Louboutin to Ariat

~ Bonus Chapter 3 ~

Cash held me to his chest, each round of gunfire putting me on edge despite the distance and my ear protection. 

When the gun shots stopped, Sterling, Rhett, Sue and Frankie made their way back to us. 

Taking a deep breath, I relax against Cash. His arm moves from around my chest to hanging loosely on my waist. 

"How'd it go out there?" Cash asks.

"Horrible."

"Great!"

Sue and Rhett answer at the same time.

"I think I shot one and that's only because these two were distracted." Sue huffs. "I need to go shooting more often."

"Did we bring waters?" Frankie asks, wiping her forehead. 

"Yeah, they are still on the trailer." Sterling starts walking away, "I'll go get them."

"Bring the chairs too!" Sue calls out.

"I'll help you." I step away from Cash and follow Sterling.  

"Are you doing okay?" Sterling asks. 

"Yeah. I'm slowly getting used to it but its still scary."

"I understand. It was pretty terrifying for me too. But it's reassuring to see that they know how to handle the guns and they know what they are doing."

"Definitely."

Once Sterling had handed me the folding chairs and he had grabbed the ice chest, we make our way back to the group.  

Sterling sets down the ice chest and Cash pulls the chairs off my shoulders and drops them on the ground. 

The movements of the guns catch the sun and I begin to set up a chair to distract myself. 

"Cash!" Rhett calls out, "You want to join us?"

My heads whips to the side and finds Cash. I can see the conflict going on within him. Biting my lip, I walk over and place a hand on his arm. When his eyes meet mine, all conflict clears. 

"Go with them." I tell him before he can say anything.

"But I don't want to leave you alone." He places his hands on my shoulders.

Using all the courage within me, I say, "I'll be fine."

He runs his thumb across my cheek, "Are you sure?"

Biting my tongue, I nod.

Cash smiles wide and kisses me, "Remember, if you want to go back, you can."

I nod again, afraid that if I open my mouth, I'll tell him to stay.

Pulling his earmuffs and glasses on, he gives me one more quick kiss and grabs the gun Rhett offered him.

Before leaving, he looks at Sterling who meets his gaze. They both nod and Cash walks off.

I fall into a chair and pull my earmuffs back on, wrapping my arms around myself.

Every nerve in my body jumps as I watch everyone take their spot.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sterling ease into a chair next to me. His relaxed state prompts me to take a deep breath, forcing myself to relax.

Sterling offers me a water and I unwrap my arms around myself and grip the water bottle. 

I twist the cap off the water and its only when Sue calls out, "Ready?", that I realize that I probably shouldn't have opened the water.