Chapter Text
“Come on, Rumi,” Zoey dragged her name out as she flopped over the clean pile of clothes thrown over Rumi’s bed. “It’s just two weeks, like a vacation, and we get to see some cute animals and maybe even some cowgirls.”
Rumi stepped out her closet, hands on her hips as she looked at her best friend rolling atop her clothes.
“Zoey, I just washed those,” Rumi pushed Zoey until she dramatically flopped on to the floor, fake tears springing in her eyes. “I told you I’m not going. I am not built to be in a rodeo.”
“But you won’t be in the rodeo. You’ll just be at the rodeo,” Zoey flopped her upper half back onto the bed. “There’s a huge difference! Besides, everyone else is going! You’d literally be the only one staying home and if I have to sit in the car with Jinu alone, I’m probably going to toss him out the window. You’re the only one that is capable of stopping that from happening because you can actually get him to shut the fuck up.”
Rumi continued pulling articles of clothing onto her hangers, rolling her eyes as she heard her other best friend’s name, “I hate Jinu. Why would I agree to go on an almost eight hour car ride with him when I can just stay home, in peace, and not at a rodeo where I definitely will not fit in.”
“Rumi, you’ve been friends with Jinu since fifth grade. I understand that he’s easy to hate because he’s so annoying, but you can’t voluntarily be friends with someone that long and say you hate them. It’s not possible,” Zoey deadpanned.
“You know what I mean, Zoey. It’s a love hate relationship. I just need him to find a man so he can leave me alone once in a while,” Rumi threw her clothes back on the bed and let her best friends gaze. “But that’s besides the point. I’m not going to the rodeo. End of story. I have too much work to do anyway.”
Zoey squinted her eyes, gaze pondering, before popping up to her full height and crossing her arms over her chest.
“You leave me no choice then,” Zoey lifted her chin and stood on her tippy toes so she could look Rumi square in the eyes. “I didn’t want to do this but…I’m invoking best friend rule number seventeen.”
Rumi’s eyebrows pinched tight.
“Best friends rule number sevent—,” Rumi’s eyes widened with a gasp. “Zoey, no. No, no, no. Don’t do this to me, please!”
Zoey smirked and disappeared into her closet. A few seconds later, her suitcase came rolling out and bounced against her legs, Zoey not far behind it.
“Oh, I’m so doing it. You’re coming with us. No ‘if, ands, or buts’,” Zoey smiled brightly before backing up towards her bedroom door, pointing towards her suitcase as she went. “Pack your bags! We’ll be here at four to pick you up!”
Rumi slapped her arms down against her legs, “Zoey! I’m not going! This isn’t going to work on me!”
Zoey quickly popped her head back into the room, her finger pointing accusingly at Rumi, “You know what happens if you break the rule Rumi.”
“We were teenagers when we made that rule, Zo,” Rumi pouted. “You can’t make me go somewhere I don’t want to because of a silly rule.”
Zoey gasped dramatically, hand to her chest as she stepped back through the door, “A ‘silly rule’? You wound me. We’ve lived by these rules for years! You can’t suddenly decide you don’t want to just because I’m using rule seventeen against you. Now that I think about it, you just used one of our rules two days ago!”
Rumi clenched her teeth together and looked at her best friend in mock confusion.
“Did I though?”
“Yes! You did! Rule number four: we always alternate who picks where or what we eat. And I was dying to go to that new burger joint over on Glover St. but you just had to have eggrolls from granny’s place so you invoked the rule because it was your turn to pick!” Zoey stood firm in her story…the one that actually happened and that Rumi was very aware of.
Rumi stared at her, brain trying to form any kind of retort to her best friend’s words, “Okay. Maybe I used one of our best friend rules. But that is completely different from me leaving for two weeks to go to some rodeo!”
“Pack your bags!” Zoey sang, waving over her shoulder as she officially left Rumi’s bedroom, then her apartment.
Rumi stood in the now silent room, her hands limp at her sides as she stared where Zoey once stood. She silently cursed her fifteen year old self for even thinking of making that list of rules with Zoey. Because now, it looked like she would be going on a six and a half hour drive to a rodeo. At least not if she didn’t want to…
Her skin crawled at the thought of her punishment if she didn’t submit to rule seventeen.
That was definitely something she’d rather not have to do.
Rumi sighed and looked at the pile of clothes still sitting on her bed.
“Guess I’ll just pack you instead of hang you,” Rumi muttered bitterly to herself as she reached for her suitcase.
“That is hilarious,” Jinu wiped a tear from his eye as Zoey finished telling him just how she was able to get Rumi to go to the rodeo. “I can’t believe you pulled best friend rule number seventeen on her. You may annoy me, but sometimes I really love you.”
“Aw,” Zoey cooed as she scrolled through her phone. “I can’t say the same because you still irritate the shit out of me.”
Rumi snorted from the backseat as Jinu put a hand to his chest like he’d been wounded.
