His eyes scanned the arena until he found his pixie-haired brunette wife and two little girls seated next to her, just a few benches down from Shelby.
“When it’s the right girl, it can happen easy.” He gave me a pointed look. “Once you get out of your own way.”
I scowled at him.
He smiled cheerfully.
“Why isn’t your dad riding?” he asked.
“He said he just wanted to watch me.”
We stared at each other for a bit before a grin spread across Dusty’s face. “Well, let’s go give him a show.”
I snorted as we fell in line, walking toward the chutes.
Dusty held out a helmet. “You wearing your hat or a helmet?”
“Hat,” I said. Though most people in the sport wore helmets now, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It wasn’t completely a vanity thing; my black hat was more comfortable. And it was the same old black hat I’d won many rides while wearing. Most riders were a little superstitious, and I wasn’t riding for the first time in five years without a few things in place.
“They're almost ready to start. You’d better get over there,” Dusty said, eyes on the cowboys milling around the chutes in front of us.
We made our way toward the chute, and without consulting me, my gaze once again found Shelby in the crowd. My pace slowed. Sophie had moved over to sit by Kelsey, her twins not too far away, which should have left Shelby alone, but a couple of guys, maybe mid-twenties, had crowded around her.
I squinted. Was that Easton?
She was talking and laughing with them, gesturing with her hands while talking, and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves.
That was definitely Easton. Why was he here?
She wasn’t that comfortable. I could see it now. There was a stiffness in her posture that gave her away. It was just polite laughs and conversations coming from her, nothing else.
I was almost fifty percent sure.
“You coming?” Dusty asked, scanning the crowd.
I blinked, not realizing I had completely stopped walking. “Yeah.”
“Who’s that guy talking to Shelby?”
I grunted something as I moved past him. He hurried to catch up.
“Who is it?”
“I don’t know,” I lied, suddenly annoyed at the whole night. At me. At her. At Easton. At Dusty for that stupid look on his face. Shelby could talk to Easton if she wanted. I wasn’t sure what he was doing back in Eugene. Maybe I was too late. Easton lived in Boise. I hated his guts, but he was probably a nice enough guy. It would be so easy for her to be with him. It had to be less complicated to date a guy without a past like mine. I kicked the dirt with my foot. I needed to focus on my ride coming up. Shelby’s dress had altered some part of my brain.
“What are you going to do about it?”
“What?” I turned to Dusty.
“What are you going to do about it?”
“If she wants to talk to him, she can do that.” I concentrated on putting on my vest instead of Dusty’s smug face.
“Do you love her?”
I gave him a look that only made his grin grow wider.
“I knew it.”