Spurs & Stilettos

by Johnson, Ashley

  The room had two queen size beds that looked very comfortable. The flat screen TV is mounted on the wall above the small desk. The bathroom is rather small but the vanity area is decent. There is enough room for both of us to stand side by side and touch up our make-up. I check my hair one more time before deciding it’ll have to do.

  Amber pulled a bottle of vodka out of her overnight bag. My eyes grew wide as she soon produced two shot glasses. Carefully she poured two shots and cleared her throat giving me the signal to grab one of them. “To a fun night as best friends. To new beginnings, and to Karlee.”

  I manage to smile as I think about new beginnings. The night I caught Brad screwing another woman in our bed opened a new door for me. I’m nervous to find what is on the other side since all I’ve known for the past few years has been Brad. The thought of moving on is exciting but at the same time scary. People do it all the time so why can’t I?

  “Hell yeah.” We clank the glasses together before shooting the vodka that seems to burn but taste good at the same time. “What kind is this?”

  “Whipped cream flavored.” She smiled before placing the bottle back inside her bag. I grab my phone and place it in my back pocket along with the money I brought. “Wasn’t it so good?”

  The arena hosting the rodeo is literally about two blocks away from the hotel. We walk which I’m not too sure about at first. The traffic is scaring the hell out of me and all I can see is the headline on tomorrow’s paper: ‘Stupid Girl Gets Smashed by Multiple Cars’. Ugh, don’t laugh it could happen! Houston traffic is a bitch.

  The endless game of frogger seems to come to a complete stop when we’re standing next to the arena. A feeling of déjà vu hits me and I have to stop to blink my eyes. The smell of carnival food hits our noses and it takes a lot of will power to not get any of it. Knowing my luck, I’d drip grease on Amber’s shirt before the rodeo ever began and everyone would be staring at the spot.

  There are vendor booths as far as the eye can see. Everything looks the same as it did two years ago; I’m not sure why I thought it would look any different. Amber and I browse through the booths looking at all the different shirts and jewelry. My mind races to Brad when I see a cute couple holding hands. I so badly want to run up to the girl and warn her he’s nothing but trouble, and to get out while she can…but I don’t. I mind my own business and let out a sigh.

  “What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you’re not having fun.” Amber stares at me incredulously.

  “I’m fine.” I plaster a smile on my face trying to hide the obvious that I already know she can see.

  “Get him off your mind Hope. He’s a fucking bastard. And it’s ok to be here Hope, I’m here ok? Everything is going to be fine. We’re going to be fine.” She pulls me in for a hug and I cling to my best friend for a moment. She understands and that means more to me than she could ever know.

  “I know.” I sigh. I’m a complete hopeless mess all thanks to him.

  The crowd is thickening around the shops and it almost feels like I can’t breathe. Amber and I are so close we are practically holding hands as we head to the entrance to grab our seats. I’ve never been happier to feel air conditioning in my life. This Texas heat was about to kill me. The crowd indoors is not much different from outside but at least the mass of bodies aren’t dripping with sweat.

  Immediately the scent hits my nose and I scrunch it up trying to adjust. “It smells awful in here.” I groan.

  “What did you expect? You’re at a rodeo, you’ve been here before. There are animals you know.”

  Smartass Amber. I roll my eyes dragging her towards the concession stand line that looks about as long as the one was to get inside. I just want a beer, something to help drown out my stupidity. Why didn’t I see that my relationship with Brad had crumbled this much? Has he been screwing around all this time? Or was this the first time? Guess I’ll never know. I guess he’ll never really understand how he ripped my heart out. He probably doesn’t care though. No sooner the thoughts leave my mind, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out since I seem to be an idiot and see a text from him.

  Brad: Baby, please talk to me. I fucked up, I know this. But I love you and it’ll never happen again. You have to believe me.

  I draw in a deep breath fighting back the tears that are threatening to spill over and ruin my makeup. I normally wouldn’t care but I’m in public and Amber would kill me right here. I’ve yet to shed a tear since I’ve been here and if any tears fall they will be for Karlee, not for that asshole.

  “Amber, how long is he going to keep texting me?”

  “He texted you again?” I show her the phone and sigh. “He knows he fucked up obviously and he’s not going to take a hint so you might have to change your phone number.”

  “I’m not changing my number.” I answer quickly. I refuse to alter my life anymore because of his fuck up.

  “Then just ignore him, don’t give him the pleasure of seeing your name pop up.”

  She’s right like always. I stuff the phone back in my pocket trying my best to pretend I didn’t see anything from him. The line has moved a little more and the idea of a beer is becoming more exciting to me. I want nothing more than to down it the minute I get it but I won’t. I’m going to savor every last drop.

  “Excuse me ladies.” The voice comes from nowhere and I look around spotting Amber first with her jaw on the ground. She’s speechless, this never happens. My eyes roam to find what’s got her in a comatose state and standing right in front of us is a guy in Wranglers so tight it should be a crime and a baby blue dress shirt with those snap buttons. This guy is playing this cowboy part a little too seriously. His boots are even worn like they are the only pair of shoes he owns. Oh brother, is he kidding me? I roll my eyes while Ambers jaw is still on the floor.