“And here I thought we were beginning to bond,” Jinu fake cried.
Zoey gave him a look that read “really?”.
“It’ll take a freaking miracle for us to ever get anywhere close to bonding.”
Rumi shook her head, “You guys are so dramatic. You act like you don’t go to the arcade every Sunday together. Or do movie nights without me. And whatever else you both do when I’m busy with work.”
“I only tolerate her existence when I can’t hang out with you, Rumi. I’d rather have bad company than no company,” Jinu reasoned as he glanced at her through the review mirror.
Zoey’s hand shot out and pinched his arm, “My company is way better than yours. At least I’m not crying over how single I am all the damn time.”
“Damn, calling me out like that when all I want is a boyfriend. Rude.”
“Please tell me we’re almost there,” Rumi groaned from the backseat as Jinu and Zoey began bickering even louder.
Jinu paused his silly insults towards Zoey to divinely smile over his shoulder.
“Still six hours to go!”
Rumi’s groan deepened and she simply pulled her headphone over her ears to drown out her best friend’s ever rising voices.
“Okay my dears. You’ll be in connecting rooms eleven and twelve. Here are your keys.”
Rumi gratefully accepted the old fashioned keys as Jinu finished signing the paperwork that was handed to him. Zoey took the one with the little ‘12’ keychain dangling at the end and marveled at its rustic appearance.
“I didn’t know places still used real keys for hotels,” Zoey whispered to her as she handed the key back to Rumi.
“Well, we are probably in the smallest and oldest hotel in the area,” Rumi whispered back, looking around the timely decorated lobby.
It looked more like they’d walked into an old bed and breakfast then an actual hotel. The furniture was old and rustic, almost like walking into someone’s grandparent’s house that owned a farm. All dark oak and floral patterns and paintings of mountains and horses with an old grandfather clock near the entrance. It felt homey in a way Rumi couldn’t explain. Not when she was so used to marble countertops and monotone colors.
“It was either this or the moldy motel six down the road,” Jinu informed as he walked up between them. “Even though it’s old, this one had way better reviews…though there were only two of them.”
“I’d rather take two reviews over mold any day,” Zoey laughed as she led them out of the lobby. “Plus, I think this place is cute. I just don’t remember seeing it the last time I was here.”
Jinu walked over to the car, unlocking it as he moved to the trunk so they could grab their bags.
“I keep forgetting you’ve been here before. When was the last time you visited?”
Rumi watched Zoey visibly count back the time on her fingers as she took her suitcase from Jinu.
“Like a year ago? Yeah, a little over a year. I came with Mystery right before last year’s rodeo because I had that work event at the same time and couldn’t go to that one,” Zoey nodded, recalling her last visit to the little town. She blindly reached out to take her bag from Jinu while looking at Rumi with the largest eyes. “I’m so glad I won’t miss it this year and you guys get to experience it with me! You’ll love all the events and the food. You’re going to die over the fried oreos!”
“Fried oreos?” Rumi asked like she’d never heard of such a thing.
Jinu slammed the trunk shut and looked at his best friend in disbelief, “Don’t you dare tell us you’ve never even heard of fried oreos.”
“Uh,” Rumi stood awkwardly next to the car, eyes darting between Jinu and Zoey, who also was giving her a crazy look. “No?”
“No?” Zoey dropped her bag and shook Rumi by the shoulders. “You’ve never heard of fried oreos? Who are you and how have we been best friends for so long and I didn’t know this?”
Jinu leaned down and grabbed Zoey’s bag before bypassing them with a shake of his head, “I guess I know the first thing we’ll be doing when we go to the rodeo.”
Zoey threw her arm around a confused Rumi’s shoulders and began guiding them behind Jinu as he walked towards their rooms.
“No doubt we’ll be buying the rodeo out of all of their fried oreos because, since I know you like snacks the same way I do,” Zoey looked at Rumi pointedly. “You’ll never want to stop eating them after you’ve had your first one.”
“If you say so,” Rumi sighed.
The calm murmur along the sidewalks and asphalt were certainly a huge switch up for Rumi.
She was used to two in the morning police sirens, someone yelling crazily at their friend as they walked down the sidewalk, music blaring through a car’s open windows as it passed down the street, and just about every other city sound that could come to mind. It was the exact reason she now walked around with fully charged headphones and a very meticulously planned playlist when she had to step foot outside of her apartment.
But here, everyone they passed seemed polite, maybe even nice, and were quiet. The loudest noise they’d come across so far was the faint music spilling outside of an ice cream shop’s open doorway. Granted, there seemed to be only one main road that they currently walked down, so there couldn’t be much else around to actually make much noise.
“I didn’t realize this town was so small,” Rumi leaned over and whispered to Jinu as they passed by an old antique shop.
