Once Upon A Rodeo

Four - [Apollo.]

Too much wine.

In the late hours of the morning, the sun had long since risen. I was lying on by bed, for the second time, fully clothed and on top of the covers. I'd drank entirely too much wine. Sleepily, I opened my eyes.

The world was tilting on it's axis much faster than usual, causing the walls to blur past me only within the confines of my own bedroom. I shut my eyes tightly, willing the jarring movements to stop.

Below me, I heard the light footsteps that told me that Rose was also awake. I took a deep breath before sitting up slowly. I would need a lot of coffee to make it with out sleeping the day away. I shrugged on a hoodie and lumbered down the stairs.

Rose was sitting on the couch, shuffling through her purse for something. She turned around, smiling when she saw me.

"Well, good morning sunshine!" She said brightly.

I shook my head, grumbling under my breath as I walked through the door that connected the living room and kitchen. Rose laughed a little bit, getting up to follow me. I didn't know why she was being so chipper. I fumbled with the coffee pot for a moment.

"Not feeling so well?" She asked, sliding into one of the seats at the table tucked away in the corner. She was already dressed, her light blonde hair pulled into a pony tail.

"I'll feel better after I get some coffee," I answered, allowing the corners of my mouth to turn up in a smile. Already, the smell of the coffee was wafting it's way through the kitchen. It had always been my hangover picker-upper.

"You haven't drank in a while, have you?" She teased.

"I haven't," I admitted. I eyed how she was dressed, noting they weren't the clothes she had came in the previous night. "Going somewhere?"

She frowned, and checked her watch.

"Work, unfortunately. I was supposed to have today off, but my parents called me this morning to cover for the weekend manager."

She left the house a few moments later, mumbling under her breath in a rather irritated tone about the laziness of her fellow employees. Before I had come downstairs, I had intended to clean up the place. But I found that Rose had already done it.

With nothing else to do, I reorganized the clothes in my closet and dresser, for when I'd gotten there I had organized them rather haphazardly.

Knock, knock, knock.

I had just been coming down the stairs when I heard the knock at the door. Thinking Rose had left something, I opened the door with a grin.

"Did you forget something, R-"

I was cut off when I realized that the person at my door was not my childhood friend, but Brantley Nash. For a split second, I thought I'd seen his eyes narrow. But the expression left as quickly as it came, making me wonder if I'd imagined it.

Who was he thinking that I was expecting?

"Um, hello," I said awkwardly.

Brantley was wearing jeans over worn cowboy boots, a plain black t-shirt and a cowboy hat. He offered me a small, rather forced smile and took off his hat. Even with that expression, he was very handsome.

"Hello, Miss Valentine."

I found myself rather surprised at his formality. It was much different from his very rude departure when I'd met him the other night.

"Please, call me Kennedy. Not to be rude, but..." I began, unsure how to word it with out sounding like a bitch. After a second, I settled. "How did you know where I live?"