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“Tonight?” It does sound fun.

“Yeah. Come with me. I promise you’ll have fun.”

For half a second, I consider it, but my mind immediately goes back to camp, and the fact that I haven't seen Chace all day. I’m borderline desperate to see where things stand between us. Apparently, I’m pathetic enough to be looking forward to that. “I probably shouldn’t,” I tell her. “I’ve got someone waiting back at camp.”

Alexis’s eyebrows lift. “Like a boyfriend?”

“Not like that.” She smiles at me like she doesn't believe me for a second. I roll my eyes. “Give me your number. If I change my mind, I’ll text you.”

She pulls out her phone. “Deal. But when you’re sitting around bored later, remember to text me.”

I head back to camp with nervous butterflies dancing in my belly at the thought of seeing Chace. Visions of him and what happened between us the other night are still living rent-free in my head. I can practically feel his firm hand pinning me against the backseat while the other worked me into a complete frenzy. The memory alone has me squirming, heat already building between my thighs as I walk the gravel road towards camp.

The thing is, as much as my mind keeps wandering back to what happened in his truck, that’s not even the part of Saturday night that keeps getting under my skin. It’s what happened after. I expected it to be awkward. I expected Chace to climb into the front seat wearing that cocky grin of his and make some comment that would immediately make me want to punch him. Instead, I told him he owed me a burger, and twenty minutes later we were sitting across from each other in a nearly empty diner with a plate of fries and milkshakes between us at one in the morning.

And it was fun. We laughed until my stomach hurt over something I can’t even remember now, argued about whether taking fries off someone else’s plate counts as stealing, and spent way too long scrolling through jackpots on our phones. Chace pulled up the results from my Cheyenne run and started breaking down where he thought Dusty could gain time. I disagreed with half of it, naturally, which turned into another argument. But he listened when I explained what I’d felt in the saddle instead of acting like he knew better.

He didn’t bring up what happened between us in his truck. No smug little comments, no suggestive looks every time I licked whipped cream from my straw. He didn’t act as if he’d finally won something by getting into my pants, like some part of me expected him to. We just sat there like two friends who also happened to have this ridiculous sexual thing going on between them, and I don’t really know what to make of that. I just know thinking about it makes me pick up my pace a little.

I told myself, and him, that nothing would happen between us until he fessed up to whatever he’s been up to out here on the road, but I clearly failed at my own game. There’s just something about this man that makes me throw all caution to the wind. Maybe I just need to get him out of my system. Maybe it’s leftover feelings from all those years I spent crushing on him as a kid. So why not indulge while we’re out here? We’re both adults. Why can’t we have a little fun on the road, then pack it away when we get home? There’s no way he’s serious about any of this anyway, right?

No promises. No expectations. No awkward conversations about what happens next.

There. Simple. Problem solved.

I still remember the first time I decided Chace wasn’t a guy worth wasting my time on. I was fourteen, and he’d just come home to Ashford Ridge after his first real season on the rodeo circuit. I overheard Eli talking to Hazel that morning about some big party while I was supposed to be paying attention to John’s lesson. Chace had done well that year, really well, and everyone in town was talking about him like Ashford Ridge had produced its own damn celebrity. By that night, I’d convinced myself I needed to see what all the fuss was about. Or at least that’s what I told myself. Really, I just wanted Chace to see me.

I spent forever digging through my closet, changing three different times before settling on the shortest skirt I owned and a tank top Mom probably would’ve confiscated if she’d seen me leave the house in it. In my fourteen-year-old brain, I looked older and mature. Definitely old enough for Chace to finally stop seeing me as Eli’s little sister and realize I’d been right here all along.

Once everyone was asleep, I climbed out my bedroom window, snuck down to the stable, and rode all the way to the party with my stomach in nervous knots the entire way. I even stopped before I got there to fix my hair using my phone's camera.

When I finally spotted him, he was sitting beside the fire with some gorgeous older girl draped across his lap, one of her arms around his neck while he laughed at something she whispered in his ear. There were people everywhere, music playing, girls hovering around him, and suddenly I became painfully aware of how ridiculous I must’ve looked standing there in the outfit I’d spent an hour choosing.

He didn’t even notice me. I slipped away before anyone else could either. I rode home feeling stupid and jealous. It was on that ride home I decided that Chace Walker could go fuck himself.

The next time I saw him, he was with a different girl. A week later, another one. As the years went on, the stories only piled up. Parties. Women. Drunken pictures online. Chace laughing his way through opportunities I would’ve killed for while everyone back home treated him like some hometown hero. So, I let that version of him I created in my mind that night stick. It was easier than admitting fourteen-year-old me had been hurt because the boy she’d been crushing on never looked her way.

Maybe that is Chace, and I’m just being delusional because we’re spending so much time together. The man I thought he was, and the man I’ve been presented with over the last few weeks just isn't lining up as cleanly anymore, and I’m not sure what to do with that.

I’ve spent half the walk imagining that stupid grin I’ll see on his face when I come around the corner. Maybe he’ll have dinner started. Maybe he’ll make some smart-ass comment about how long I was gone. Maybe, with Eli and Hazel finally out of the way, we’ll pick up exactly where we left off Saturday night. Not that I’ve been thinking about that all afternoon or anything.

I’m already halfway through some sarcastic line in my head about him missing me when camp comes into view. Then I notice the space where his truck should be. I stop dead in the road and just stare at the empty spot beside my camper.

Where the hell is that man? It’s eight p.m., and he is nowhere to be seen. I glance at my phone, thinking maybe I missed a message from him or something. Nothing. Of course not.

I swear to God, if he’s pulling this disappearing act again after everything that’s happened between us in the last week, I’m finally going to murder him with my bare hands. My eyes drift toward our makeshift kitchen setup, and that’s when I spot a piece of paper tucked beneath one of the coffee cups. I walk over and pull it free.

Addie- got something to take care of. Sorry. Don’t wait up.

-Chace

Son of a bitch! A note? He left me a fucking note instead of texting? Coward. A text would’ve meant I knew right away he’d taken off. It would’ve given me the chance to ask where he was going, maybe even catch him before he got far. But this? He knew I wouldn’t find it until I came back to camp. By then, he could be anywhere.

My fingers tighten around the stupid piece of paper. I shoot him a text, knowing full well he’ll ignore it. Where are you, you coward?

Fuck this. I’m not going to sit around like a fool all night wondering where he is. Alexis invited me to a midnight jackpot on her family’s property tonight. She said it usually turns into one giant party, and right now that sounds a hell of a lot better than sitting here waiting for Chace to decide when he feels like coming back. If he can take off and have a good time, so can I. I’m not waiting around for him for one more second. Maybe she hasn’t left yet.

“You look hot!” Alexis says beside me. “You’re going to have so much fun tonight. Just make sure you stick close. This crowd can get a little rowdy. Oh, and don’t tell anyone you’re here tonight. It’s not exactly a sanctioned event, just something fun my brothers do during rodeo weeks. Guys come out to drink, fuck, and ride.”