not be able to do anything about it.
“I almost forgot,” I said, reaching for the paper bag sitting on the counter. “I got you somethin’ in town earlier.”
I pulled out a new volume of a word-search book she was wild about.
“Oh my God, I love that stuff. Even have an app on my phone that I play,” Julian said as her eyes lit up. “Can I do it with you while my nails dry?”
So that was what they did once Ainsley had finished and had closed most of the lids on the tubes and containers. While he kept his fingers spread apart on the table, Ainsley moved her seat closer and flipped through the book with him. Sienna casually slid nail-polish remover near Julian’s elbow, but he ignored it as they hovered over one of the pages with a space-exploration theme.
I got so lost in watching them that Sienna’s voice startled me as she began clearing away the newspaper with leftover glittery bits.
“I was thinking,” she said, looking between Julian and me. “You should take Julian to the rodeo next weekend.”
“Sure.” My stomach constricted painfully. “What about you two?”
“Ainsley and I have Mom’s show-jumping event.”
“I forgot.” Maggie and her damned competitions. She used to compete when younger, and now only entered her own horses. But I had no right to complain and should’ve been thankful that Ainsley felt more comfortable to go off with her for extended periods of time. If Ainsley hadn’t seemed interested, I would’ve put my foot down on the amount of time she’d be sitting in the stands, watching horses being timed and jumping over hurdles.
“A rodeo?” Julian asked, his eyebrow arched in surprise. “Like with cowboys and chaps and ropes?”
Sienna and I laughed at the stereotypical visual he probably got from movies. Though, he wasn’t wrong. “It’s definitely a form of entertainment round here.”
“And Zee might enjoy seein’ you,” Sienna said. “It’s been a while.”
Zach was my best friend from high school, who’d been on the rodeo circuit for years. We texted occasionally, but I’d missed his show the last few years when he’d been in town. But who could blame me?
“Yeah, it would be good to see him,” I replied, then glanced at Julian.
“What do you think?” Sienna asked.
Julian shrugged. “Sounds fun to me.”
Ainsley didn’t enjoy rodeos, mainly because the bulls were scary and she felt sorry for the steers during the roping events. Looking at it from her perspective, I could see her point. Now I wondered if Julian would feel the same. But it would be refreshing to at least get off the farm and do something different.
After corralling the goats from the pasture, we loaded into my truck to drive to the ranch for our family dinner.
It wasn’t until the middle of Mom’s famous chicken fried steak that I noticed my father focusing on Julian, who was across the table from me. Then Hunter seemed to spot the same thing as my father, and my heart clenched.
“What’s that on your fingers?” my father scoffed. “Nail polish?” His gaze instantly swung to me, as if I’d influenced Julian simply by being gay.
The entire table fell silent, and I felt Sienna panicking beside me, which didn’t make a lot of sense—unless it had something to do with Brad showing up about five minutes before dinner and taking a seat beside her.
Julian squared his shoulders. “Ainsley was messing around with makeup, and I was her guinea pig.”
“Looks good on you,” Travis said tongue in cheek, which brought the exact levity needed.
Julian fanned his fingers dramatically. “Right?”
Most people at the table laughed, including my parents, but I distinctly heard Hunter mumble under his breath, “City boys.”
I could feel Julian’s gaze on me as everyone dug back into their food, and when our eyes met, he smirked, which made me think he’d deliberately left the polish on to…what? Challenge my family’s ideals of masculinity? Yeah, I was reaching. But Julian definitely seemed fine in his own skin with or without the nail polish.
A couple of hours later, I was ready to head home. Again, Sienna decided to stay longer, as she and Brad were involved in a conversation with some neighbors who’d stopped by.
At the last minute, Ainsley said she was tired, likely from all the running around with her cousins, and drove home with me and Julian. She dozed in the truck, and I felt a stitch in my chest as I looked over at Julian, who had his arm around her.
“Nice nails,” I quipped.
He