Page 12 of A Montana Rodeo Star

“Brave?” A feminine voice asked from Brent’s back. He stiffened as who could only be his mother came into view.

Faith tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah, at the rodeo.”

And just like that, she realized her mistake. Her eyes widened and she coughed, scrambling to come up with an explanation. Dang it! She was terrible at keeping secrets. Somehow the mechanism that kept her mouth shut when it came to this particular issue consistently failed.

“Rodeo?” Brent’s mother asked, turning to her son.

Faith cleared her throat again, desperately pleading with a now very upset Brent for forgiveness. How could she make this right? What could she say?

Brent ran a hand through his hair, his whole body ramrod straight. No longer at ease in the doorway, he looked about ready to bolt. “Yeah…” he murmured.

“You were at the rodeo?” his mother pressed.

“Don’t be mad,” Faith blurted, drawing the woman’s scrutiny in her direction. “My brothers like to compete. He came to support them.” Faith prayed that her explanation would be enough. Over and over in her head, she begged for something to go right. Her voice was barely a squeak as she avoided looking directly at Brent’s mother and continued her lie. Man, she hated lying. “Brent said that you don’t like the rodeo. But he wanted to support Tate and Jason. They try to compete in every event in the surrounding areas when they can. He’s a good friend.”

“Is this true?” Brent’s mother asked.

Brent shuffled, clearly uncomfortable beneath his mother’s searching gaze. “Yeah. I know you don’t like the events, so I didn’t want to worry you.”

Faith peeked at the two and inched a few paces back. She really should get going. This had been a mistake. What had she been thinking?

That it would be funny to connect over cookies. That she wanted to do something nice for him.

But she’d messed this whole thing up.

She grimaced. “I should probably get going…” Without waiting for either of them to answer, she took off. Her car was parked at the edge of the driveway to Brent’s house and yet it felt miles away.

Brent would never speak to her again. If she was lucky, he wouldn’t throw her under the bus with her brothers. Her steps were shaky at best and by the time she reached her car, Brent had managed to catch up to her.

He startled her when he placed a hand on her car door and shut it before she had a chance to open it fully.

Whirling to face him, she gasped.

Brent’s eyes darted toward the house and then he dipped his head a little closer to her. Anger still lined his features. She’d crossed the line even though she hadn’t meant to. She deserved him yelling at her for risking his neck like that.

The best part about being the invisible sister was that no one paid attention when they were talking around her. She’d heard plenty about the tension that had continued to grow between Brent and his parents. The threat to kick him out of his home had been mentioned once or twice.

She winced at the memory. The last thing she wanted to be was the thing that came between Brent and something he loved. His family. His rodeo dreams. Today she’d been just that.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I have a big mouth and sometimes I speak without realizing what the consequences could be. I wasn’t thinking. Don’t hate⁠—”

He placed two fingers to her lips to muffle her ramblings. His eyes still flickered with something. Anger? Relief? Confusion? She had no clue. But he was still on edge based on the tense way he held himself. “You don’t have to apologize.”

“But you’re mad.”

“I’m not mad.”

She gave him a pointed look. “If looks could kill? I’d be a smoldering pile of ash on your doorstep.”

Brent pulled in a deep breath as he closed his eyes. He muttered something under his breath before opening them again. “Yeah, you’re right. I was mad. I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” She barked out a laugh. “I’m the one who almost outed you to your mother. I should have known better. I shouldn’t have brought over the cookies, I should have⁠—”

“Oh, you definitely should have brought over the cookies.” His smirk was just playful enough to make her want to spend more time with him. He made her laugh and she loved that so much.

She forced herself to meet his penetrating gaze again. He was still leaning close, his hand on the car over her shoulder. It was that moment that she realized just how close they were. She could smell his shampoo, or maybe it was his body wash. There was citrus but it was paired with something woodsy.

It was amazing.