’m here

The tiny dots that told me he was typing popped up on the screen. They stayed there for a few seconds and then stopped and started again.God, Colter, you’re such a slow texter.It had already been three minutes, what the fuck was he typing? Suddenly, the dots stopped popping up altogether.

Um, okay, weird.I started to type out a message askinghim what the hell he was doing, but then his picture popped up on my screen with an incoming FaceTime call.

I accepted the call, and his face appeared on the screen. He had a five o’clock shadow from shaving a couple of days prior and his hair was a bit disheveled, but somehow that made him look more attractive.

“Hey,” I greeted him, an amused grin on my face.

“I missed seeing your face. And besides, you know I’m a slow texter so it was easier to call anyway.” He laughed.

“You don’t have to justify anything. I’m almost glad you called instead of trying to type out a message. I might have been waiting two weeks for you to finally send it,” I teased, holding my phone over my face as I lay down on my bed, hair sprawled around me in a mess of curls.

“Ha ha. You’re so funny,” he joked.

“Well, how did the rodeo go? Did you win another buckle?” Since he hadn’t given me an update, I figured I would just ask. I probably sounded like such a buckle bunny, asking if he won.Pfft, as if that’s why I was asking.

“It went really well. We ended up winning, so that will be good for our standings,” he explained, giving me a full recap and not sparing any details. His face was so animated when he got excited. He could tell me a story about what he bought at the grocery store and I would probably be captivated, hanging onto every word.

“That’s good! I’m so proud of you!” I really was. I’d seen how hard he worked and I wanted nothing more than for him to succeed. “Hey, so last week you asked me if I was bothered by the fact that you’re on the road all the time. But you never told me why you asked.”

“Oh, uh.” His eyes shifted a little, like he was nervous. “I just have experience with…people…who have gotten upset about me always being gone. People who would try to get me to stay home instead of going on the road.”

“You love rodeo, though.” I tried to understand where this was coming from. My impression was that Colter’s family supported his career and his closest friends were all on the road with him.

“Yeah, I do love it.”

“I would never stop you from doing something you love, Colter. Just because I didn’t have the best relationship with rodeo growing up doesn’t mean that I would ever want you to stop. I hope you know that.” My voice softened as I reassured him.

“I know. Thank you, Ellison.”

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