smirked. “I thought your brother was going to have a heart attack. But your dad took my excuse well.”
“Probably because it’s you…not his son.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Nah, it is what it is.”
After getting Ainsley to bed, we sat on the porch with a beer, but this time staying far apart. It was just as well, since not long after, Brad pulled up with Sienna.
She looked a bit flushed when she got out of the truck. “Night,” she said abruptly before hightailing it inside the house.
As Julian watched Brad’s truck pull away, I wondered if he was thinking the same thing I was about those two. I knew I should talk to Sienna about it, but I was too chicken to put her on the spot. Maybe she needed some time to work through her feelings too.
17
Julian
Kerry was taking me to see my first rodeo, and the tension in the truck couldn’t have been thicker, given all the stolen looks and accidental brushes since our kiss, which was honestly beginning to feel like a figment of my imagination. And though we’d gotten to steadier ground by continuing to enjoy the friendship we’d developed, it was hard to ignore the almost constant urges to touch him in more meaningful ways.
I was going to guess it wasn’t any different for him either, and frankly, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Hey, listen,” I said in a hesitant voice. “I’m sorry I… Can we just…”
“Yes.” He blew out a breath. “It’s my fault. I’m the one who kissed you, remember?” I nodded. “I’ll admit I think about it all the time, but I enjoy your friendship too. And I don’t want to ruin—”
“Please stop. No need to explain about Sienna again. And I obviously enjoy your company too. So let’s just…move on.” I lifted my hand to fist-bump him, and when he responded in kind, we both smiled, seemingly settled with our resolution. At least from the outside.
We spent the remainder of the ride talking about stuff I’d never in my life thought of before, like how big a moneymaker rodeos were not only in Wyoming, but in states across the country.
“Dude, rodeos rank in the top ten of all major sporting events.”
“No joke?” I said as we turned into the stadium parking lot, which was packed to the gills and only demonstrated his point. “I can’t believe we can barely find a parking spot.”
Once out of the car, we followed the throng of people heading toward the entrance. The stadium was about a ninety-minute drive from the farm, but despite the distance, it seemed Wyoming residents still recognized each other, and we were waved at and stopped along the way by people who mostly seemed to know Kerry through his parents or siblings. It reminded me of something Mom said once about how the entire state of Wyoming’s population could fit in half of Brooklyn. Which right now sounded a bit crazy, but I supposed it made sense. Plenty of wide-open spaces around here.
We got curious looks from a few people, and I had to wonder if they were questioning whether Kerry and I were together—knowing his history—unless I was reading too much into it. I had never in my life had the opportunity to be openly out with someone, but in that moment, I almost wanted to reach over and grab Kerry’s hand, show him that he had my support, my protection too, and I felt strangely emotional about it.
“You’re looking at me strangely. Somethin’ up?” he asked after yet another person greeted him and he introduced me as Sienna’s cousin.
“Nope. Just taking it all in,” I replied, trudging beside him through the main gates. Damn, I wished stuff could be different right then. That maybe this could even be a sort of date—before we went home and fucked each other’s brains out. But I needed to stop that line of thinking before I drove myself to drink.
Once we found a place to squeeze ourselves between an older couple and a family with three kids, I made fun of him for the nosebleed seats, even though I was fine with the aerial view of the entire operation.
He told me to stay put while he trekked to the concession stand to get us a couple of beers and some nachos to share. No problem there, because I was too busy gawking at all the cowboys walking around and the animals inside their enclosures—at least what I could make of them from that distance. This was something I