Page 6 of Here With Me

Her eyes are wide, and her mouth is agape. “Where the hell did that side of you just come from?”

I link my arm through hers as I lead us to where Mallory sits.

“I channeled my inner Magnolia. Figured I’d never see him again anyway, so why’d it matter if I make a fool outta myself?”

“Jesus. By the way your bodies were leanin’ into each other and the intense eye contact, y’all were turnin’ me on for a minute.” She makes a show of fanning herself.

We laugh as we take our seats in front of my little cousin, who’s busy gossiping with her friend. I resist the urge to glance up to see if he’s looking at me again but decide to play it cool as if I don’t care either way. So much for going up there and giving him my number. Instead, I’m kicking myself and panicking about what a fool I am. Now I wish the ground would open up and save me from the humiliation.

Once all the racers have run, Ellie’s declared the winner, and we shoot to our feet, clapping and letting out piercing whistles. I couldn’t be more proud of her focus and determination. Even when she had bad training days, she’d get back up and work harder.

“Isn’t that Craig Sanders?” Magnolia whispers in my ear as we watch the team roping event.

My eyes follow as she points in his direction, and my lip curls. “Unfortunately.”

I’m not surprised to see him here as a trainer himself, but he’s local to Sugarland Creek. He’s probably trying to find clients or steal them from others.

He’s a snake like that.

“Oh shit, he’s comin’ over.” My back stiffens as he makes a beeline for us.

“Howdy.” He tips his hat, and I cringe. “Congrats on the win.”

“Thanks,” I say. Although it’s Ellie’s win, he’s bitter she came to me after she fired him last year.

“She was a little slow on that second barrel. Might wanna help her fix that so she doesn’t have such a narrow win next time. Would hate to see her slip into second.”

Magnolia shoots him a murderous glare as I force a grin. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks so much for your valuable input.”

His jaw twitches as if it’s full of tobacco chew. Gross.

Mallory’s clueless about what’s happening and chimes in, “Which racer was yours?”

Magnolia stifles a laugh as I bite back a smile.

“Mine ain’t here,” he tells her in a forced drawl.

Craig can’t keep clients because he has a shitty attitude and no patience.

“How come?” Mallory asks, ignorant of the irritation covering Craig’s face.

Instead of answering, he gives me a nod. “See ya ’round, Noah.”

“God, I hope not,” I mutter.

He’s another one who thinks he should be more successful than me because he’s older. He also blames me when his clients leave and hire me instead.

Once the events are over for the evening, Magnolia takes Mallory to our camper while I head to the lounge for my shift. She promises to stop in later, but considering my brother Tripp is here, I doubt she will.

She’s crushed on him since middle school, but he’s never returned the feelings or been the settling-down type. He’s only two years older than me, so I can’t blame him. Eventually, though, she’ll move on from her crush, and he’ll be too late.

As I hand out drinks and chat with customers, my mind wanders to Fisher. Every time someone approaches, my heart skips a beat at the thought of it being him. I’m not sure he’ll show up, but I want to be ready if he does. I grab a napkin and write down my number. This way, if he chickens out and doesn’t ask me, I’ll just casually hand it to him. He can decide whether he wants to use it.

Grabbing another napkin, an idea hits, and I jot down my ex’s number. If he asks for it and the vibes are off, I’ll give him Jase’s instead, and he’ll be none the wiser.

ChapterTwo

Fisher