Page 10 of Knot my First Rodeo

“You don’t.”

“I do,” I insist.

“Sure you do.”

I roll my eyes and turn away before he can call me out again. “Can I go outside and walk around, explore a little?”

“Yeah. Just stay out of the horse and cattle pens.”

“Why?”

“They’ll hurt you.”

“I’m not stupid.”

“I didn’t say you were,” he says, pushing off the wall. “Goats and chickens are fine. Anything bigger, you wait until one of us is with you the first time.”

“I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Didn’t say you did, city girl.”

I reach for the door, but stop and turn back slowly. “I am not a city girl.”

He lets out a quiet breath that almost sounds like a laugh. “You’re the picture of one.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“I know enough.”

I glare at him for a second longer before grabbing my jacket and stepping outside, shutting the door behind me a little harder than necessary.

The air is cooler than I expected, sharp enough to make me pull my jacket tighter around myself. The space around me stretches out in every direction, open land with no one else in sight. It feels too big, too quiet, like I’m standing in the middle of nowhere.

I head toward a fenced area where a small group of goats are already watching me like they’ve been waiting. One of them moves closer, pressing its head against the fence, and I hesitate before reaching out to touch it. Its fur is rough under my fingers. More of them crowd in, nudging each other, pushing toward me like I’m suddenly the most interesting thing they’ve seen all day.

“Okay, back up,” I mutter, but I don’t move away.

A loud grunt cuts through the moment, and I turn to see a group of pigs not too far off.

One of them steps toward me. I step back immediately.

“Nope. Absolutely not.”

It snorts again, louder this time, and I turn and walk away faster, not giving it the chance to get any closer.

The barn sits a short distance away, and I head toward it without thinking too much about it. The door creaks when I push it open, and the smell hits me right away; hay, dirt, and something animal that I can’t quite place.

There’s a bench along the wall, and I drop onto it, pulling my phone out of my pocket. For a second, I just stare at the screen, then I type.

Bronc riding.

The first video loads, and I tap it without thinking.

The gate opens and the horse explodes forward, twisting and kicking while the rider holds on like his life depends on it. My chest tightens as I watch, my body reacting before my brain can catch up.

He stays on…barely. Then he’s thrown off hard enough that I flinch.

I type new words into the search bar.