Broken Strings

Twenty-One

But there was something a little hard in Sam's eyes as he looked between Brock and Travis. It looked like a hint of jealousy.

The pit in Travis' stomach grew to the size of an apple but he managed to say, "Maybe. We'll see how the day goes."

"Okay. I'll see you later though, I'm sure, but I'm going to go hit the sign-in table before the lines start to form. See you, Travis. Brock." Sam dipped his head and then wandered off in the general direction of the tables.

"He seems nice," Brock commented when Sam was out of earshot.

"He is. We've been on the circuit together for a while."

"Right."   The musician raised a brow but there was something a little knowing on his face that disquieted Travis. He felt unsettled in a way he rarely did before rodeos and all at once he longed for his regular routine where he could sit in his truck alone and far, far away from Brock Mason.

Travis took a step back and cleared his throat. "I, uh, I should go sign in too. Bailey and the rest of my family will be getting here shortly. They can show you the best places to sit."

And before Brock even had the chance to respond, Travis turned for the registration table.

*~*

As rodeos went, Travis had an excellent day. He came first in the saddle bronc event and second in the team roping with Noah. After, once the horses had been de-saddled and taken care of, they'd gone to find the rest of their group in the stands where they all settled in to watch the final event of the day.

Travis didn't know many of the bull riders on the circuit but Noah's excitement spread through their group with each new rider that appeared in the chute. It was good to have someone everyone else was turning to because Travis was caught between glancing at Brock – who spent half his time watching the bull riders and the other half signing autographs for excited fans who kept seeking him out – and looking to where Sam leaned against the rails on the other side of the arena, talking and laughing in a crowd of rodeo cowboys.

More than once, they'd locked eyes as Sam looked over at Travis.

And more than once, Travis had been the first to look away.

The rodeo came to a close shortly after seven, though despite the hour, the sun was still hanging fairly high in the sky, slowly beginning its descent towards dusk. They filed out of the stands and headed to the after-party that popped up every year. A time for drinking beer, dancing to music, and singing along to the cover band that was actually pretty good.

Bailey looped her arm through Travis' as they trailed behind the rest of the group and up ahead, their mother said something that made everyone else laugh. "You did great today, Trav."

"Thanks, Bails."

"Noah had fun too. It's been a while since he's competed in any event. He misses it even if he says he's happy just with the school."

"Do you think he wants to get back into competing bulls again?"

"God, no. He keeps telling me he's definitely done with that. Too many injuries over the years. He's basically an achy old man now." She raised her voice for the last part, teasing entering her tone.

"I heard that," Noah said over his shoulder, grinning.

"You were meant to."

Noah laughed and then immediately returned to his conversation with Stephen and Brock as if he'd never been interrupted at all.