Page 56 of The Hearts We've Broken
Mikey beat me to it, blurting out, “I’m scared of horses, okay!”
A wave of laughter erupted around the table.
“You don’t think we knew that already?” Colter wheezed.
Hayden even threw out a joke. “Dude, every time you go near a horse, your face pales like you just saw a ghost.”
“Bullet huffed in his face a couple months ago, and I thought his soul was about to leave his body,” Colter teased.
“They’reterrifying!” Mikey’s voice rose an octave, coming out shrill and not helping his case.
“Mikey, you go face to face with death every time you sit on a bull. You’ve tried to ride a fucking bison!” Jake was almost incomprehensible, his giggles uncontrollable at this point.
While most of the time Mikey’s facial expression would go blank or dark, this time his eyes sparkled with amusement, telling me that he was playing along with it. I think he knew how irrational his fear was considering his career, and he was just having fun with his friends.
“If you think about it, horses aren’t the worst thing to be afraid of. They can weigh thousands of pounds. At least I’m not afraid of mannequins.” He gave Jake a pointed look.
“Excuse me? Explain yourself.” Ellison howled, causing a few tables to look over in our direction, in concern or annoyance, I wasn’t sure.
“That wasone time!” Jake elbowed Mikey in the ribs.
Hayden shook his head. “No, it was more than one time. It’s every time we go into a clothing store.”
Jake shrugged. “They just come out of nowhere.”
“They’re inanimate objects!” Ellison had doubled over in her chair, tears staining her cheeks.
“Yeah, well, what are you afraid of then, Ellison?” he retorted.
“Not being in control,” Colter coughed out under his breath.
She just rolled her lips between her teeth, shrugging a shoulder. “Pretty much. I talk to my therapist about it alot, actually. Might do some of you guys good. Colter goes.”
Colter nodded, while a few rumbles went around the group, some of the guys saying they’d looked into it and others completely disregarding it.
I tuned out their conversation as the topic switched, my mind latching onto the fear of not having control. For the first time in my life, I felt like I didn’t have a grip on my life. Catching Brady and Ava together derailed my plans—my well-thought-out plans. Part of me wanted to claw my way back and take the reins again with a death grip, and the other part wanted to go with the flow and see what happened. After all, hooking up with and fake dating Mikey Tucker was not something I’d planned for. Neither was kissing him in front of hundreds of thousands of people.
“Where’d you go there?” Mikey leaned in to whisper at me.
I turned my head toward him, regarding his expression. Concern, maybe a bit of curiosity, shone in his eyes.
“Just thinking.” I patted his leg.
“Just wanted to make sure you’re good.”
“I am. Thanks.” Shooting a soft smile his way, I turned my attention back to the larger group, who were currently getting into another heated debate about the correct way to put toilet paper on the holder.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
mikey
The temperature in southern Utah was unseasonably warm, and sweat dripped down the back of my neck. The rodeo wouldn’t start for another hour or so, and instead of making Juniper sit in the stands until it started, I was giving her a tour of the arena. I’d offered to let her stand behind the chutes during my ride, but she said she preferred to sit in the stands with Ellison.
We’d said goodbye to Isabelle in Houston, but she’d be back in Montana for the Bucking Horse Sale. Juniper probably just didn’t want to make Ellison sit alone. She would have been fine, but I understood the sentiment.
“These are the bucking chutes.” I gestured to the four chutes next to us that led out into the arena. “Back here are the stock pens where animals are held before the events. On the other side of the arena are the timed event boxes and roping chute as well as the alleyway for barrel racing.”
“They’re a lot smaller than I would have expected.” Juniper’s head was turned, her attention focused on the chutes. “Doesn’t seem like a lot of room for the bull.”