  She slowly closes her mouth and manages a weak smile. “Hi.”

  My eyes feel like they are constantly rolling, this is a damn joke. We’re next at the concession stand and I lean forward asking for a Bud Light. The girl hands me a big plastic cup filled to the brim. Thank you God. I take a big sip letting the cool liquid slide down my throat. I look back to see he’s still standing there and he’s looking at me. Practically staring. His green eyes are sparkling like emeralds and it takes a second before I’m able to tear mine away.

  “I’m Wesley.” That drawl in his voice is almost making me swoon but I stop it. He extends his hand out to me. I can practically hear Amber scoff and I’m agreeing with her. Why isn’t this guy talking to her? I am no-where near ready to speak to another guy.

  Baffled, I just stand there trying to decipher what’s going on. “I’m Amber, this is Hope.” Amber interjects and I shoot daggers at her begging her to shut up. She’s smiling, and I know exactly what she’s doing.

  “Nice to meet you Hope. I won’t bite, I swear. I may nibble and that’s it.” Oh man, Wesley sure has some nerve! I’m rolling my eyes again and I’m really praying he doesn’t notice because I’m not trying to be rude.

  “Nice to meet you too,” I mumble.

  “I hope you like the rodeo tonight.” He says never taking his emerald green eyes away from mine. The intensity of his stare takes my breath away.

  “I’ll try.” I manage to squeak out. Amber’s smile is almost scaring me. I want to ask her what the hell she’s smiling at but I figure I’ll wait until he walks away. I’m sure she’s going to tell me anyway.

  “Well, it was nice to meet ya’ll. I’ve got to go. Can I get a good luck kiss Hope?” He’s smiling, it’s almost a genuine smile but I don’t give him the satisfaction. I go to reach for my ring but quickly remember I helped it meet its demise the night I caught Brad. That’s right, I’m single and it’s hitting me more and more.

  “I, um, no I’m sorry.”

  Wesley extends his hand like before and my hand moves forward to at least shake his and get this over with. Our hands touch, joining together in what I want to be a quick handshake, but he holds onto my ha
nd about a moment longer than I want him to and brings my hand up to his mouth placing a kiss on my knuckles. My world goes fuzzy for a split second and this amazing feeling creeps up on me. A feeling I can’t recall ever feeling before. The touch of his lips on my hand send my body in a frenzy. My knees buckle almost bringing me to the ground. Go away stupid butterflies! I don’t even know this guy!

  “That’ll have to do then.” He winks, holding onto my hand a little longer before letting it go. My muscles fail me. My hand falls limply to my side and I’m dying trying to control myself here. “Hope to see you later, Hope.” And he turns to walk away.

  Mother. Of. God. I can’t catch my breath. I close my eyes trying to pull myself together but all I see are those piercing green eyes looking at me. My knuckles feel tingly from his kiss. I pull that hand back up to my lips and close my eyes once more. When I open them, I take in a deep breath and let it out. Wow.

  I bring the cup of beer up to my mouth and drink like it’s the only beverage left on this earth. As I pull the cup away, I turn to face Amber whose jaw is back on the floor.

  “What the hell was that?!” She screeched practically jumping up and down.

  “I have no idea! I thought he was talking to you at first! He’s, oh god I don’t even know what to say!”

  “Someone has a crush on Hope! And you were totally digging him too. Don’t even try to hide it.” She’s smug and I hate that. I manage to get my feet moving so we can find our seats. We find them with ease and I gladly sit trying to compose myself. My mind is blown. I haven’t had any time to barely sort through this fucked up break up that seems like it just happened and someone’s already hitting on me. Best part is, I’ll most likely never see this Wesley guy again and that’s the only thing keeping me sane right now.

  Chapter 4

  We watch steer wrestling first and I feel so bad for the poor animals that are getting drug to the ground by their horns and tied up like nothing. All of these guys are fast and apparently they’re winning damn good money if their score is right. Unfortunately, I know nothing about scoring. I gasp every time a steer goes down although by now I know to expect it. My mind races back to Karlee. We had such a blast watching all this. She loved cowboys and anything to do with the rodeo. She loved cheering for them all, but especially the bull riders. She loved to watch bull riding. She would even tune in to watch the televised bull riding competitions religiously as if they were Sunday football games. I would roll my eyes at her and put my ear buds in to tune it out although secretly I would try to watch some of it. I miss her so much. I need her now more than ever.

  Just to stick the knife in a little deeper, the announcer calls out that the bull riding is the next event. Tears spring forward and I beg for them to go away. I’m tired of feeling sad. I just want to be able to be truly happy again and it’s hard as hell when one of the people who made me that way is no longer here.

  “I’m fine.” I say before Amber can ask. She’s looking at me a little too closely waiting for me to break, but I refuse. I won’t in front of all these people.

  “I know.” She responds, grabbing my hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. It’s the same hand Wesley kissed and I want to rip it from her grasp but I don’t. She just wiped any trace of him away and no doubt I’m a little pissed. I’ll recover though, it’s not like he’s a big deal to me.

