A/N: For all of those who loved RJ, he was from a show called Wildfire, he was in the third season, and he will be popping up quite a bit in the first half of the story.

Not being all that interested in the current ride, Riley's eyes glanced around the outside of the ring, hoping something would grab her attention. Even though they had only been there a few minutes, Riley wanted to go do something else, especially since the smell of manure made her nose wrinkle – that is until her eyes caught sight of a young man's green eyes across the ring. She had never seen such an intense green like that before for an eye color – they were almost as bold as an emerald sitting in a gold setting. Just seeing them sent a strange feeling through her chest, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it. After a couple of moments, he gave her a pleasant smile and a slight nod, causing Riley's cheeks to burn with such embarrassment as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear. She didn't know why she was blushing this hard, and she wished she could hide behind something until her complexion could return to its normal hue.

"What are you looking at?"

The unexpected sound of Maya's voice caused Riley to jump. Once she was fully out of her daze, Riley turned her head to face her best friend. "Nothing," she responded as she gave her an innocent smile.

However, the smile was not so innocent in Maya's eyes. She raised an eyebrow at her as she looked over at the same general direction her friend was a moment ago, and Maya saw two cowboys – one was the guy that had fallen off once they got here, and the other just started towards the chute, presumably to get ready for his ride. A mischievous grin came over Maya's lips. "Mhm, I definitely buy that," she said sarcastically as she straightened her posture.

Riley rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Maya."

Maya let out a soft chuckle. "Like I'd let you see anyone while you're on the rebound," she commented, but Riley didn't hear her. Her eyes were following him. Seeing this worried Maya all the more. Just what she needs… to fall for a cowboy on the rebound! What did that one song say about cowboys? They're always alone even with someone they love? Not what Riley needs; nope, nope, nope!

Riley watched as he climbed onto the side of the chute and paused before he mounted the bull. It started to move once he was on, making the inside of the chute clang and causing her heart rate to increase slightly. A moment later, another man came to the side of the chute and knelt down so he could be closer to him. It appeared that he said something to him, but she couldn't tell from this distance. After the man on the bull nodded, the gate to the chute screeched open and the bull came flying out, desperately trying to get the man off of his back. It kicked, bucked, and desperately spun about, but the rider remained where he was – determination engraved onto his face. Riley's heart leapt up into her throat. She watched as he threw his left arm out for balance as the bull continued to spin and buck even more, sending plenty of dirt into the air. Riley bit the inside of her cheek as more adrenalin pumped into her own system. How long does this thing last?!

Just as she finished her thought, the buzzer sounded and he slid off the bull's back, letting out a whoop of delight as he flung his hat like a Frisbee into the crowd. Riley started to applaud with the rest of the audience, but she stopped as his hat approached her face. She raised her hands in front of her and the soft brim hit her palms. Riley clamped down on it, looked at the hat, then back up at him. Once their eyes met again, he gave her another pleasant smile. She returned it, this time without the deep blush, just before he headed out of the ring.

Maya gave Riley a puzzled look, completely lost at what had just happened. "Did I just miss something?" she asked in a distraught tone.

But instead of answering, Riley said, "I'm going to go give him his hat back." She turned to head off, but Riley didn't make it two steps before Maya grabbed ahold of Riley's arm.

"Riles, you do realize that when people do something like that, they don't expect it back?"

She nodded. "I know, but there's a first time for everything."

A worried expression came over Maya's features. "Please tell me that you're not doing this because you're interested in him." Because if you are, we're marching right out of here, she thought. But much to Maya's relief, she saw Riley shake her head.

"No, I'm not doing this because I'm interested in him. I'm not even interested in him at all. Yes, he may be attractive but I don't know him, nor am I looking for any sort of relationship commitments in the foreseeable future. I need to get through the pain of what James did before I even think about dating again – if I even want to. Me wanting to return his hat is just me being me."

After evaluating what Riley just said for a few seconds and concluding that she was in fact telling the truth, Maya let go of her best friend's arm. As she watched Riley smile and head off to go find him, she couldn't help but smile. Not even twenty four hours into the trip and Riley already seemed more level headed. Look at my Riles… she's all grown up, she thought just before she headed after her.

By the time Maya had caught up with Riley, she had almost reached him. He was standing with two other riders, the one they had seen earlier and another that appeared to be quite a few years older than the two others, and all three were amidst in some sort of conversation, none of which Maya understood, but neither did Maya want to understand what they were saying, nor did she care.

Like her usual self, Riley timidly approached them, despite the one she wanted to talk to had his back facing her. "Excuse me?"

Their conversation dwindled down and all three of them turned to face her. The one she had come to see gave her another smile as his emerald eyes met hers. "Hi," he greeted. "Can any of us help you?"

Hearing his voice sent a small chill up Riley's spine, although she couldn't understand why. "Hi… I, uh, just wanted to give this back to you," Riley said as she extended the hat towards him.

He happily took it and spun it in his hands. "Thanks. To be honest, I didn't expect to see this again. Not that I would have minded, but I appreciate you returning it."

"Yeah, well," Riley began as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I figured you may want it back."

The cowboy about his age let out a snort as his smile spread across his lips. "What did I tell you, Lucas?" he prodded.

The young man standing in front of Riley – Lucas – rolled his eyes as he smacked the guy in the chest with his hat. "Shut your mouth, Zay."

"Tell you what?" Riley asked playfully as she crossed her arms, suddenly intrigued at what this Zay person had said.

"Oh, don't listen to him," Lucas explained as he fixed the crumpled part of his hat and placed it back on his head. "His mouth tends to get him into trouble."

"Like his head does during his ride," the older rider said as he smacked Zay upside the back of his head, causing his hat to fall over his eyes and a small whimper to escape from Zay's lips.

"Thank you, RJ; at least we all can agree on something," Lucas half teased, causing Riley to smile again.

"Anyway," Maya stepped in, "Riley, we should probably get going. Still a lot more left to do."

"Okay," she returned. "It was nice meeting all of you."

"You as well. Thanks again for returning my hat," Lucas replied.

"You're welcome," Riley said as she began to walk away, making the last thing Lucas saw from her was her captivating smile.

That smile remained in his mind for the rest of the day.

A/N: Hope you liked their first meeting! Have a happy and safe New Year's Eve and I'll see you next week :)