“To be fair,” Jinu glanced ahead at Zoey to make sure she wasn’t listening. “We are in the middle of fucking nowhere for a rodeo. My expectations of there being a giant shopping mall and amusement park weren’t that high to begin with. Though, I will say, I was expecting more tumbleweeds. Maybe a few horses.”
Rumi rolled her eyes and scoffed, “Tumbleweeds? Really? This isn’t some old western movie, Jinu.”
“We passed through miles of open fields to get here and not a single tumbleweed. It was a disappointment really,” Jinu shook his head like he’d been personally offended by the lack of tumbleweeds.
Rumi laughed at her best friend, eyes dancing over the streets for a moment before doing a double take at the sight moving down the street.
“Well, there’s your horse.”
Ahead of them, Zoey cooed as Rumi and Jinu simply watched with blatant surprise as a man dressed in full cowboy gear perched atop a horse trotted down the empty street. He tipped his hat towards them as he passed, eyes lingering on Rumi until he disappeared into the distance. Rumi stood there, stunned, her brain buzzing from the unusual method of getting around town. Living in the city, she’d seen a lot of crazy methods of people trying to get around the crazy hustle and bustle of the streets faster…but she’d never seen anyone use a horse.
That form of transportation was honestly not the craziest thing because, hell, horses were what people used to get around everywhere hundreds of years ago. But her smog filled brain for some reason thought it was just the wildest thing.
“Well, you don’t see that in the city,” Jinu laughed and began guiding her to move back down the sidewalk.
“Oh my gosh, it was so adorable!” Zoey squealed as she finally fell back into step next to them. “I can’t wait to see more at the rodeo tomorrow!”
Jinu peered around Rumi to give Zoey a quizzical look, “Speaking of rodeos. What time do we have to be there? Because if you say any time before eleven am on a Saturday, I am not voluntarily going.”
Zoey just rolled her eyes, “It doesn’t start until three so calm down. We’ll have plenty of time to rest and recoup in the morning from tonight.”
“Tonight?” Rumi cocked an eyebrow. “What’s tonight?”
“We’re going out,” Zoey waggled her eyebrows as they finally reached their destination.
Rumi’s eyes flickered over to the old school country diner that Zoey was now opening the door to and just above said door, was a neon sign read ‘Suzie’s Diner’. The place was all old oak and vinyl leather and bustling with life, even more than the sidewalks outside. A row of men in cowboy boots and dusty hat sat at the serving bar drinking coffee from old ceramic mugs, a small group of children sat in the corner booth giggling and scribbling crayons over paper menus, and an old juke box played an old tune on the far wall to their left.
She could tell the place was well-loved, even despite it probably being the only eating establishment in town. The warmth of life and home just seemed to seep out of the walls and linger in the air in a pleasant way.
“Welcome to Suzie’s!” An older woman, her nametag reading ‘Mary Jane’, suddenly popped up in front of them with a bright smile. “Y’all can have a seat wherever you like. I’ll be with y’all in a moment.”
Rumi shuffled behind her friends, feeling a little bit out of her element as she slid across the faux leather into an empty booth. It wasn’t that she’d never been in a diner before, it was just that Rumi had never been in one like this. Here, everyone seemed to know each other with the way they conversed between booths and laughed loudly across the diner. The waitress gave a familiar smile to all the other patrons like she’d seen them every day for years. Even the cook was peering through the serving hatch and talking to the group of men she’d noticed earlier while he was cooking.
People didn’t know each other like this, not at the places Rumi had ever been to.
It definitely threw her a bit off balance.
“Hi, everyone. I’m Mary Jane and I’ll be your waitress since I’m the only one here,” Mary Jane happily appeared at the end of their table and handed them a couple of menus before letting her eyes dart around the group. “I take it y’all aren’t from around here?”
“Is it that obvious?” Jinu laughed.
“Considering I know every face that walks through that door? Yes. Very. I’ve seen her face before,” Mary Jane pointed towards a smiling Zoey before flickering between Rumi and Jinu. “But not the two of you.”
“What about the people from the rodeo?” Rumi asked honestly. There had to be more than just them that were new in town with something as large as the rodeo going on. “Surely you get new people during it.”
Mary Jane just laughed, “That rodeo has happened every summer for the last sixty years. The only new faces I see from that are the new little kiddos that are born after it. Everyone else, I’ve met at least once before and I don’t forget a face. Maybe a name but never a face.”
Rumi found it a little hard to believe that during such a big event that they were the only new faces. It felt highly unlikely.
“I’ll go ahead and take your drink orders so y’all can look over the menu. What’ll y’all be havin’?” Mary Jane readied her little notepad for their order.
After quickly voicing their drinks, Mary Jane disappeared from their table. Rumi’s eyes peered around the lively diner before diving into her menu.
“What is biscuits and gravy even supposed to be?” Rumi muttered mostly to herself but was unaware that her friends could still hear her over the loud chatter.
Zoey tried to hold back a ridiculous snort but failed, “It’s exactly what you just said. Biscuits and gravy. That’s it.”
