Chapter 21

Sure enough, the song was over way too soon, replaced by a different slow song, newer than the one before. Reluctantly, I pulled back and smiled up at my rescuer. "Thanks again."

But he didn't let go. Instead, he glanced toward the booth and asked, "You wanna go back?"

Through the shifting crowd, I looked toward my party, only to feel myself cringe. It was almost as bad as I feared.

Surprisingly, the cowboy was still wearing all of his clothes. But, on the squirmy side, he was straddling April's lap and thrusting against her while the others cheered him on. As for April herself, she was grinning like it was her first time at the rodeo, and she'd just won herself a prize bull.

Watching her obvious enjoyment, I had to wonder if something was wrong with me. Why didn't I like that sort of thing?

It's not that I didn't appreciate a good-looking guy. And it's not that I was completely inexperienced when it came to sex. It was just that, well, I liked things to be a little more private – and preferably not the result of money changing hands.

I looked back to Joel and said, "I guess I'm not quite ready."

The corners of his mouth lifted. "You and me both."

Relieved, I leaned back into him and sighed with contentment when his arms closed tighter around my back, shielding me from the spectacle that I'd been desperate to avoid. Soon, we were moving in time with the new song, and I thanked my lucky stars that Joel hadn't escaped when he had the chance.

And yet, my thoughts remained a jumbled mess. For what seemed like the millionth time, I asked myself why I hated something that everyone else seemed to love.

I was still mulling that over when I heard Joel's voice, quiet against my hair. "Regretting it?"

I pulled back to gaze up at him. "Regretting what?"

His gaze shifted to the booth, where the rodeo ride was still going strong.

Oh, that.

I had to laugh. "Heck no. When you've seen one, you've seen them all."

I froze in mid-motion. Oh, crap. That sounded terrible, didn't it? Hoping for a recovery, I resumed moving and tried again. "I don't mean that all guys are alike or anything. I just mean…" Again, I looked toward the booth. "It's just embarrassing, you know?"

As I watched, April threw back her head and laughed as the cowboy shimmied toward her. She wasn't embarrassed. She was loving it.

Then again, why wouldn't she? Unlike me, she had the cloak of anonymity. If April were caught ogling some professional hottie, she wouldn't wake up the next morning to see her own image in the weekly newspaper, or worse, on some gossip channel.

She wouldn’t have to hear how stupid she looked, or see the intrusive articles that accompanied every single photo. She wouldn't have to read the one ghastly paragraph they always included, every single time, without fail.

By now, I could recite the thing from memory.

Melody Blaire is the heiress and only daughter of Blaydon Blaire, the world-renowned artist who died with his wife in a private plane crash.

His wife.

My mom.

They never mentioned that part. Did they?

But they did mention all the other stuff – rumors of affairs, fights, and whatever other drama they could dream up.

None of it was true. But that didn't stop anyone from speculating, even now.

I was so tired of it, I wanted to scream. But I didn't. Instead, I leaned into Joel and mumbled something about loving this song way too much to think of anything else.

Happily, Joel didn't push the issue. Instead, he cradled me tighter and moved against me, soothing my unsettled nerves until I almost forgot all of those things that I couldn’t change.

And besides, I had so much to be thankful for. I had amazing friends who'd shown up for my party. I was dancing with an amazing guy. And, I had an aunt who, crazy or not, never, ever forgot my birthday.

When the song ended, I pulled back to tell Joel, "Thanks again. I owe you, okay?"

He smiled. "Why would you owe me?"

"Mostly for being here." I gave a shaky laugh. "I mean, this can't be your idea of fun."

"Yeah? Why not?"

"Well, for one thing, we're all drunk, and you're sober."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"Isn't it?" I asked.

He leaned his head closer and said, "You want the truth?"

I felt myself nod.

"I wasn't gonna drink anyway. So forget that, alright?"

"Oh." I wasn't sure what to make of that. "Why not? Are you a…?"

"Recovering alcoholic?" He laughed. "No."

"Then what?" I asked.

Without answering, he glanced toward the booth. "Looks like the show's over."

I turned, and sure enough, the cowboy, still fully dressed, was hoisting his music player onto his shoulder. He turned and began walking away, leaving April and the others ogling his backside.  

I squinted in confusion. Had the guy stripped at all? If so, he had to be the fastest stripper on the planet, or I'd blinked and somehow missed it.

Regardless, it was time to go back. Together, Joel and I waded through the crowd and settled back into the booth.

April was laughing. She looked to me and called out, "You don't know what you missed."

Her laughter was contagious. I called back, "That's what you think."

"No, I’m serious," she said. "The guy was hysterical."

I gave her a confused look. "As in funny?"

"Oh yeah. Totally."

Wow, that was a first. Even the clowns hadn't been hysterical. I was just about to ask for details when, across from me, Cassie muttered, "Oh, crap."

I leaned forward. "What's wrong?"

She pointed past me. "Look who's here."