American Pyramid

All Eyes

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Victoria

After the rodeo was over, I was still riding my high of competing as well as receiving a check. I had massive luck tonight, winning the breakaway roping at a 1.8 and the barrel racing at a 16.34, my breakaway run being the new arena record and my barrel pattern run being the third fastest in the rodeo's entirety under the Circle S Cowboys Association. Dallas and Dakota did well in the slack, and they were thoroughly experienced in rodeo as Arson was still young and putting experience on him. I still had tomorrow's competition to.

Zak and the guys stayed after the slack was over, sitting at my trailer in the chairs that I had brought along with me as I listened to my horses munching happily from their hay nets. "Do you need any help with anything, Tori?" Sam asked me, his confidence becoming evident as he had been willingly putting himself closer and closer to the horses throughout the entirety of the rodeo.

"The only thing is when we take them back to their stalls for the night," I answered. "But I want them to cool off completely before I put them up for the night."

"Okay. Just let me know when!" He smiled, now taking a seat in the empty chair next to me.

While I had some free time, I pulled out my phone to play around on my apps, checking my Twitter and YouTube for a possibility of new notifications, and sure enough, our songs had gotten more views and likes and my Twitter gained over five hundred followers! If I had to assume, it was courtesy of Zak tweeting me regarding our music, and my second assumption being that we had tagged our Twitter username in the description of each song we uploaded to YouTube.

When I had gone to my Twitter timeline, I immediately saw Zak's new tweet that he had uploaded a few hours ago:

All eyes were now on Arson, and it was apparent that he stated that he would be at a rodeo in California, and I knew I was the only competitor with a black horse riding in a war bridle, so I knew I would be easy to spot, but I was glad that he had only uploaded a photo of just Arson, knowing damn well people were going to be quick to speculate. Out of curiosity, I then looked at the replies he had gotten under his post, especially where it had over forty users commenting on it.

Oh, my God! That was Hollie Anderson?! I have watched her race for several years now, and I didn't even notice that she competed tonight! Was I really on my adrenaline high long enough to not even notice anybody?! Out of excitement, I favorited her tweet, making a mental note to go and introduce myself to her later, hoping that I could at least make another friend in the horse world.

"What're you so giddy about?" Zak teased, tucking his phone back into his pocket.

"I just saw that picture of Arson you put on your Twitter, and I was looking at the replies because I was curious as to what people were saying, and I noticed that Hollie Anderson commented on it."

"Who is that?" He tilted his head.

"She's a professional barrel racer who I've looked up to for so many years," I answered. "She rode at the NFR last year, breaking the previous year's arena record."

"Oh, yes, the big rodeo in Vegas every December. It's the best time of year for you guys, but the worst because of traffic." He teased.

"God, I would love to go and watch, but my dream is to actually run barrels there. That's every cowgirl's biggest goal."

"I'm sure you will someday," He encouraged me. "I've never been to watch, but they play it at every bar for people to watch."

"That would probably be the only way I could watch it because tickets are expensive, and I would hate to see how much entree fees are when you get the invitation, but I really want to go shopping at the Cowboy Christmas event they have, and I know I'll spend a two weeks' worth of pay if I was to go there."

"I'm that way when I go to car shows," Zak chuckled. "I have no self-control."

"I used to go to car shows all the time. I love cars," I sighed, knowing just what he meant.

"So, you love cars, but drive a tank of a truck like this?" He teased, nodding his head towards my dually that was currently unhooked from my trailer just in case I needed to go into town or chose to go out to eat. "What kind of cars?"

"I really want a Scat Pack," I sighed, dreaming. "It's my dream car, but that'll be a long time before that can happen. I just love the new Challengers and Chargers."

"Would I have any luck scoring a dinner with you if I told you I had one?" He teased.

"Don't you dare get my hopes up like that!" I laughed. "But do you?"

"I have a Challenger, yes. I'm not tugging on your leg... this time."

"Mhm. Picture or you're lying."

He arched his brows at me before pulling out his phone, showing me his lockscreen that held a photo of his Challenger, and damn, he could've easily secured a dinner with me even without the car, but now that he wasn't lying, I definitely was taking him up on his offer. "Well, I was wrong, but I will definitely go to dinner with you."

"Good, because you were going to go anyway." He teased.

"Cocky, aren't we?"

"More like confident," He shrugged. "I know a few good places around here. How about lunch tomorrow before the rodeo?"

"I think I'd like that," I smiled. "I'll have to bring Sam with me."

"That's okay. Not a problem."

"I don't want to hold you two up," Sam spoke up. "I'll be fine here, I promise. I'll probably be asleep around noon anyway, and I'll keep an eye on the horses."

"Are you sure?"

"Girl, one hundred percent. I'm not going to jeopardize you making a move with your new man." He winked.

Jesus Christ, Sam always had an act for embarrassing me, but I loved him for it, because he pushed me out of the comfort zone I really needed to get out of.