Once Upon A Rodeo

Chapter Nineteen - [Camping.]

"Do you want to come to the rodeo with me in Nashville?"

Brantley asked me the question, almost absentmindedly, as he cast a line into a river hidden deep in Hudson. I was sitting on a picnic table a few feet away, my feet dangling in the soft, early summer grass.

"All the way in Nashville?" I asked.

He turned around, played rolling his eyes at me.

"Yeah, I told you about it a few days ago. Remember? The semi finals?" He offered.

Oh, that.

The rodeo was the first place that I'd seen him. Before everything started, before I even knew that he lived in Hudson or that we would end up where we are today. I'd been attracted to him even then, and I knew it. But it scared me now. An angry, violent bull and Brantley was going to ride it.

Just the thought of it made my stomach flop nervously, but I swallowed past the thinly veiled fear because it was obvious he wanted my support.

"Of course. I'd love to go."

"My parents and Callie will be going. You can sit with them," He said. He turned and squeezed my leg for a moment. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I'll be fine. I've never gotten hurt on a bull before."

"Yet," I muttered under my breath.

Either he didn't hear me, or he did and he was distracted by the fish that was on his hook. He began to reel in for a moment, but the line went slack - the fish had gotten away.

He cussed under his breath, cast the line again and stepped a few feet backwards to sit down next to me. He put his arm around me.

"I have a surprise for you tonight," He said.

"You do?" I asked, leaning in closer to him.

"Yep. We're going camping."

"Oh, that sounds fun! I've never been camping before," I said, smiling. "But what about the horses?"

"Callie's going to drop in on them."

"That's sweet of her."

It was about three or four, and it was the time of year that Hudson was beginning to get really, really hot. I was in shorts and a tank top, my long hair pulled into a bun and out of my face.

"Where are we going camping at?"

"There's a site about ten miles up this road," Brantley said, pointing toward a dirt road off to the left of the river. "Bears and other animals generally stay away from the area since there's a lot of human traffic."

"How reassuring," I teased.

"Plus you got me," He said as he tugged on the line a few times, testing it.

"I'm not sure you'd win in a bear fight."

"Plus I got a gun."

"Okay, now I'm reassured," I said honestly.

And I could honestly say that I was. I trusted Brantley with a gun. He didn't seem like the type to handle one if he didn't know what he was doing...And he definitely seemed like the type to know what he was doing.

As he continued to fish, my mind wandered.

We hadn't had sex yet, intent on taking things slow.

I wasn't sure how much longer I could last, even though I knew waiting would be better for us both in the end anyway. I knew that he was tempted, too, but he was better at masking his emotions and feelings than I was anyway.

And what exactly was he feeling?

I let my eyes wander to where he stood on the rivers edge, excitement in his eyes as he reeled in what appeared to be a rather large fish, too. And it was, according to him. A huge catfish, he said.

I had never been fishing, so I couldn't be a judge.

We stayed for a while longer, until he had four or five fish tucked away in his cooler. He put the cooler in the back of the truck, and we got in the truck and headed up to the campsite.

I texted Callie to thank her for checking on the horses this evening, and told her where we'd be, that we'd be back in the morning and that we'd be turning off our phones. We did that, then tucked them away in the glove compartment.

The trail was bumpy, so the ride was slow. I didn't mind.

Once we got to the campsite, I helped him unload the stuff in the back of the truck.

"When did you even get this back here?" I asked, teasing him as he pulled the cooler full of fish, then the cooler full of food and drinks out of the back.

"Last night," He said slyly.

"And the ice in the coolers?" I asked.

"When you were having lunch with Callie, before we came out here."

"You're really sneaky, you know that?" I asked.

He shrugged.

"Maybe you just don't pay attention," He teased.

I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, so how do we set this thing up?" I asked, picking up the bag with the tent in it.

"I'll show you."

We picked a flat part of the ground about ten feet away from where the fire pit was, and he explained how to set the tent up. It took a long while, but we eventually got it up. He'd brought a two person sleeping bag and plenty of pillows and blankets in case it got cold.

x

"I wanna do this more often," I said.

We were sitting on a log, and watching the fish he'd caught earlier fry in the fire. He'd cut them apart so cleanly and efficiently it was obvious he'd been doing it most of his life.

"We can arrange that," He said, kissing me on the forehead.

As the sun set, we ate our dinner. It was delicious, and we topped it off with quite a few s'mores. Brantley had a beer, and I just had a soda.

"Come here, there's something I wanna show you," He said, standing up and grabbing my hand. On the way away from the campsite, he grabbed a blanket.

My heart fluttered as I followed him.

He led me through the dense woods that the campsite was located in, to a small clearing. There was a break in the trees large enough to see the night sky. He laid the blanket out on the ground, and we laid on it.

We were on our backs, with my head resting on his shoulder.

After chatting for a few long moments, we stayed silent as we soaked up our surroundings. There was no noise apart from the chirping of the crickets and the hooting of the owls.

"This is beautiful," I said. "You're good at surprises."

I stretched up, kissing him before snuggling back down to where I'd been.

"I'm glad you like it, sweetheart."

His words were genuine, but there was something different about his voice. Not bad, but...Like he was thinking about something.

"What's on your mind?" I asked.

"Just a question I have," He said.

"What's that?"

He sat up suddenly, causing myself to prop up on my elbows to look at him. He turned to me, a contemplative look on his face. A determined look.

"I want you to be my girlfriend."

Author's Note: HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!! <3 Hope all of you mother's are having a wonderful day. Woo! Update! Wooooo! They might be "official". (Finally.) Sorry it took so long, but I've been very busy and sick TWICE within the last month. Shitty, shitty luck. But here it is! I know it's corny, but I know that this is something that Brantley would do in real life and I wasn't about to stray from that. 

P.S If you have tumblr, follow me. :) I've made a new tumblr. http://j-thedreamer.tumblr.com