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.She shone out there in the spotlight.Once again, it hit him that he had to let her go.He knew—through experience—that he could survive it.Which was how he knew that without her in his life, it’d always be a little less colorful, slightly boring… The spot between his ribs ached.A lot more empty.Sometimes he wished he didn’t know that, but as he watched her take the centering moment she always did before she started a song, he decided that he didn’t regret having had another chance to be around her.Or the amazing nights they’d had together.The microphone neared her full lips—lips covered in a shade of lipstick that nearly matched her shirt—and then she started singing the anthem.Just her, that amazing voice, the spellbound audience, and the energy crackling through the air.He pushed the hand he had over his heart a little harder, wishing it’d stop the longing pumping through it.As soon as she finished, he decided that he’d say something when she passed by to go back to the grandstands.They needed a real good-bye, and he wanted to tell her congratulations on her singing career taking off, even if it’d kill him a little to say it aloud because it made it that much more real.The sound of clanging metal and a neigh mixed with swearing and yelling caught his attention.A horse was rearing up, and one of the other contestants—a teenage boy—was struggling to get control of the horse.Royce ducked though the fence separating them and caught the reins of the animal, talking calmly with a hand on its neck until it settled down.“You okay?” Royce asked, and the cowboy nodded, red creeping into his face.“It’s okay.Happens to the best of us from time to time.”“Thanks,” the kid said.Royce nodded and turned, his thoughts on Sadie.Only she’d already passed by and was heading up the bleachers to sit with her family.…“You did great!” Grandma said, hugging Sadie.Grandpa patted her shoulder and Mom squeezed her hand.Quinn slung her arm over Sadie’s shoulders as she settled into her seat.“When you’re big and famous, I’m going to constantly tell everyone I’m your best friend.Like, perfect strangers will just be walking by, and I’ll stop them to tell them.”Sadie forced her lips into a smile, and Quinn raised an eyebrow, clearly seeing through it.“It’s okay,” Sadie said.“I just wanna enjoy the rodeo.But tonight I want you to come over while I pack, and I need you to bring the strongest alcohol you can get your hands on.”Quinn nodded but hugged her a little tighter.When Sadie had seen Royce standing near the exit, all decked out in a dressy black hat, blue-and-black plaid shirt, and chaps, longing had filled every inch of her body.She’d anticipated walking by and at least saying hi and good luck.She desperately needed some kind of closure, even though she knew that wasn’t really possible when it came to her and Royce.But he’d left as soon as she headed toward him.Which was either anger or a level of indifference she couldn’t bear thinking of.Every inch of her ached, and she couldn’t wait until tonight when she could numb herself from it all for a while.She didn’t want to think about how bad the following days would be, or how long it’d take to stop crying every time she thought of him.When the steer roping started, she sat up a little straighter.Despite Royce’s explanation about why they did the event, she still cheered for most of the cows to get away—or at least take a while to be caught, so Royce would have extra seconds to work with.She noticed things she’d never noticed before, like the way the horse immediately pulled back when the steer was roped—and the ones who didn’t.How fast they burst out of the gate.The disqualifiers, from the horse breaking the barrier or the ropes being kicked loose.She could call it before it came over the loud speakers.Then the announcer said Royce’s name.It hung in the air as her vision tunneled to the spot where he was setting up.At his signal, a black steer shot into the arena, and then Royce and Thor came barreling out after it.A couple swings from the lasso and then Royce launched the rope, catching the cow’s head.In one smooth movement he was off Thor, flipping the cow and binding its feet.He threw up his hands and Sadie stared at the scoreboard.They waited the extra time to ensure he’d tied it tight enough it couldn’t kick loose, and when Royce’s steer remained bound, the red numbers lit up.Nine point two seconds.The audience erupted in cheers.All of the other contenders had been in the fourteen- to twenty-second range.They did another round, and by the end, no surprise, Royce was the winner.As he sat perched on top of one of the gates and waved to the crowd, Sadie suddenly got this image of him next to Chevy and Shadow with a little cowboy who looked like him and a little cowgirl who looked like her by his side.She closed her eyes and fell into the image, putting herself next to them and the horses.Kissing Royce as their kids ran around the yard of the ranch.The feeling that washed over her was the same one she used to get when she thought of herself onstage in a sold-out arena, preparing to sing one of the hits from her debut album.Sadie quickly opened her eyes and focused on the clown in the middle of the arena, who was now making jokes with the announcer to pass a few minutes between events.Stupid imagination.Steer wrestling was up next, and when Cory’s turn came around, she and Quinn cheered like crazy for him
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