“I know that,” Rumi deadpanned. “But like…who eats it?”
“We’re really going to have to ban you from going to that organic café because your lack of variety in food is really hurting my soul,” Jinu placed a hand to his chest and let his head fall onto Zoey’s shoulder.
“When was the last time you had anything other than avocado toast for lunch, Rumi?” Zoey asked, pushing Jinu’s head off her shoulder and letting it thwack against the table.
Rumi sat back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest, “I don’t always have avocado toast for lunch. Sometimes I have an egg salad sandwich or a salad from that place right by my apartment.”
Jinu groaned against the table where his head still rested, “No one really likes an egg salad sandwich.”
“I do,” Rumi shrugged.
Zoey just shook her head and snatched the menu from in front of Rumi and smacked it against her braid, “I’m going to order for you and you’re going to eat it. These two weeks we’re going to be expanding your taste buds whether you like it or not.”
Rumi sighed, already resigning herself to whatever food was going to be sat in front of her. There was no arguing with Zoey when she used the tone she’d just heard. She could try ordering for herself, but Zoey would more than likely just dive across the table and cover her hand with her mouth and order for her before sending the waitress away without another word.
And Rumi did not want to cause a scene when they’d only just got into town.
“Okay, my dears,” Mary Jane appeared with two arm fulls of plates and began setting them across the table. “I’ve got a pork chop dinner with hashbrowns, country fried steak and gravy with mashed potatoes, and, last but not least, biscuits and gravy with sunny-side eggs and bacon.”
Rumi’s tummy rumbled as the smell of the food wafted under her nose. It had been a very long while since she’d had this kind of food set in front of her. Her job kept her busy enough that most of the time she was ordering food to go at the organic café Jinu had mentioned earlier. It was enough to keep her going and healthy enough in her mind that she didn’t really think twice about eating the same thing almost every day.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like other foods, it was just that her brain was too preoccupied about other things to really concern herself with eating anything different. Her work was always a much more pressing matter.
Rumi picked up her fork and poked at the lump of biscuit hiding under the thick gravy. It smelled amazing, probably the best out of all the other food that her friends were currently digging into.
“Go ahead, darling. I know you’ll love it. No one can resist Seth’s biscuits and gravy,” Mary Jane patted her shoulder. “Y’all need anything else before I step away?”
Jinu and Zoey mumbled a few ‘no’s’ through full mouths as Rumi shook her head and offered her a kind smile.
“I think we’re all good for now. Thank you.”
Mary Jane nodded happily before moving over to the corner booth still filled with giggling children. Rumi watched as the older woman checked on them, patting one of their heads and complementing them on their drawing they’d scribbled on the back of their menu. She was so used to seeing children with their faces stuffed into tablets and phones and almost completely cut off from most social interaction. It was quite nice to hear their lively little laughs and to see them complimenting each other on their drawings and actually socializing.
Rumi ducked her head, smile lifting at the corners of her mouth as she turned her attention back to her food. She dug her fork into for a nice helping before she could change her mind and shoved it into her mouth. The gravy was thick in her mouth but still tasteful and hot and the biscuit was surprisingly soft and fluffy. Not at all like some biscuits she’d had in the past that could have almost been considered hockey pucks with how hard they were.
The taste was overall pleasant enough that Rumi would possibly consider ordering them herself if they came back. Which was probably highly likely considering it seemed to be the only place in town to get a decent meal.
“Oh, about earlier,” Rumi began after she swallowed her food. Zoey and Jinu both looked up from their plates, cheeks stuffed to the max like they hadn’t eaten in weeks. She could only snort at the sight. “What did you mean by ‘we’re going out’?”
Zoey forcibly swallowed her food and chugged about half of her water before answering.
“Exactly what it means, Ru. We’re going out. Mystery invited everyone to the bar here in town so we could all get some drinks and mingle a bit before tomorrow’s craziness.”
Jinu perked up from his plate, “Drinks and hot cowboys? Sign me up.”
“No, please. Not a bar,” Rumi groaned and took another bite of her food, smaller this time.
“It’ll be fun. I promise,” Zoey tried as Rumi just shook her head. “You can’t be a party pooper and not go to the bar on the first night, Rumi. It’s rude to ignore an invite here. Everyone is going to be there.”
Rumi just hung her head, “That’s almost exactly what you said right before you evoked best friend rule number seventeen and forced me here.”
Jinu snorted a laugh into his plate, “I still can’t believe you did that, Zo.”
“She gave me no choice,” Zoey gestured her open hand towards a pouty Rumi. “It was either that or let her wallow in misery back at home so I’m not sorry about it.”
“I would not be wallowing in misery,” Rumi rolled her eyes. “I would literally be on my couch doing what I do best, working.”
Zoey leaned forward and pinned Rumi with wide eyes, “Exactly my point. Misery. You work too much. You need to get out, live a little. Stop hiding behind your camera.”
