Page 4 of Hung Up
SORREL
There are two opening artists before Denton Reed comes on. The arena is filling in, and I see a few familiar faces in the crowd. A few ladies I ran with today and some team ropers who are friends with Sutton’s husband Ryder. I wave to the group of team ropers, and they all lift their beers and give me a nod back.
We put on a roping once a month in the summer at the ranch. It’s always a fun time. The rigs roll in and the kids all jump out and take off to play in the dirt. When the roping is over, our ranch cook Jo makes a big feast for everyone buffet-style. It’s a solid community, and we’re lucky to be a part of it.
Charli walks us over to the group of barrel racers we ran with today. My stomach clenches when I see Emery Smith, Huck’s other ex-girlfriend.
One of the few out of the group whom I actually like, Hailey, turns her attention to me.
“Nice run today, Sorrel. That was your young horse you ran?”
Emery glowers at me. I guess I won’t be getting any compliments from her. Of course, she doesn’t like me because she thinks I’m the reason Huck broke up with her. I had madesure they were broken up before we even started seeing each other; I know firsthand how these roughies can be.
I brush off Emery’s dirty look and respond. “Yeah, it was. His name is Zip. I’ve ran him at a few local jackpots, but this was his first pro rodeo.”
“Nice. I can tell he has drive; he’s gonna be a good one,” Hailey says.
“Thanks, I think?—”
Emery cuts me off before I can finish. She brushes back her long black hair and squares her shoulders. “By the way, Sorrel, your horse looked a little lame when you left the arena. Might wanna get that checked.”
Before I can respond she smirks and turns around, starting a new conversation.
Bitch.
I stick my tongue out at her from behind, and Charli bursts out laughing. It’s childish, I know, but I don’t care. I can’t stand her. We’re polar opposites. If anything, I would think she’s more Huck’s type than me. She’s covered in tattoos and a little rough around the edges but still gorgeous.
Emery spins around, and I innocently shrug, pretending I don’t know what everyone is laughing at. She scoffs and turns back to her conversation as if she’s too good to give the rest of us the time of day. Someone really made her head way bigger than her ass, and I think I know who it was.
“C’mon, Sorrel, let’s go get a drink at the bar,” Charli says, grabbing my hand. I accidentally shoulder-check Emery while walking away.
Before she can do anything, a swarm of people swallows her up into the crowd. I turn around and see how pissed off she is. She’s jumping up and down and trying to claw her way through them, but there are too many people. I smile and wave at her before we duck out of her sight. She’s all bark and no bite.
We get in line for the bar, and Charli balls her fists and grinds her teeth. “I should fight her.”
“Woah, easy now, killer,” I jokingly calm her down like a spooked horse. “We’re here to have fun, remember!”
That snaps her out of it and she shoots me a smirk. She’s always down for a brawl. That was the reason she had to move away from Texas. Her mom was scared she was going to wind up putting someone in the hospital or end up there herself. I’m usually the levelheaded friend and nonconfrontational, but maybe this time I should turn her out to pasture and see what happens.
I let out a few deep breaths, trying to compose myself. The line for the bar moves quickly, and the tension in my shoulders eases when we make it to the front. There’s every kind of liquor you could want, but our choice is always whiskey.
“What’ll y’all have?” says the hot bartender with shaggy brown hair and a little scruff on his face.
Charli pulls her tits up and leans over the sticky bar. “Whiskey, straight up, two—make it a double, sugar.” She winks, and he smiles, staring right where she wants him to.
“You got it, miss.” He pours our drinks and scoots them across the bar, not taking his eyes off Charli. We take our money out to pay, but he pushes back the cash.
“This round is on me as long as you come back and see me again,” he says, giving Charli a seductive smile.
“Well, that’s mighty sweet of you. We’ll be back real soon,” she replies with her sweet, slow drawl.
He tips his head to her. “You better.”
We take our drinks and look back to see him staring at her curvy glutes. “Gosh, I love using all my ASSets,” she says, and we both combust into a fit of laughter.
I know anytime I’m with Charli my night will be full of belly laughs and lots of shit-talking.
“You be sure to give that man the tip he deserves,” I tease.
