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CHAPTER SEVEN

MILANA

I was on my horse, pacing back and forth.

I was so nervous, and I didn’t have a clue why.

I’d been barrel racing for years, most of my life, and I hadn’t been this nervous since I was a kid.

Although I’d had nearly a two-month break since the last rodeo and had only practiced for a week of it, I knew what the hell I was doing.

I was built for this shit. When I heard my song come on, I smiled slightly.

“Bigger In Texas” by Meg was my shit. It actually hit home even more now.

I turned to my mama to see her holding her cell in the air and dancing.

I chuckled. Having her back in my life was my oxygen.

She dropped the phone to her side and made her way to me.

“Like Meg said, you in your prime, baby. I see the worried look in your face. Go out there and show them who the muthafucking boss is. This yo’ shit!

You a fucking Semien and a muthafucking Henderson. You the standard in this rodeo shit!”

I swore she was my hype man. “Hell fucking yeah,” I said, giving Terminator a rub on the neck.

He was my mama’s horse that she’d passed to me.

He could run those fucking barrels with his eyes closed.

He was getting older though. Mr. Zayson was training a new horse for me.

He’d just finished with KJ’s new one a few months ago and had gone straight to mine.

I needed a spare in case Terminator went down.

I took a deep breath as I watched the young lady go before me.

“You got this shit, baby. Tune all that other shit out. You been doing this shit for ten plus years. It’s yours for the taking. The best time so far is fifteen seconds. That ain’t shit for you.” Glancing at the clock, she said, “She got sixteen point two five seconds.”

The racer flew by me. I looked over at my mama and nodded my head as “Like a Boss” blared through the arena.

That was my mama’s theme song, and I had adopted it as one of mine as well.

I flip-flopped between that one and a song by Z-Ro.

Meg’s song was for my private moments. It was too vulgar to play at the rodeo, even when it was edited.

I nodded repeatedly as I stared at those barrels, visualizing what I was about to do, then took off. “Go! Go! Go! Sliiiiiiiide!”

We slid around the first barrel in record speed and was completing the clover leaf pattern in record time as well. After circling the last barrel, my nerves picked up because I could see it wobbling. If it fell, then that would be a five-second penalty. I couldn’t afford that.

Terminator turned up the speed in the straightaway as I lifted my ass and kicked him. When we got to the end, I heard the announcer going nuts.

“Ladies and gentlemen, wheeeew! Milana Semien just showed us how it’s done with a time of twelve point one six! That’s a record for this arena! She didn’t come to play!”

After Terminator stopped, I jumped off him and went straight to my mama. “You the fucking boss!” she screamed, causing me to laugh.

She was so cocky. She’d taught me to be the same way, but I rarely verbalized the things she did.

I knew I was good. I knew I was one of the best at this shit.

Only one other person was better, and that was Karima.

This was gonna be her year had she not gotten pregnant.

So I had to come through and keep this shit in the family.

My mama picked me up and swung me around as I laughed.

I was an inch or two taller than her, but she was strong as hell.

When I looked up and saw my daddy and Ryder J standing there with big smiles on their faces, I ran to them. “Daddy! Y’all made it!”

“Hell yeah! I wasn’t gon’ miss my baby competing for nobody!”

He picked me up as well and swung me around. “I’m so proud of you, baby.”

When he lowered me, I hugged my brother. He said in my ear, “Just like nothing happened. I told you y’all would get that back.”

I kissed his cheek. “You were right. What time y’all left Nome?”

“Shit, around three this morning. Ashanni, Maui, King, Kane, Uncle Kenny, Karima, and Rylan are out there too.”

“Aww, yay! We gon’ celebrate tonight then! This is the best time I’ve ever gotten. Although this is a smaller field, the best time was thirteen point six two.”

“I know. You the champ, sis! I got an old-school song for you to hear that you may like.”

“Okay. I can’t wait to hear it.”

I grabbed Terminator’s reins to stall him as we made our way to the stands to await the competition to be done.

There were six or so racers that had to go after me.

When I got there and saw my girls, I started screaming, garnering laughs from everyone in the vicinity.

They excitedly hopped from their seats and hugged me tightly as everyone else stood and applauded while they waited for the next racer.

