"Did you have sex with him?" Beth questioned from the other end of the phone.

I turned off my curling iron and took my phone off speaker "No, I didn't. Ya know, Lee asked the same thing."

"I would too if I came home to a man's hat in my living room and you basically naked in my bed. Which cowboy was it anyway?"

"I'm not telling you. You'll tell Lee then he'll tell Dad. Besides, it's not like we're gonna be a thing. Hell, I don't even think he looks at me that way." I say as I slip into my button-up shirt.

"Well, do you look at him that way?" she questioned.

"I–"

A banging on my door thankfully saved me from answering Beth.

"I gotta go."

"We're not done having this conversation! Good luck at the rodeo." She said before hanging up.

More banging came from my door before I could finish buttoning up my shirt. I walk over and open it to see Jamie standing there with an unpleasant look on his face.

"Make it quick, I still need to load Sundance" I huffed

"I just wanted to wish you luck" He says with a sly smile. I give him a glare in return. "And to ask for your help in asking Dad to consider whatever deal the developers will offer me after the hearing next week"

"You've lost your damn mind Jamie" I quipped as I squeezed past him and made my way downstairs.

"It's 30,000 acres so they're gonna make a big offer for it. Come on, you're his favorite so if anyone can convince him, you can." Jamie countered as he followed me down the stairs.

I stop and turn around to face Jamie. He looks at me impatiently waiting for my answer.

"No" I answered as I look at him with an icy look on my face.

"Fine" He mumbled then walked away.

The quick walk down to the stables helped me clear my head about the whole ordeal. As I got closer to the barn I saw Ryan leading Sundance out of his stall and into the trailer.

"I was coming to do that Ryan" I shout

"Sure you weren't coming to give us all a show" He shouted back.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I get closer to him.

"You must have been in a hurry to leave seeing as you forgot to finish buttoning up."

I look down to see my whole black bra exposed.

"Yeah, I was. Jamie was being too lawyerly and I am running a bit late." I say while finishing the last few buttons. Ryan finished loading Sundance and leaned against the trailer.

"Hey, why don't I drive, let you and Sundance out behind the chutes, then go find parking so you aren't too terribly late."

"Don't you want to go with everyone else?"

"Not really. They've already started drinking so I don't even know if they'll even make it."

I think it over for a minute. I have kinda been avoiding Ryan ever since my drunken evening but I do miss seeing and talking with him.

"I guess we should head out then"

/

"Our last competitor hasn't been seen in the rodeo world in quite some time. Please welcome two-time NFR world champion Clara Dutton"

Sitting on Sundance in the corner of the box seemed to make any doubts I had disappear. I turn to the man who was manning the chute and gave him the go-ahead to open the gate. Everything after that was a total blank to me. I seemed to come to as I finished tying my rope to the saddlehorn.

"With a time of 2.05 Clara Dutton makes her way to the top of the board making her our breakaway winner of the evening"

"Holy shit" I mutter to myself as I ride Sundance to the back of the chutes, I see Ryan making his way from the bucking chute towards me.

"Holy shit Clara, your time was better than your highschool rodeo days." He says giddily

"Really! I honestly don't remember anything after I nodded to the chute guy." I say while climbing off Sundance. When I reached the ground, Ryan engulfed me in a hug.

"Let's go out to celebrate; my treat" Ryan grinned

"I have to go see Lee and my Dad," I interject.

"You can see them when you get home. Come on, you haven't competed in 6 years, and on your first rodeo back, you win. That's a damn good reason to celebrate and it'll just be me and you so it won't get too crazy,"

"Fine… but, we can't be out too long. Sundance is exhausted."

"Perfect, I know just the place." He grabs Sundance's reins as we make our way to the truck

\

"Why are we headed towards the ranch? I thought we were going somewhere to celebrate"

Ryan glances over at me. "We are."

"But then why ar–"

"Just trust me"

The ranch seemed like a ghost town when we finally arrived.

"Everyone must still be out." I say as we pull down by the stables

"Yeah, the boys were going to the Red Horse again."

We both get out of the truck and head to the back of the trailer to get Sundance.

"After you get Sundance put up can you saddle up a couple of horses? I have to go grab something from the bunkhouse." Ryan says while unlocking and opening the trailer.

"Yeah go ahead"

Ryan jogs off towards the bunkhouse as I led Sundance to his stall. After getting Sundance settled, I saddled up a gray gelding and a black mare. As I was leading them out of the barn, I see Ryan walking over with a small cooler and a rolled-up blanket.

"Is Sundance all settled."

"Yes. Where are we even going?" I asked

"It's a surprise. I'll give you a hint though, we've been their plenty of times before."

