Page 16 of Ace of Spades (Hidden Creek Ranch #1)

WESTON

“Damn, who’s got you smiling like that?” I ask Chance, his attention glued to his phone from where he sits next to me in the passenger seat of his truck. It was my turn to take the wheel for a bit on our long drive down to New Mexico for the rodeo this weekend.

“Nobody,” he says, a smile on his face as he tucks the phone back into the pocket of his jeans.

“Don’t lie to me, Chance Crowley. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile at your phone like that. So who is it? Is it Ava? I haven’t seen her around much lately.”

“No, it’s not Ava,” he says, rolling his eyes .

“Well then who?”

“It’s nobody, okay? Just some girl I matched with on a dating app, it’s no big deal.”

“If you say so,” I tell him. Chance wasn’t the type to be texting a girl all day, let alone smiling at his phone like he had some schoolyard crush. He was every bit a player, always bouncing around from one girl to another before any of us even had the chance to learn their names.

He’d tell me sooner or later, I knew it.

“So you think Easton will be at this one?” he asks, changing the subject.

I can feel my blood heating at the thought of Bradley Easton.

I hadn’t seen him since I found out about what he did to Hailey, and I was fully prepared to make him pay for it the next time I saw him.

I hadn’t seen her in nearly a month either, especially since there hadn’t been many bigger rodeos over the last few weeks.

“He’d better not show his face if he wants to keep it intact,” I mutter.

“Is Hailey doing okay, though? You know—after everything?”

“How should I know? You and Rafe talk to her more than I do lately,” I say, trying to hide the bitterness in my voice.

“She hasn’t been speaking with us much these last few weeks. I’ve tried to reach out a few times but I think she’s giving all of us some distance for your sake. You could always try to reach out and talk to her, right?”

“You know I’m not going to do that.”

“And why not? Because you’re both too stubborn for your own good? You’re just going to keep dancing circles around each other until one of you grows a pair and does something about it. ”

“Just drop it, Chance.”

“Oh, so now you want me to drop it? How about you just admit that you have feelings for her.”

“I don’t have feelings for her,” I growl.

“Yeah, 'cause that sounded convincing.”

“I don’t,” I state, not sure if I was trying to convince him or myself. “She’s infuriating, and sassy, and stubborn, and she gets on my last nerve. Every time I talk to her it’s like throwing gasoline on the fire, and one of us is going to end up getting burnt.”

“Do you hear yourself? I think you’ve finally found the only person in this world who’s as hard-headed as you. You two are meant for each other, you’re just not ready to admit it yet.”

“You keep toeing the line of my shit list, Crowley,” I tell him.

He rolls his eyes, leaning his seat back and kicking his boots onto the dash.

“Whatever, just keep lying to yourself,” he sighs. “How’s the fam? Have you spoken to your mom lately?”

“They’re doing good. Dakota’s still up at the bunkhouse, I think she decided to go ahead and stay at the ranch until her internship starts next year.”

“She did?” Chance asks.

“Yeah,” I say. “I keep trying to convince her to move into my spare bedroom instead of staying in the bunks. I don’t like the idea of her staying in the same building as all of the hands.”

“You’re not wrong,” Chance responds. “I wouldn’t trust ‘em as far as I could throw ‘em when it comes to her. ”

“Agreed. I’ll have to start thinking of something when we get back.”

“You know,” Chance starts, hesitating in the slightest. “I’ve got a spare bedroom, too. I understand her not wanting to live under her brother’s roof, so I’m just saying—I mean, I figured I would offer.”

I ponder over the idea for a moment.

“I guess it wouldn’t be the worst idea ever,” I admit. “As long as Kota’s okay with it.”

“Yeah, for sure. I’ll talk to her about it,” he says.

“She probably won’t love the idea of running into half-naked girls at all hours, so you might need to start traveling to your conquests rather than having them over.

At the end of the day, I have to admit that I’d feel better having her stay under your roof than with twenty horny ranch hands.

That is, if you swear you’ll keep your hands off of her. ”

“Definitely,” he agrees. “So what about your mom, how’s she doing?”

“She’s doing fine, she’s been working crazy hours lately to try to catch up on bills. She’s actually found somebody to rent the trailer hookups too, so that should definitely help out once they start splitting rent.”

“Wow, really? That’s not a bad deal at all, good for her.”

