Page 29 of Knot my First Rodeo

I hold her gaze for a second, then lean back again, letting it go.

But I don’t stop noticing. There’s a faint shift in the air around her, something just under the surface that wasn’t there yesterday. It’s not strong, not enough to call out, but it’s there.

I glance out the window, forcing my attention elsewhere. The road stretches ahead, winding through open land, the kind of place where you can see everything coming from miles away.

I drag a hand over the back of my neck, exhaling slowly.

“You’ll want to stay close,” I add. “Easy to get lost, and most of the competitors are alphas. We don’t need anyone trying to steal themselves a pretty little omega.”

“I can handle myself,” she says.

“You don’t know that.”

“I grew up in a motorcycle club. Believe me, I can take care of a handsy alpha.”

Briggs huffs under his breath, not quite a laugh. “We’ll see.”

I smirk slightly. “I kinda wanna see that.”

She keeps watching out the window, tracking everything, and I let myself watch her for a little longer than I probably should.

The way the light hits her hair, pulling out different shades I didn’t notice before. The way her lips press together when she’s thinking, like she’s holding something back. The way she doesn’t look away from anything.

The truck slows as we start to hit the outskirts of town, buildings replacing open land, signs popping up more frequently. I sit forward slightly, resting my arms on my knees.

“Almost there,” I say.

She shifts beside me, leaning forward just enough to see past the windshield. Her eyes widen just a fraction at the sight ahead.

Trailers.

Trucks.

People.

Lots of them.

Dust hangs in the air, thick and familiar, carrying noise with it; voices, engines, animals, music drifting from somewhere I can’t see yet.

“This is it?” she asks.

“Yeah.”

She doesn’t pull back. If anything, she leans in a little more.

Clint turns into the lot, finding a spot among the rest of the rigs, engine idling as he lines us up.

“Stay close when we get out,” he directs.

“I will.”

I glance at her one more time as the truck comes to a stop.

She doesn’t look scared. If anything, she looks curious, gray eyes moving over everything while black cherry and almond drifts over us every time one of us gets too close. That’s probably gonna make this whole thing a hell of a lot more interesting than it should be.

Clint kills the engine, and we’ve arrived.

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