"Please don't tell me we're going to the pond in pasture 6" I whined

Ryan tied the blanket and cooler onto the back of the gray gelding. "Come on, it'll be just like when we were younger."

"Fine but I'm not getting in that disgusting thing." I say before getting on the mare.

Ryan swung onto the gelding. "Race you there," He says before sprinting off towards the pond

"Cheater!" I yell before following after him.

\

"Here's a question," I sat up from my spot next to Ryan on the blanket we had spread out by the pond. "Why do you stay here? I mean most cowboys don't stick around as long as you have"

He looked up at me "It's perfect here, I mean just take a look around. The gorgeous mountain, clear skies, and the wide open space. If you could bottle all this up and sell it, you'd be a fucking millionaire."

"I get that. Ya know, living at College Station really made me appreciate this place even more. Down there, they were always building something new anywhere they could."

Ryan sat up on his elbows and took a drink from his beer. "So why didn't you come home?"

I stared at him for a moment wondering what to say. "We should go for a swim," I say, trying to change the subject. I stood up and took off my boots and socks.

Ryan looked at me confused "I thought you said you weren't gonna get in."

"Well, I just changed my mind" I unbuckled my belt and took off my jeans. "Well are you gonna sit there and stare or are you gonna join me," I say as I started to unbutton my shirt.

Ryan stood up and took off his shirt "Fuck it."

Once we were both down to just our underwear, I yelled. "Last one to the water has to put the horses up," and took off for the pond. Hitting the cool water was the perfect way to end one of the best days I've had in a while.

"You cheated," Ryan said as he jumped in after me.

After a couple of hours of splashing around, we got out, exchanged our wet clothes for our dry ones, grabbed a couple of beers, and sat on the blanket.

"Thank you , Ryan," I looked over at him and smiled. "I'm asking that we make this a weekly thing til it gets cold, cause I haven't had this much fun in years."

"Me neither." He laughed while taking a sip from his beer. Ryan looked over at me with an almost nervous look in his eyes. "Actually Clara there is something I wanted to ask you"

I down the last bit of my beer spilling some on my shirt. "What is it?"

"Do you–"

Ring ring

"Sorry" I grab my phone from beside me and look at the caller id. Lee Dutton.

"Hello?" I say. What is Lee doing up this late?

"Where the hell are you Clara? Do you have any idea what time it is!?"

"In case you forgot Lee, I'm 24, not 14. I don't have a curfew." I scoff

"I know that but I don't think Dad is going to be too happy when his little girl isn't at breakfast. Especially after you didn't come to find us after you won last night."

Breakfast? I check the time on my phone: 5:00.

"Shit, I wasn't watching the time. If I don't make it back before Dad comes down please try to cover for me. Say I went to check on Sundance before breakfast or something like that."

"Fine. What are you even doing out this late? Do you have any idea–" I quickly hung up the phone and started putting my socks and boots on.

"What's wrong?" Ryan asked with a concerned look on his face.

"It's 5:00! Breakfast starts at 5:45 and Dad's gonna kill me if I'm not there. Especially since I didn't go see him after my run last night." I franticly tell Ryan.

He stands up and starts putting his boots and shirt on. "Before you race home grab the extra shirt from my saddle bag. I don't think your Dad's gonna be happy if you come to breakfast smelling like beer"

"Can you get everything back?" I say as I rummage through Ryan's saddle bag. I find the shirt and turn my back to Ryan to change.

"Yeah, no problem," Ryan says from behind me.

I turned around and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you again, Ryan"

"Anytime" He grinned

I walk over to the black mare and swung myself up. I turned her towards the house and sent a kick to her sides.

\

I checked my phone as I made my way onto the porch. 5:55. Thank God I'm not too late. I head inside to the dining room and find my brothers' and Father sitting at the table.

"Sorry I'm late, I wanted to check on Sundance this morning," I announced as I took my seat my Lee.

My father looked over at me. "No worries. Lee told us where you were. That was a hell of a run last night honey"

"Yeah, it was your best time since your highschool days." Lee interjected with a mouth full of food.

"So, what are your plans for the day Daddy," I say trying to turn the conversation away from the rodeo.

"I have a livestock meeting in Boseman." He look a long drink from his coffee. "So where did you head off to after your run last night?"

"I came straight home," I say while taking a bite from my eggs.

"Really? When? Cause I didn't hear you come inside" Jamie said from across the table.

"Oh, I was hanging out in the barn. I came in awhile after Dad and Lee came home" I lied.

"Clara, why don't you come with me to check the fence near the reservation?" Lee asked,

"I would love to Lee." I say with a look of thanks.