When Maui and Ashanni released me, I nearly lost my breath.

Ferris was here. He was standing and applauding.

I should have known it was a possibility he would be here.

Red Squared was competing. Since we were so far away from home, I didn’t even consider it.

He smiled at me, and I smiled back, then continued hugging my family one by one.

When I got to Karima and Rhodes, she hugged me tightly. I could feel the tremble go through her. I knew she was happy for me, but I also knew she should have been competing today. I said in her ear, “Next year is yours. I love you so much, Karima.”

When I pulled away from her, I saw a tear fall down her cheek. “I love you too, Lana. Congratulations. I’m so proud of you.”

I smiled at her then sat by my girls as the next rider got ready to run.

I was pretty confident that no one would come close to my time.

I wouldn’t see anything close to that time until I got to the NFR.

Making it to the National Finals Rodeo was my dream.

It was Karima’s dream too. Hell, anyone who competed professionally wanted to be there. It was like going to the Super Bowl.

We continued watching the ladies barrel race, and no one came close to my time.

None of us were really paying attention, because we knew that shit.

As we celebrated, I caught Ferris’s eyes on me.

His gaze was heating me up, and I didn’t know how I felt about that.

It made me question if my attraction to him was genuine or if it was just the hot girl in me wanting to be set free.

I hadn’t had sex with anyone since Malik. That was almost a year ago.

He was sexy as hell though. That wasn’t fabricated at all.

From his light brown complexion to his curly hair had to all be perfected by God.

He was tall, too, and somewhat slender like me.

Well, not quite like me. He was definitely heavier than me.

It didn’t take much. I tried gaining weight, but to no avail.

I looked like fucking Olive Oyl from Popeye The Sailor. I rolled my eyes at the thought.

However, he definitely liked what he saw, with his cute ass.

His smile was everything. Straight white teeth framed by his thick, pink lips had my body heating up like someone had put a blow torch to me.

I wanted to slide my fingers through his short beard and his curly hair and put all this shit on the low beard he sported, but I knew I needed to take my time.

I just hoped his personality was as attractive as his looks.

When I looked back over at him, his eyes were still on me. He bit his bottom lip, and my body temperature had to have increased by ten degrees. I had to get away from his gaze, so I turned my back and continued celebrating with my family.

“So where are we going tonight, champion?” my daddy asked.

“I don’t know. Let’s wait until Red Squared and Carter Legend get done. I already know they’re going to sweep their competition. It’s a given.”

“Yeah, Ryder. Don’t be fucking alienating us like we ain’t family,” Cousin Legend said.

I giggled as he playfully cut his eyes at my dad.

Those two were always going back and forth.

They were first cousins, and from what I understood, it was the same way when they were little.

Going back to my seat, I saw Ferris stand.

I figured he was going to the bathroom or something, but when he stood right in front of me and extended his hand, I nearly stopped breathing.

Ashanni shoulder bumped me, and I could see my mama watching us. I swallowed hard and put my hand in his. He escorted me away from my seat toward the concession area without saying a word to me. I was so damn nervous I didn’t say a word either.

I caught the slight smile my mama gave me as we disappeared down the tunnel. When we got to the open area, he turned to me and asked, “Can I hug you?”

I nodded, and he wrapped his arms around me. “Congratulations on an amazing run, Milana.”

My body trembled, and I believed he felt it. As he pulled away from me, I said, “Thank you.”

He smiled at me and grabbed my hand and began walking. His thumb was gently caressing the top of my hand, and that act alone was making me feel so soft. He turned to me and smiled. “You always this quiet?”

“Yes, but only around people I don’t really know. What about you?”

“Not really, but I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable by diving in too quickly.”

I smiled and nodded. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-eight. That too old for you? Asad told me you were twenty-two.”

“That’s not too old. Honestly, I would prefer an older man. Niggas . . . umm, sorry. Guys my age tend to be players.”

“Milana, for real? Talk how you talked to me at that rodeo when you were shooting me down.”

I chuckled, feeling more comfortable with his words. I reworded my sentence. “Niggas my age tend to be fuckboys.”

“They need to grow up. You are my cut-off. I wouldn’t date a woman under twenty-two. I need to make sure she grown, grown.”