Page 18 of Hung Up
“Take it or leave it, Pretty Boy.”
I snag the check before she can when our waitress comes back, ignoring her protests to pay for her own breakfast. Once the bill is settled, she slides out of the booth and I trail behind her, heading for the lobby. All the other bull riders have disappeared so it’s quiet as we reach the elevators, but she spins to face me before she hits the button.
“Thank you for breakfast, but please let me pay next time.”
“Not a chance, Sweetheart,” I tell her before I ask, “There’s going to be a next time?”
She shrugs, the corner of her lip tilting slightly. “If you’re lucky.”
Faith hits the button and I watch as the numbers on the screen descend, the elevator getting closer to the lobby. Making the split-second decision that I’m not ready for our time together to end, I climb on after her before I can think better of it. She hits the button for the fifth floor and I hit the one for the seventh.
“Don’t you have an arena to get to?”
“I left my hat in my room.”There. Not a total lie.
She hums at that, her attention fixed on the doors. “And here I thought you cowboys never went anywhere without them.”
“You’re right, but I won’t wear mine when my hair is wet. Ruins the waves.”
“Now that I can understand,” she tells me, laughter lacing her voice.
The elevator stops and the bell chimes before the doors open. She steps off without a word, and I watch as she disappears fromview. I hastily step forward and prevent the doors from closing as I call out to her, “Can I give you one piece of advice?”
Faith stops and turns around to face me, her eyebrow raised. “You can, sure, but I can’t guarantee I’m going to listen to it.”
“You’re really starting to mesh well with all us riders, and please don’t take that as me ever doubting you or thinking you weren’t capable.” She scoffs, but her posture softens just as quickly as it had gone rigid. “Maybe it’s time you start to look the part. You aren’t on camera this weekend, if that’s what you're worried about. If you brought a pair of jeans, it might be time to wear them.”
“Who says I want to look the part?” she fires back, her eyes narrowing slightly as she crosses her arms.
“Just a hunch.”
I step back into the elevator before she can reply, the smile staying planted on my face as I return to my room and grab my hat, never vanishing as I get back on the elevator and head back down to the lobby. Glancing around, I spot a woman working at the front desk and walk up to her, deciding maybe it’s time for some kind of romantic gesture.
I just need to hope it doesn’t send her walls flying back up.
7FAITH
INDIANAPOLIS
maybe he’s not an asshole
“No, I got it tonight,”I tell Rylie as I adjust my bag on my shoulder and make my way through the hotel lobby. “I thought I’d need to put my energy elsewhere, but I was wrong.”
“Or,” she says with a click of her tongue, “you just wanted to avoid him.”
I roll my eyes, emerging into the parking lot. “And why, oh why, do you think that?”
“Because you can’t even?—”
Her voice fades as I reach my vehicle and spot a bouquet of flowers in the handle of my car door. I slow my approach, letting the phone fall from my ear as I see a letter with my name tucked into the paper. Setting my bag down on the pavement next to my feet, I reach for the note first when I hear Rylie’s voice.
“Faith? See, you’re ignoring me because you know I’m right.”
“I’ve got to run. I’ll see you there.”
Hanging up, I slip my phone into my pocket and tuck a finger under the flap to open the envelope. As soon as I take it out and unfold it, my eyebrows furrow.
Make sure to smile—your smile brightens my day.