“I like being behind my camera very much, thank you,” Rumi gasped like she’d been offended. “And I get out more than enough. I’m not some hermit. I do things.”
Jinu took that moment to interject himself back into the conversation, “Okay, then when was the last time you got laid?”
Rumi’s cheeks burned as the older couple behind Jinu and Zoey peeked over at them with narrowed eyes.
“Would you lower your voice,” Rumi hissed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Getting laid has nothing to do with living. I can still live a life without sex.”
Zoey and Jinu shared a look before glancing back at Rumi.
“Oh, honey,” Zoey sighed and reached across the table to pat her hand. “We’ll find someone to help you out of this crazy spell because the words ‘life without sex’ should never be said together. It’s illegal.”
“She’s right,” Jinu muttered through a bite of his porkchop.
“There’s plenty of cowboys and cowgirls around here who I’m sure would be up for a ride with you,” Zoey waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Rumi quickly chewed her food while she shook her head, “Absolutely not. I’m not having a one night stand.”
Jinu pointed his fork in her direction, “It doesn’t have to be a one night stand. We’re here for two weeks. Why not let your dusty bits get some much needed attention for once.”
Rumi choked as the words ‘dusty bits’ left Jinu’s mouth. Zoey laughed beside him as she shoved more food into her mouth.
“I hate you both,” Rumi wheezed before sipping on her drink.
“You love us,” Zoey and Jinu voiced together as they shared a high five.
Brown eyes angrily glared at them as they continued to eat. Rumi pushed her own half eaten plate aside, appetite now gone as she leaned back against the faux leather. She let her eyes flicker over the diner and tried to ignore the itch to pull out her phone and check her work email. Zoey had banned anything and everything work related for her two week vacation, stating that she ‘desperately needed it before she became a walking zombie’. Whatever that meant.
The door to the diner swung open, catching Rumi’s eye as a tall figure walked in.
Her breath lodged in her throat as she locked in on the woman now walking over to the serving bar. She was all sharp features and long pink hair flowing down her back in soft waves, dressed in a simple cotton tee and dark jeans that hugged her frame just right. Her well-worn boots scuffed against the laminate flooring as she stopped in front of the old cash register sitting behind the counter. She set a white hat off to the side as she smiled at Mary Jane who suddenly appeared from the kitchen.
Rumi watched their interaction –the familiar smiles and soft spoken words drew Rumi’s creative eye in. If she took their picture at that moment, they’d be a beautiful ad piece for the diner…if they even did advertising.
The woman laughed at something Mary Jane said before leaning a hip against the counter and letting her eyes roam over the expanse of the diner. Her dark eyes quickly found Rumi’s now startled ones and she found herself unable to look away despite her racing heart and flushed cheeks at being caught staring.
Those brown eyes narrowed a fraction as she let her eyes wander over Rumi’s form before she slowly tipped her head in her direction. Rumi could only raise her hand in a tiny wave, blush deepening as the woman smiled softly before turning back to Mary Jane. She continued to watch them converse as the older woman handed over a plastic bag with a styrofoam box.
She’d already been caught. What was the harm in looking a little longer?
Rumi swallowed thickly as the woman handed over a small wad of cash with long, strong fingers before grabbing her hat and walking back towards the door. She stopped suddenly at the threshold, eyes peering back over at Rumi as she placed her hat onto her head. The rim tipped towards her in a silent gesture that had places burning that Rumi hadn’t felt in a long time before walking out of the diner.
“Looks like you’ll be going for a cowgirl then,” Zoey startled her out of her stare, surprised to find her best friend turning back around from looking at the door. “She was hot and she took an interest in you.”
“An interest in me?” Rumi waved her off with a scoff. “We just looked at each other. That’s it. There was no interest.”
“Anyone with eyes could clearly see that she was checking you out,” Jinu spoke, popping up into Rumi’s vision. “She only had eyes for you. She didn’t even see us looking at her. And that wave you did? The smile she gave you? Clearly, there’s interest.”
Rumi just sunk further into her seat and sipped on her drink, “She was just being polite. Besides, it’s not like we’ll see her again.”
“Ru, we’re in a town where the population is less than four thousand people,” Zoey countered while Rumi grumbled around her straw. “And we’re here for two weeks. It’s not if we’ll see her again, it’s when.”
Rumi just glared at her friends over her cup. Jinu suddenly pretended to swing a lasso in the air and moved his hips in his seat.
“Looks like your dusty bits might be going for a ride with a cowgirl.”
A piece of ice flew across the table and smacked Jinu right between the eyes.
Rumi let out a heavy sigh as she inspected her outfit in the mirror.
What she was normally more than comfortable wearing back home suddenly had her feeling completely out of her skin here in this small town.
She adjusted the rolled sleeves of her oversized blazer before lifting it and inspecting the simple white shirt and black skirt combo underneath. It was simple, safe, but she knew she’d stick out like a giant sore thumb in the middle of the country bar the moment she walked in the door.
