Page 98 of The Hearts We've Broken
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
mikey
We’ve got an incredible night of rodeo ahead of us, folks! Thank you for choosing to spend your Fourth of July right here with us for the greatest sport in the world!”
Although the injury to my ankle wasn’t severe—just a moderate sprain, a miracle considering the angle the bull had landed on me—it was enough to take me out for four to six weeks.
“Sorry about the injury, man.” Maverick had patted me on the shoulder when we’d arrived earlier that afternoon.
He was leaning against one of the fences talking to another bull riding competitor. I’d debated going over there, but I didn’t want to talk about my injury or whatever else the press was saying about me lately.
Colter and Reid were warming up their horses, and Hayden and Jake were nowhere to be seen, probably getting ready for competition themselves, so I was alone.
Since I wasn’t competing, I had no reason to be back behind the chutes. But being in the stands felt wrong.
I pulled out my phone, opening my messages.
Happy Fourth
What the fuck are you doing? Happy Fourth? How pathetic are you?
I sighed, deleting the text. I wanted nothing more than to hear from Juniper, to ask her if she was okay and say that I was sorry. I wanted to tell her how badly I’d fucked up and how much I still thought about her, about us.
In the past month, I’d probably typed out at least five different texts, all of them having the same fate. Unsent and deleted.
I wondered if she’d heard about the injury.
A darker part of me convinced myself that she probably had and didn’t care. Everyone had been talking about it online, so there was no way she hadn’t seen it. And she would have reached out to saysomethingif she cared.
I wandered around the rodeo grounds for a bit, not wanting to have to sit alone and watch as my friends and rivals competed.
When the team roping started, I headed back behind the chutes.
“Folks, you are not going to want to miss this next roping duo. They hail from Silver Creek, Montana. The four-time NFR qualifiers, and two years ago they were the average champions, Colter Carson and Reid Lawson!”
The crowd erupted into a chorus of whistles and claps. Colter and Reid were like rodeo royalty around here. The two of them were easy fan favorites in the state of Montana. Sometimes I caught envy crawling up my skin at the thought, but I always pushed it away. They were my brothers. My family.
My time would come. I just had to be patient.
Music played over the sound of hooves against the dirt as Colter and Reid roped. Colter’s horse shot out of the box like lightning, and he was able to catch the steer’s horns quickly, turning the animal so Reid could follow behind.
“How about a five-point-two for these cowboys!” the announcer called out their time.
Ellison and Isa were somewhere in the stands, and I was sure they were celebrating the time. Five-point-two would put them up at the top of the leaderboard for the day, so they were almost guaranteed to cut a nice check tonight.
Hayden and his partner ran a five-point-four, not quite putting them at the top. Hayden was young, so I was sure he’d get his shot at the NFR and a gold buckle one day. Luckily for him and the other guys, his event didn’t have as great a toll on the body. He didn’t have to worry about retiring at thirty-five like most bull riders.
I wasn’t sure where Colter, Reid, Hayden, and Jake had gone off to after they’d competed, but the bull riding was about to begin.
I’d offered to help some of the guys pull their rope, because if I wasn’t competing, it was the least I could do. I wasn’t able to spot with my ankle, but being up there as support in the chutes was important to me all the same.
“He was your World Champion bull rider last year. Coming all the way from Oklahoma, he’s here to show you how it’s done! Let me hear you! His name is Maverick Oakes!”
Deafening cheers echoed throughout the entire rodeo grounds, drowning out nearly everything, even conversation with someone a foot away.
“Let’s go, buddy,” I encouraged him as he adjusted his seat on the back of the bull.
“Go ahead and pull it,” he said when he got to the spot he wanted to be in.