“Apparently it’s some girl from out of town who’s also in the circuit. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was trying to set us up,” I tell him.

“Oh yeah? What makes you say that?”

“The fact that she won’t stop talking about how pretty she is, how similar we are, and how well we would get along,” I laugh .

“Geez,” Chance chuckles. “Your mom is trying to be a wingwoman for you. What’d you say?”

“I told her I wasn’t interested,” I tell him.

“And why, exactly, are you not interested?” Chance asks, turning in his seat to face me.

“Because I’m not looking for anything serious right now.”

“Mhm,” he says. “Is it because you’re not looking for anything

serious, or because you have your eyes on someone else? Maybe a five-foot-two barrel racer with an attitude?”

I roll my eyes.

“You’re impossible.”

“Just let me know when you’re ready to quit lying to yourself,” he

says, throwing his hands behind his head. “I’m taking a nap, wake me up when we get to New Mexico.

I step into the chute, my draw— Zipline Whiskey —stirring under me as I get to riggin’. I wrap my hand around the rein and kick my legs out, the fringe from my chaps rubbing against the metal walls as I get myself situated.

I grab onto the side of the chute as the bronc bucks underneath me, readjusting myself in the seat and making sure I have a good grip. I can feel the thumping bass in my veins as it fills the large indoor arena, the crowd fading into background noise as I harness my focus .

I hadn’t placed in the last two rodeos, not since that fucker Bradley had shredded my Ace of Spades. I needed this win, and I could feel it in my bones that I had it in me to do so tonight. Something felt right, like I was meant to be here.

“What the hell is your sister doing here?” Chance asks. I look up at him to find his line of sight, following it until sure enough, I find my sister sitting in the stands, right alongside the last person I expected to see her with.

I could make out Hailey sitting at her side in the dim lighting, the colored lights flashing across their faces as Dakota appeared to be talking her ear off.

I move to take out my mouthguard but Chance grabs me by the vest, bringing my attention to him.

“Now’s not the time, focus. We’ll figure it out after your ride,” he tells me. I nod my head at him, re-adjusting my hat over my head and testing my hand in the rein, flexing and unflexing it.

I let everything wash over me–the music, the crowd, the hooves kicking in the chutes, and the blinding lights. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath before opening them once more, nodding to the gate man.

The chute flies open, Zipline Whiskey living up to his reputation and bolting out like a bat out of hell.

I sink into the saddle, absorbing every jump and kick.

I let myself become one with the horse, feeling his movements in order to predict his next moves.

We move in time with each other, the seconds feeling like hours until I hear the buzzer go off.

I wait until I see the pickup man in my peripheral, making sure my hand is untangled from the rope before throwing my arm around him and letting myself slide off, landing on my feet .

The crowd goes wild, but all I care about is spotting the two girls that I’m looking for.

I manage to find them in the stands, Kota jumping up and down with her arms in the air as she cheers for me.

Hailey stands next to her, both of her hands covering her mouth as if in shock.

Or—scared? Had Hailey been worried about me?

The thought pulls a smirk across my lips as I thrust my hat into the air, earning more cheers from the crowd. It takes everything in me not to jump over the side of the arena and run up to them, but doing so would have me disqualified.

So instead, I jog back to the chutes and make my way back to the changing rooms, hurrying to my gear bag to grab my phone. I call Kota and put it on speakerphone, placing it on my bag while I take off my chaps and vest.

It rings twice before connecting, my sister’s familiar voice filling the speakers.

“What a ride, Wes! Like, wow, that was so amazing! When the horse veered right and I thought he had you, but then you recovered so quick and—”

“Kota,” I cut her off, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, uh… I came with a friend,” she tells me.

“What friend?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

“You wouldn’t know her, it’s not a big deal or anything, I’ll—”

“Kota,” I cut her off, my voice stern enough to let her know that I’m not messing around.

“Okay, fine, it’s Hailey. Happy?”

“Why on earth are you here with Hailey? ”

“Because she gave me a ride, and she’s letting me sleep in her trailer with her,” she says as if it’s obvious.

“Since when are the two of you friends?”

“Since I ran into her at Sonny’s diner like a month ago.”

I rub my eyes, my head spinning.

“A month? And you didn’t think to tell me this?”

“I didn’t think it was a big deal,” she says, feigning innocence.

“What am I gonna do with you,” I shake my head, finishing up changing and throwing my gear bag against the wall where I can come back and grab it later.