Though, it wasn’t like she was given much time to prepare for this trip. She didn’t have any flannel or cowgirl boots just waiting in the back of her closet. The only other option would have been another blazer in a different color or the black mini dress that she’d packed for some reason. But she wasn’t up for showing that much skin just yet…if at all.
“Please don’t tell me you’re wearing that.”
Zoey stepped out of the bathroom and eyed Rumi’s outfit with a worried look.
Rumi dropped her blazer and turned away from the mirror to face Zoey. If she stared into it any longer she’d somehow convince herself that going in her striped pajama set would be better than this.
“It was literally all I had, Zoey. You didn’t exactly give me ample warning to find clothes for the occasion and I don’t exactly have a spare pair of spurs just sitting in my dresser,” Rumi huffed.
Zoey walked over to her mess of a suitcase situated on her bed and began digging through it, “I’m smaller than you so I’m not sure anything of mine will fit but we can try.”
“It’s fine, Zoey. I’m going to go in this. It’s not like I’m going to impress anyone.”
“That’s exactly the reason you’re going. What if hot cowgirl is there?” Zoey whined and threw her clothes back into her suitcase.
Rumi plopped down on her bed so she could pull her shoes on, “First off, I’m not going because I want to see the ‘hot cowgirl’. Second, if she’s there, and I don’t care if she is or isn’t, then she’ll see me. Not some version of myself just trying to fit into a crowd I have no idea how to belong in. Her crowd.”
“You’re right,” Zoey sighed and flung herself onto the bed next to Rumi. “Plus, I’m sure they’d clock you as a city girl from a mile away. Even in a full country getup. Let’s face it, you weren’t made for country life.”
“Gee, thanks,” Rumi deadpanned as she finished tying her shoes. She inspected Zoey’s outfit and smiled warmly. “You, on the other hand, could totally infiltrate the rodeo without raising red flags. You fit right in.”
Zoey sprung up from the bed and did a little twirl to show off the long, flowing skirt, denim vest, and slightly scuffed boots.
“Right? As long as they don’t put me on a bull, they’d never know I wasn’t one of them,” Zoey puffed out her chest proudly. She clicked her heels together and lifted her skirt to show off her shoes. “I have to thank Mystery again for buying these for me the last time I was here. The boots are what sells the outfit.”
Rumi inspected the brown boots and looked down at her own shoes, a pair of well-loved white sneakers, “If I had some boots of my own, I probably wouldn’t stand out as much. They’re cute. I don’t think I’d mind getting a pair.”
“We can go tomorrow and get you some before the rodeo!” Zoey bounced back on the balls of her feet and clapped excitedly. “Then you can wear them all week instead of your vans that I can’t believe you brought with you!”
“There’s nothing wrong with my vans!”
“No, but I know how you are with them,” Zoey pointed to the shoe bag next to her suitcase that housed her precious vans. “You brought them to a place where you one hundred percent are going to get dirt on them. You freak out when even the tiniest of smudges gets on them.”
Rumi visibly winced at the mention of dirt touching her shoes.
“Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have brought them. It was a bad decision on my part,” Rumi shrugged and just held up her foot to show off the old sneakers now on her feet. “I can just wear these. They’ve seen better days so I won’t mind dirt on them.”
Zoey flicked the sneaker before Rumi dropped it, “At least those won’t stick out as much as the vans, I guess.”
Just as Rumi went to respond, the door connecting theirs to Jinu’s flung open, bouncing against the wall and rattling it in its hinges. Jinu stepped though, decked out in dark denim, a white tank top, flannel unbuttoned and hanging loosely over his shoulders and a brand new pair of boots on his feet. And atop his head was a brown cowboy hat, tipped low as he stepped into the room with a dramatic flare.
“Ladies,” He greeted in a heavy country accent. “Y’all ready to head out to this shindig?”
“Jinu,” Zoey hissed while tossing the tv remote at him. He yelped as it bounced off his chest before clattering to the floor. “Learn to knock! We could have been naked!”
Jinu winced, eyes darting between Rumi and Zoey for a moment before rolling his eyes and moving to seat himself next to Rumi. “You’re completely right. I’m sorry. Don’t want myself going blind because I saw either one of you naked. God forbid.”
Rumi lifted her foot and, with a wicked smirk to Zoey, kicked him straight off the bed. Both girls giggled as his ass harshly met the ground.
“Okay, okay. Enough bullying me,” Jinu whined, rubbing his tailbone as he stood from the floor. “Let’s get moving before we miss the first round of drinks.”
If Rumi thought she was slightly out of her element at the diner, she was not prepared for what awaited her at the bar.
The tiny parking lot was completely packed, with trucks and cars even parking all over the grass field next to it. People mingled outside, shrouded in crazy colors from the many neon beer signs that hung in the windows. Rumi’s blazer felt heavy on her shoulders as she raked her eyes over the sea of cowboy hats and boots.
