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The rodeo at Marrs University was packed full of people. Select players of the Romans football team were corralled to nod and smile behind the governor of Houston, shake some hands, kiss some babies, the regular thing we’d done every year. But this year was different. I had the secret. Piper got spiked hormones with cowboys and I passed over Cleo my credit card to commit to the look.
The dark rancher jacket, the washed jeans, nine hundred dollar cowboy boots, and the fucking cowboy hat to finish it off, all top of the line, all custom made. The belt buckle was the interception in a close fucking playoff game. Top of the top.
I looked good as hell.
"Woah…?" One of the sophomore football players stared at me from the stairs. "Adam?"
King turned around and his eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Holy shit."
"Take it the hell in, boys. You don’t look this good," I announced, thumbing out my jacket. "You just have to accept it."
The person who looked the most surprised was Coach Lawson. He slipped off his Romans cap and stared at me, shocked. "Goddamn, Russell." He shook his head in amazement. "It’s great to see you so committed, kid. Wow. What stand did you get the hat from? That’s good quality right there."
"Bought it beforehand, sir," I reassured him and sunshine caught my eye, Piper’s blonde hair, standing at the petting zoo. As casually as I could, I shifted to the left. "Well, we’ve got five minutes, I guess."
And five minutes was all I needed. I just wanted to see her again before I was wrapped up in obligations and I couldn’t wrestle my way out. Everybody tried to talk to me on the way to the petting zoo but I just gave polite smiles.
That was an improvement. At least I wasn’t flipping them off.
"Piper." I grinned, sliding up to the fence. I wrapped a hand around the post, leaning in. "Hey, ice princess."
God, was she beautiful. The blonde hair pulled up in a loose bun, strands draping down her neck, the light shade of pink lipstick I kept zeroing in on, and the doe gray eyes. I could look at her forever. My hand twitched at my side, all I wanted to do was slide my fingers up her back, touch her hip, kiss her neck.
Not in public though. That could wait for later.
I tried not to puff out my chest like an ape. This outfit would get her going for sure. At the end of the night, there was a big concert on campus and I knew the crowds wouldn’t be Piper’s style. We could sneak off to the dorms together.
"Adam—" A flush crept up her neck in a second but when she turned around, her mouth fell open. "Um—Adam?"
I pretended not to notice. Gazing down at her, I dropped my voice. "I really want to kiss you right now."
The blush spread further up her neck and she swallowed for a moment, gazing at me with wide eyes. "Okay. Um…I…." She shook her head. "Usually, the whole Western thing isn’t for me but you look…oh my god." Her eyes trailed down my jacket. "Okay - I completely jumped ship. This is my new thing."
"And you’re gorgeous as—wait." The grin evaporated. "What do you mean?"
Piper chuckled. "You’ll have to beat girls off with a cattle prod."
"No—Piper. What did you mean, not your thing? I thought you like cowboy stuff?"
Her eyebrows furrowed. "Who told you that?"
I froze for a second and jerked back to look at the football players, kept together by the stage. There was Ryan—I couldn’t miss his scowl anywhere—and right next to him, the dark braids. Kassie. Kassie was trying so hard not to laugh, her face was turning pink, but when our eyes met, she burst into laughter, while Ryan wrapped his arms around her.
And there was Zariah. Shocked, staring at me, mouth agape. And King, pinching the bridge of his nose, snickering.
Oh shit.
I stepped away from the petting zoo and the screaming kids and the animals that couldn’t have been too happy that they were stuck there. "Uh—Piper, I’ll see you later, okay?"
"You don’t have to," she called to me, her voice sweet.
"No, I’ll be here."
"But we’re seeing each other tonight?"
"Yeah." I clapped my hands together, still walking backward. "And I will see you here after contractual obligations."
With that, I whipped around before Piper could argue with me and took a one-way ticket to the King, Zariah, and the illustrator-in-chief, the girl who had tossed a mousetrap on the floor that I’d practically leaped on. All three of them were grinning when I walked up.
