Word Count: 36,026
Summary of Events:
Kingston notched his first point-earning ride of the season, which left him somewhat happy, except for the fact that it was the lowest score he'd ever received as a professional. Arriving at the next rodeo, Kingston encountered the attractive South Dakotan again and they walked around the grounds talking, mostly about family . . .
Excerpt of the Day:
They lapsed into silence and stopped by the pens where the broncs were relaxing while they waited for the night’s go-round. Kingston watched the horses idly switch flies off of their bodies with their tails, many of them dozing with a hind leg cocked, which was probably one of the best things to do at this stage of the afternoon.
“So do you want to go back to your trailer?” Kingston asked.
“You don’t have to drop me off,” Blair replied.
“No, I was thinking we could hang out there,” Kingston said.
“I share it with my uncle, he sleeps at one end, I sleep at the other,” Blair replied.
“And would he be in there?” Kingston asked.
“Not necessarily,” Blair replied. “But I know he has a couple people, including Tara, keeping an eye out on me.”
“Why?” Kingston asked.
“So I don’t get hurt,” Blair replied.
“In what way?” Kingston asked.
“Romantically,” Blair replied.
“Oh,” Kingston said. “Well I wouldn’t hurt you. I promise.”
“Forgive me for not being fully convinced,” Blair said.
Kingston felt a jab of annoyance, and even hurt to a measure.
Blair looked up at him pleadingly, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s not that I don’t want to trust you Kingston,” Blair said. “It’s just that, well, I just got hurt bad by a boyfriend, and I’m still recovering from that.”
“Oh,” Kingston said, his ire lowering — at least toward Blair, it continued to simmer against whoever the jerk was who’d left her like this. “That’s got to suck.”
Blair nodded. “He’s a bull rider.”
“So that’s why you’re in Canada?” Kingston asked.
“Yeah,” Blair replied, nodding as she stared at the horses. “My uncle recommended it so I could keep being in rodeo and not have to run into him.”
“Would you be willing to tell me what he did?” Kingston asked.
“He made a fool out of me to hide his real lover,” Blair replied, still not making eye contact.
“His real lover?” Kingston asked.
“Yeah,” Blair replied. “He’s in his early twenties, but he started an affair with a different barrel racer. She was married, and at least ten years older than him. To keep the relationship hidden he convinced me that he loved me and pretended to be my boyfriend, except that he wouldn’t entirely satisfy me, he kept stringing me on. One night I’d had enough and decided I was going to make him do what I wanted. I showed up at his camper and found them together.”
“If I ever meet him he’s going to regret it,” Kingston said. “Not even Dad has done something like that to a woman. I mean, he has lied to his current partners about their replacements, and not all of them necessarily know that he’ll have one-nights on occasion.”
“There was a couple people that kind of warned me,” Blair said. “But I foolishly ignored them.”
“They knew?” Kingston asked.
“No,” Blair replied. “But they didn’t trust him, something didn’t sit right with them, and they also didn’t think he was the best man for me.”
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