Page 18 of Roping My Rival

“I think Warren is afraid he’ll look bad if we team up.”

“I’m not,” he seethes.

“Okay, so if you’re not afraid of looking bad and you like to win…why say no? Your dad just said we’re a great one-two punch.”

His chest heaves as he stares me down with a gaze just this side of murderous. His brother watches between the two of us, vigilant for something I’ve not figured out yet. His dad waits with a smirk that I’m unsure means he loves being a dick to his kid or maybe something else entirely. He seems too down-to-earth to want to make his son this uncomfortable.

This family is something else. They’re either cutthroat competitors or enjoy poking each other.

“Fine. I’ll do it, but not because I want to win. Because I want the school to get a boost.” He looks towards his dad. “This is a business decision and nothing else.”

Warren shoots his gaze my way as he emphasizes the word business. Which…whatever. It is business, so don’t talk to me like I’m an idiot. I’m in the business to make money, which is clearly my motivation here. Working with Warren isn’t exactly my dream scenario, but I’ll make a sacrifice.

Hunter claps his hands together. “Fantastic!” There’s a buzz on his phone, and he holds it up. “The hot dogs are here! Let’s celebrate with tubed meat!”

He rushes out, leaving the three of us standing there. Warren sighs and hangs his head while Jesse forces a smile.

“Welcome to the Burke Rodeo School, Dane. Seems like we’ll be seeing you around more.”

“I guess you will.”

Warren doesn’t even lift his head.

Jesse hands me the envelope with a smile.

“I had to get a bank draft, and I’ll need your information for a tax form. If you have time, you can fill it out right now.”

“For sure. It’s that much?”

“Over ten grand. Far too much to give you in cash, I’m afraid.”

“Oh.” Peeking in the envelope, I look at the number and puff out a breath. “Not bad for a day’s work.”

“Almost as good as rodeo.” Jesse hands me a few papers and a pen with a clipboard. “They’re standard forms for the government. Want a coffee?” He moves to the small machine near the mini fridge. “I had a long night with my daughter. She had a fever, and I just couldn’t fall asleep. Do you have kids?”

“God no. I mean…no. How old is your daughter?”

Jesse just laughs like he’s used to hearing people cringe at the thought of kids, and I’m not sure why that makes me feel bad.

“She’s four. Maise.” He smiles with a fondness I wish I could remember from my parents. It was like that for us once. Before all the shit in our lives happened because I was stupid.

“Daddy’s girl then?” I ask as I fill in the papers. When I come to the address section, I hesitate and fill in the address for my sister’s care home. I hate these things. They only need to know my tax identifier. They don’t need to remind me that I have no fixed address.

“And her grandpa’s…and even Uncle Warren. He’s her favourite. Although Clarence isn’t exactly into kids, and Warren lets her play with his rabbits, so it’s not a hard choice for a four-year-old.”

He has rabbits? Huh. Jesse just keeps giving me all kinds of information about Warren, and he doesn’t even know it.

“Are you…married?”

He smiles, but not the same as before. “That’s a complicated story.”

“None of my business.” I pass the completed papers back to him. “There you go. Now you can keep the accountant off your back.” Standing, I fold the bank draft into my wallet. “I’m going to get this in the bank asap, but…I don’t have contact info for Warren. If we’re going to team rope, we should probably practice.”

Jesse nods in agreement.

“Your number is on the form. I’ll pass it on.”

“Thanks, and I hope your daughter feels better soon.”