  The first bull rider is announced. He briefly talks to the man on the floor before climbing on top of his bull in the chute. The bull is wild as they open the chute door and he begins bucking uncontrollably. The poor guy is holding on for dear life trying to survive the whole eight seconds but not even three seconds in, he’s thrown off the angry animal and runs for the gate trying to escape the fury. The clowns were able to distract the bull giving the cowboy the safe escape he was aiming for. This is the first time I think I’ve basically understood why Karlee was so into this. I tried to understand the night we came to the rodeo but in reality I had too much fun watching her reactions. It’s a damn adrenaline rush, full on adrenaline pumping through my veins faster than a rocket in space. My heart is pounding as if I were just on the massive bull. No way in hell could I even survive half a second on that beast. His score seemed decent to me but the crowd thought otherwise because apparently it knocked his ranking down.

  “How do they get the bull so angry?” I ask out of pure curiosity.

  Amber looks at me laughing, “Well, wouldn’t you be angry if they had a flank strap on you? Didn’t Karlee tell you any of this?”

  My eyes are as wide as saucers as I process what she just told me. “Seriously? Wait, a what? And, uh no we never discussed it.”

  “Yep. It doesn’t hurt them I promise. It just works off pressure. They do the same thing to the broncos.” She sat there assuring me no animals were hurt but I still couldn’t help but feel sorry for them.

  I’m having fun, this is one decision I’m glad I made. Memories do resurface and I’d do anything to be able to relive that night again but of course with a different outcome. We’ve seen three bull riders so far and only one of the three has made it close to eight seconds. He made it to five and took the spot of the other guy.

  I take a small sip of beer as they announce that the bareback bronco event is next. Amber looks over and smiles, “This is my favorite.”

  I can clearly see why. I look up on the screen to see a young cowboy dressed the part being interviewed before his turn. I never fully looked at any of the others from previous events. It made me dizzy to look from the screen then onto the ground which seemed so high up from where we were seated. His hat is firmly in place, he has just enough stubble on his face to drive a woman mad and his smile no doubt is melting panties all throughout this arena. He’s good but not good enough because he only lasts six seconds and dammit that bronco is pissed. He also lost points for letting his free hand touch himself. Amber had to explain that part to me, I felt like a deer in the headlights. The cowboy’s pretty face almost meets its end when he hit the ground and the bronco’s hooves touched down right beside him. The bronco settles down and moves an inch away giving the cowboy time to get up and get out of there.

  My heart is in my throat after watching that unfold before my eyes. That guy could have been severely hurt and I’m still trying to decide what makes this so entertaining. It feels like I’m at my first rodeo ever, it all feels so new to me. I don’t quite think I feel like the adrenaline junkie I felt like during the bull riding. Right now, I just feel terrified. I feel my phone vibrate pulling it out to find Brad calling. Amber eyeballs me before grabbing the phone.

  “Quit calling asshole, she’s not talking to you.”

  I’m not sure what he says but she’s quick to retaliate and shut him down. “Fuck you. Grow a dick and learn how to treat a woman. It’s your fault you ruined a good thing. Who knows, maybe I’ll help her find a real man tonight.”

  My eyes bug out of my head after hearing her. If I know Brad, he’s fucking livid right now. I swear I can hear him yelling on the other end of the phone but she politely smiles at me and ends the call. The phone is tucked back safely in my pocket before he can try to call back. “I can’t believe you told him that.”

  “Yeah, that was mild. He’s lucky I didn’t tell him worse. I’m sorry Hope. I shouldn’t have done that, but I can’t help it.”

  “No, thank you. I mean it.” I meant it more than she could ever imagine. She has the guts to say half the things I wish I could to him.

  Amber gets ready to open her mouth and say something else when a certain voice comes over the speaker sending my heart into a thousand somersaults.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, joining me right now is two time title winning bareback bronco rider Wesley Tyler. Good to have you here Wesley.”

  “Thank you, it’s good to be back.” He politely tips his hat as he speaks. Holy moly, where was this hat earlier? He caught my attention without it, but I can’t take my eyes off of him now. He’s incredibly sexy with it on, I’m a big fan.


  “Rumor has it tonight you’re going for another record. What do you think your chances are?” At this point I’m hoping for the guy to quit talking so I can listen to Wesley again. I can’t get enough of his voice.

  “Well,” he begins, “hopefully the chances are good. I’m confident I can pull it off. I got a good luck kiss so I hope that helps too.” He’s staring at the monitor and it feels like it’s just the two of us in this arena. Mother. Of. God. I can feel my heart pounding wildly in my chest. My jaw is on the ground as the butterflies begin to assault my stomach.

  “Sounds like a lucky girl.”

  “You have no idea. She had me at hello.” He’s completely wrong. I didn’t say hello, I said hi and I didn’t kiss him. He kissed my knuckle, that’s not the same either. That’s two totally different things, so he can’t be talking about me but his eyes are back on the screen and I touch my knuckles where his lips were searching for just a hint of the electricity I felt then.