CHAPTER 81

jackson

S neaking West into my room proved to be more of a fucking feat than I wanted. In the end, I gave him my only key and told the main desk I’d locked myself out. I hated it, but it was easier to avoid people that way.

The last thing I needed was for some misconstrued gossip article to end up on the internet about me and West. Amy would kill me, and I had no idea how West would handle it. We hadn’t talked about that part of my life. While I wasn’t some famous celebrity, the circuit was popular. I did interviews, ads, and dealt with our version of paparazzi—also known as the idiots who had too much time on their hands and followed us around looking for a story. I wasn’t an idiot. Five minutes on the internet and they’d dig up shit on West that would cause the kind of issue that’d have Amy banging down my door.

“Should I bring a fucking pizza next time?” West teased as he let himself into my room. “Pretend I’m the goddamn delivery boy.”

“I think me hooking up with the delivery boy would piss Amy off,” I commented. I’d gotten caught doing that shit when I was nineteen. I still had yet to live down the pizza boy fiasco. Hell, half the time I ordered pizza and sent her a picture when I was mad just to fuck with her.

I took his face in my hands and kissed him, overwhelmingly grateful that he was there. West moaned as my tongue swept through his mouth. He inched closer, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Hey, cowboy,” he whispered, his forehead tipping against mine.

“Hey, baby.” Fuck, I couldn’t believe he was here. “I’m glad you showed up.”

He just nodded, eyes still shut. I hugged him tight and felt the exhaustion as he leaned into me. This was more than just not having slept. West didn’t like dealing with the occasional random person—I knew it made him anxious, even if he never told me out loud. Dealing with the chaos of the animal sales area had probably been too much for him.

“All right,” I pulled away, “to bed with you.”

I took him by the shoulders and steered him to the bed. He didn’t sit. No, he straight up just dropped back on the bed. There was no effort to get comfortable as he let out a heavy sigh and just lay there.

Clearly, I had to intervene. Crouching, I untied his boots and slipped them off. I expected him to move, but he didn’t.

“You know you can use the whole bed,” I said. When he didn’t move, I went around the side and stared down at him. Bracing on the mattress, I brushed his hair away from his forehead.

“If I kiss you, are you going to wake up?” I wondered aloud.

“I’m not a fucking Disney princess,” he mumbled.

“Your way with animals is pretty fucking magical,” I hummed.

“Fuck off.” That sleepy, lopsided smile he gave me didn’t back up the threat.

“Get your sexy ass on that pillow, baby,” I ordered and gave his shoulder a nudge. “You need to sleep.”

“I need a power nap.” He groaned as he rolled, just barely making it to the pillow. I smiled, watching the way he dragged the pillow and blanket to his chest. The action had become something of a comfort behavior for him. I adored it.

“You need more than a power nap.”

“Nah. Just a power nap and I’ll be fine. ”

“Look, I have shit to do all day anyway,” I said. “I ain’t riding tonight, but I do have to show up to the rodeo opening. We’re picking bulls tonight.”

Tonight was all about showmanship and kicking things off—building the excitement. The first stop on the tour was the only one we usually drew bulls at. It always drove things sky-high for the crowd. After that, we were randomly matched.

I didn’t ride until tomorrow, but there was no way I could miss tonight. Not unless the world came to an end. But West didn’t need to be there for that.

“You sleep,” I reiterated. “You don’t need to be there for that shit.”

“Yeah, but I came here to do all that boyfriend stuff. I can’t sleep through all of it,” West muttered. I held my tongue at the boyfriend comment. This wasn’t the time for that conversation. Though, hearing him refer to himself as my boyfriend made my fucking day. “Power nap.”

“Baby, you need your sleep.”

“I’m fine,” he snapped once more. I fell silent, staring at my watch to count the minutes of quiet. West made no effort to continue the conversation. It took no more than three minutes for him to completely pass out on me. Power nap my ass. He’d be out for hours.

But I also knew how bad he’d feel if he missed anything, so I set an alarm and wrote him a note with instructions for when he woke up. If he slept through the alarm, at least I tried.