“They’re all inside! Let’s go!”
Zoey stuffed her phone back into her little bag and pulled her further along, Jinu following close behind. The bar, thankfully, had only been a ten minute walk from their hotel and Zoey had just told Mystery they’d meet everyone there.
Even before they walked onto the property, the people standing outside eyed Rumi wearily, like she was something that wasn’t wanted in their space. It was even worse when they stepped inside the bar.
The space was unsurprisingly crowded. A large bar sat on the far wall crowded with people and bartenders and an assortment of beer bottles, a big difference from the mixed drinks Rumi was used to seeing the very few times she did go out. In the center of the bar was a large dance floor decked out with bright lights and a surprisingly updated dj’s booth. Everyone moved in a perfect rhythm to the loud music, boots scuffing across the floor with heavy thumps.
As they moved in a little further, Rumi began feeling the telltale prickle of eyes against her back. This time heavier than when they’d been outside.
She knew they’d stare. Who wouldn’t when someone was wearing a blazer in a flannel world?
“Zoey! Over here!”
Zoey began bouncing happily, arms flailing above her head as she pushed through the crowd towards where Mystery stood at the bar. Rumi had met him more than a handful of times but they weren’t close. He was nice enough but he just got along better with Zoey.
“Mystery! It’s been too long!” Zoey pulled him into a hug as they reached the bar.
Mystery pulled her close and laughed quietly, “You saw me like two weeks ago before I came up here. It hasn’t been that long.”
Zoey playfully slapped his arm, “Two weeks might as well be a lifetime. It sucks not having you around when all I want to do is dive into turtle theories at four in the morning.”
“Only you would want to talk about any kind of theory anything at four in the morning.”
“Before the sun comes up is the best time to theorize,” Zoey explained thoughtfully before turning to gesture towards her best friends. “You remember Rumi and Jinu? I dragged them out here with me this time. Well, I just dragged Rumi. Jinu came willingly even if I didn’t want him to.”
Mystery shyly ducked his head at both of them, hair covering his eyes a little more now.
“Of course, I remember. Been a while. Good to see you both,” He whispered almost too softly that they barely heard him over the music.
Rumi only offered a small but genuine smile while Jinu slithered his way between them and up to the bar.
“I’m ready for some drinks! What are we feeling tonight?”
The sound of their order drowned out under the music as Rumi anxiously scanned the bar. Eyes upon eyes seemed to catch on her, staring, double takes, glaring. Some of them looked away when caught, others didn’t even care and continued to look –judge. The blazer over her shoulders suddenly became lead against her skin.
“I’m gonna go to the bathroom!” Rumi leaned over to yell in Zoey’s ear who gave her a simple thumbs up before turning back to her conversation with Mystery.
Rumi zipped across the floor towards the bathroom signs that hung in the far corner. She dodged body after body, stare after stare, until she finally pushed through the thick wooden door and into the safety of four walls. Thankfully, the small restroom was devoid of any other person, leaving Rumi to grip the wooden countertop like it would stop the anxiety from consuming her.
She looked at her reflection in the old, chipped mirror, looked into the wild of her eyes and the heavy flush of her cheeks. Rumi wasn’t really one for going out often. Sure, she liked it from time to time. Liked the feeling of being able to let things go for a few hours and try to relax even if it didn’t happen often with her busy schedule. But that was at their normal bar back home. The place where she could walk in and be around people like her. People who walked the same ground she walked.
Here, they weren’t surrounded by concrete and blazers.
Here, it was open fields and dirt and horses and boots and flannel and everything else in between that list of things.
All things Rumi had no business being around.
“Calm down, Rumi,” She swiped the messy baby hairs from her face and turned on the faucet to collect some water with her hands. The water was cool against her skin as she splashed it over her face. “You’re fine. You’ve got this. Just need to ignore everyone and the millions of eyes staring at you like they’ve never seen a girl in a blazer at a bar before.”
The door suddenly shot open as two women in bell bottom jeans and boots strut inside. They took one lingering look at Rumi before turning to each other and giggling as they moved to the stalls. Rumi felt her cheeks burn just a little brighter and quickly shut off the faucet before reaching for the paper towel dispenser.
“So much for ignoring it,” Rumi muttered under her breath as she shouldered her way out the door.
The deep thrum of bass from the speakers hit her the moment she stepped out of the restroom. More eyes landed on her as Rumi began making her way back towards the bar but she just kept her head down and eyes on her feet.
Which probably wasn’t a good thing to do considering she literally was not watching where she was going.
Rumi collided into a wall of sturdy warmth and the smell of sandalwood. The impact was jarring enough to send her stumbling back and knocking into someone behind her who clearly didn’t like being touched as they pushed back against her. The air shifted around Rumi as her body began falling back towards the dirty wooden floors under her. She closed her eyes and braced for the harsh impact and the horde of boots that would surely trample over her body the moment she met the floor.
