I got you family seats tonite and tomorrow. Want you.
Hudson
I’ll be there.
That part was easy. The rest he typed a bunch of times and ended up erasing it all.I want… we really need to talk, man. I’ve got stuff I need to say. I want to know what you want.He finally typed,
Hudson
I’m yours
and sent it, figuring that said everything he could right now.
Hard-to-get was too fucking hard to keep up. He wanted what he wanted too.
Jack
Good deal. Sending tix
The digital tickets showed up seconds later, up front and next to the chutes.
Jack had some clout to come up with last-minute tickets that good.
The next text was another dick pic.
Hudson rolled his eyes.
Hudson
Pretty. We’re sexting now?
There it was again dots, no dots, dots, no dots.
Weird. Jack wasn’t usually a dots guy. Jack was all quick comebacks or total ghosting and nothing in between.
He stopped staring at the dots because he was getting anxious and went in search of some dinner before the event. He had a little time; Jack would be on his way to the venue to warm Ghost up if he wasn’t already there.
Las Vegas knew food, that was for sure, and the Bellagio was huge. He wandered and wandered and never even left the casino.
“Pardon me.” A low voice surprised him, coming right from the elbow. “I think I talked to your business partner at the Expo?”
This was an odd place to do business, but he had to be friendly. “You spoke to Paul? I’m Hudson.” He stopped and stuck out his hand.
He got a warm smile, possibly a once-over. He couldn’t tell. “Mark Denton. I was hoping I could buy you a drink, talk to you about your glove. I own a chain of western stores, and we do a brisk business online with rodeo gear.”
Oh, cool. He had time, and Paul was going to love this. “You know, I was just looking for somewhere to get a bite before the event tonight. Do you know your way around this hotel?”
“I do, in fact. I have a table at the Prime on the patio. I love to watch the fountains at street level.” Mark led them toward a down escalator, confident, moving nice and easy.
“Wow. Fancy.” He just needed something light, since he thought he might be having steak later, but he could use a drink too. “I’d love to join you.” He couldn’t help but notice Mark had on a nice cologne.
“Excellent. They have a shrimp appetizer to die for. You have tickets for tonight?”
“I do. I’m kind of a bull riding geek. I know the pickup man; he gets me good seats. And I’m friends with Scott Hamish’s wife so I’m rooting for him tonight.” He figured it didn’t hurt to throw around a little cred, make sure Mark knew he understood the sport and wasn’t just in this for cash.
“Scott is a good man. We’re one of his sponsors. We’ve been lucky to help the careers of a few champions, even.” Mark walked up to the hostess station. “Denton, for the patio.”
“Of course, sir. Right away. Your table is waiting.”