Page 87 of Forever Enough
The knock I’d been waiting for caused me to sit up. The door opened and my father walked in. He smiled when he saw me and stomped the snow off his boots. Taking off his coat, he hung it up next to mine on the coatrack and made his way over, sitting on the love seat.
“Do you have your shirt ready for the wedding tomorrow?” he asked.
Lily and Maverick were getting married in a small wedding ceremony in Uncle Tanner and Aunt Timberlynn’s barn. It was simple and family only, with the exception of a few very close friends. The only thing Lily requested was that the guys wear jeans and blue button-up shirts, while the women could wear any color they wanted, since it had been such short notice for the wedding.
“Yeah, Avery steamed it for me. It’s hanging up in my room at your place.”
He nodded.
“We haven’t had a chance to talk, but I’m going to assume since Crystal showed up here, she didn’t know.”
I shook my head. “Lewis told me not to tell her, but she knows now. Strangely enough, she didn’t react the way I thought she would. The only thing she did was text me that I was contracted to be in New York City mid-January to shoot a commercial for Calvin Klein’s new cologne. She also informed me that I would be transferred to Adam, effective immediately. He’ll take care of business deals in the future, since my opportunities will be different, now that I’m leaving the PBR.”
He raised his brows. “Wow. I’d like to think she did that on her own, but I’m pretty sure that was all Lewis. And Calvin Klein cologne, huh? Fancy.”
I laughed.
Dad leaned back and crossed his right ankle over his left knee. “You realize you made things more difficult by sleeping with her, son. You should have kept it business only.”
“The first few times, she wasn’t my agent, Dad. She was a friend. I was lonely, and I told her I wasn’t interested in a relationship. She agreed. We slept together a few more times after that, and when Lewis retired, she was the one who insisted that we were adults and we could keep the sex separate.”
He blew out his breath. “Well, it’s all a moot point now.”
“Yeah, it is.” Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my knees. I thought about Mom’s journal. “Why did you leave the PBR, Dad?”
He smiled. “The priorities in my life changed. I loved bull riding, but I missed out on so much, and I wasn’t about to keep living my life that way. When your grandfather died, I lost myself for a bit. I lost your mother for a bit, as well.”
I raised my brows.
“Thankfully, it all worked out. As far as you walking away…I know you said it was because you lost the drive for it.”
Nodding, I replied, “I did. It’s not that I don’t love it, I do. I love riding the bulls. It was all the other shit that started to get to me. It became all about the money. I made more money wearing a pair of jeans and talking about how comfortable they were while riding a bull, than I actually did riding the damn animals. When everyone started trying to control what I did outside of bull riding, that’s when I knew I was done. I’m too young to feel this old, Dad. The last couple of weeks, being home has been like Heaven.”
“I’m sure a certain pretty young lady has something to do with that.”
I grinned. “She’s just the cherry on top. With her coming into my life, I know I’ve made the right decision.”
“Madison Square the last run?”
“Yes, sir, I believe it is.”
A slow grin moved across his face. “Announce it at the end, like your uncle Brock did. No one knew he was going to retire until he said it in an interview, live on TV.”
“What will Lewis think? He already has a press release ready to go out. He’s just waiting to see how well I do.”
“Let me handle Lewis. If you end up deciding you want one more go ’round, then let’s do it. It’s going to be an interesting event either way.”
“Why do you say that?”
He leaned in closer to me, as if about to tell me a secret. “No one else knows this, but this is your uncle Ty’s last year.”
“What? He has a few bulls that are contenders, if not this year, then in the next year!”
Dad nodded. “He knows, and he’s just as tired as you. Probably more so, since he’s a hell of a lot older. With Rose getting married, most likely going to be starting a family soon, he wants to be home. Spend time with his family. I think he’s also worried about Joshua.”
“About the firefighter career?”
“Yeah. I know he was upset when Joshua told him he had no desire to follow in his daddy’s footsteps, or even work on the ranch. He tried not to show it, but he was seriously bummed out. He would never hold either of his kids back from anything, but I think a part of him blames himself for being so devoted to the bulls for so long.”