Page 86 of Roping My Rival

“Gross. I prefer sweet stuff. In fact, I almost grabbed peach schnapps until I remembered you smell like tangerines, then I got sad all over again.”

Warren shakes the bed with his low, rumbling laugh.

“If I found you wasted on peach schnapps, I’d never let you forget it.” Warren’s grin returns as he punches my shoulder. “Get up and showered. I left you a toothbrush on the counter. Come downstairs after, and I’ll fill you in on what the lawyers have advised. Then we decide what’s next.”

Lawyers. Fuck, this is all getting real.

“I’ll see you down there.”

“Clarence said he’d be here after lunch if you’d like to talk here, or we can go to his office. It’s up to you.”

Warren settles on the couch next to me after setting his coffee mug on the table.

“I thought he didn’t like rodeo.”

Hunter returns to the room and joins us, sitting on the loveseat across from us. “He doesn’t compete, but he knows the world and the life,” he says as he watches us. “He also knows how important it is to all of us. You don’t need a lawyer to meet with the rodeo association, but it wouldn’t hurt to have him speak for you.”

“I’m letting you all down if they suspend me, or worse. I…I never thought losing rodeo would be a choice. I don’t know what to do without it.”

It’s been such a part of my life and my means of support. How do I possibly survive without it?

Hunter clears his throat and raises an eyebrow at Warren. Father and son have a silent conversation, and Warren squeezes my hand. “My dad wants to offer you something.”

“Let’s take a walk.” Hunter stands, and Warren remains sitting.

“Just me?”

“Just you.”

Warren leans forward to get his coffee. “I’ll still be here. Take the walk and see what he says.”

“Um…okay.”

Hunter is already at the door with his boots on. I quickly pull mine on, and he opens the door. He leads us to the fence closest to the farmhouse that marks the beginning of the pasture with a view of the Rocky Mountains in the distance.

“When I was a little younger than you, I made some bad choices. I was in love with my rodeo partner, too, and I let him down. Not in a good way, either.” He sighs and looks off into the pasture, and I notice the grey hair peppering his still-thick dark hair. “You don’t have to repeat my mistakes.”

“I don’t see how that’s possible when I have to tell the association what I did. They won’t let me compete. Warren won’t get that championship.”

Hunter tilts his head to study me. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, he won’t have another team roping partner. Kind of hard to do it by yourself.”

“But he does rope by himself. In tie down just like you. Warren could have beaten you, hands down, ten years ago every time, but he always overthinks and gets in his head. It’s just a side effect of his childhood. He might not get the team roping title, but he can still do tie down.” He turns to look back into the field. “And he won’t win because you’re not competing…he’ll win because he’s a champion and he’ll have you cheering him on.”

A bird flies by, chattering away, and I never thought about Warren on his own. How selfish am I to only think of us as a team?

“I always thought he was better than me.”

Hunter smirks. “He is, and don’t let your guard down. Warren will explode with your support.”

“I…I’m sorry for bringing this to the rodeo school and your family. It was supposed to be a secret forever.”

Hunter shrugs like it’s really nothing serious.

“It’s probably better this way. You have choices now that you never had before. Your sister will still have her care without you busting your nuts and being homeless. You can both be happy.”

God, the thought of not handing over all my money to her home is more of a relief than I thought it would be. I didn’t know about contracts and geared to income and all the other stuff about these places. I just called and found a place with space as long as I had the required deposit, and said yes.