“You okay there, darling?”
Brown eyes fluttered open, surprise coating her features as Rumi realized someone had actually grabbed onto her. Like full arms around her waist and pulled into their chest kind of grabbed.
“I-I’m fine, thanks. I really thought I was goi–.”
The oxygen rushed out of her lungs as she met somewhat familiar dark eyes and pink hair.
The woman from the diner.
She was even more gorgeous up close. Rumi’s brain couldn’t form any words while she traced every sharp line and tan skin and the little scar just above her left eyebrow. She wore the same white hat from earlier, tipped high as she looked down at Rumi with a hint of concern that had her almost jumping from her skin.
Rumi quickly corrected her stance so she could step out of the mysterious cowgirl's arms. She fumbled with her hands, trying to find something, anything, to do instead of look at that pretty smirk.
“T-thank you,” Rumi squeaked out, finally deciding to just hide her hands behind her back awkwardly, like a child trying to hide something they shouldn’t have from their parents. “For s-saving me that is. I’m sure I would have been walked on by a few pairs of boots if you hadn’t.”
The chuckle that spilled from the woman’s lips was husky and downright sinful.
“Maybe if you kept those pretty eyes off the ground and watched where you were going, I wouldn’t have to save you. Not that I mind, really.”
The flush across her cheeks was no longer due to the anxiety that was surprisingly lowering every second she was in this woman’s presence. Rumi scratched the nape of her neck as a flutter raced through her tummy, warm and pleasant.
“Yeah,” Rumi cleared her throat and let her eyes finally fall back on the woman. She had a few inches on Rumi, just enough that she had to slightly crane her neck to meet her eyes. That beautiful smirk grew as their eyes locked yet again. “I can be a bit of a klutz so I should probably watch where I’m going. I’m sorry for running into you. I didn’t…I didn’t h-hurt you, did I?”
Hurt her, Rumi? She’s literally a wall of muscle and sin.
Her thoughts weren’t wrong.
Up close, Rumi could see the lean muscles of her biceps flexing against her button up. They were large enough to be noticeable but still had that feminine softness to them. Rumi suddenly wished she hadn’t pushed herself away from those arms so fast.
“No. No, you didn’t hurt me,” There was that deep chuckle again. It sent goosebumps down Rumi’s spine and curled low in her belly. “Though I can say without a doubt that I wasn’t expecting someone wearing a blazer of all things to run into me.”
Rumi groaned and hid her face behind her hands, “Please, don’t mention the blazer. I’m already having a bit of a crisis with it.”
Suddenly, Rumi could feel the mentioned piece of clothing being tugged. The woman now smiled at her softly, one hand reached out and gripping the edge of her blazer to catch her attention.
“There she is,” Her hand slowly fell away as she inspected Rumi’s outfit further. “Honestly, I thought one of my friends was lying when he said someone came in wearing a blazer…but now that I’m seeing it, I don’t see why everyone is freaking out. It’s not like you rolled in here with a full suit and tie. It’s tasteful. Even if it does stand out a little here.”
A little light of hope lit in Rumi’s chest, “So you don’t think it’s that bad?”
Rumi wasn’t sure what came over her to ask that of a complete stranger. It wasn’t like she was looking for some kind of approval from the woman…right?
“Not at all. But there is one downside to it.”
“And what’s that?” Rumi asked innocently, head tilting quizzically.
Honey brown eyes seemed to devour her form while she leaned down and whispered into Rumi’s ear. The resonant tone of her voice was almost clear as day over the buzzing music.
“Every single person in this bar can’t seem to take their eyes off of you.”
If Rumi had known any better, she’d swear the woman sounded…jealous.
“Is…is that a bad thing?”
There was a low hum as the woman pulled back, darkened eyes darting around the bar like she was picking out every pair of eyes that continued to stare at Rumi.
“It is when I’d preferred to have no one else’s eyes on you other than mine.”
Definitely jealous.
Rumi's heart jumped into her throat, threatening to leap out and find a new home on the sticky bar floor. This astronomically hot woman was flirting and she couldn’t handle it. She could barely talk to the pretty woman at the check out counter at the grocery store without fumbling over her words. How was she supposed to handle this level of confidence being thrown at her?
A deep laugh rumbled from the woman’s chest as she took a small step backwards from Rumi’s space.
“I’m just kidding. I’m sorry,” Rumi felt the flames in her cheeks slowly burn down to a sizzle. “Your face got all crazy red. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, if I did.”
A tiny laugh slipped from Rumi’s lips until it grew into an uncontrollably awkward laugh.
“Oh, no. No. You didn’t. I…wasn’t expecting that, I guess. But you didn’t make me uncomfortable.”
“Good,” Those darkened eyes settled back over her face. “Though, if anyone starts looking at you a little too long, a little too disrespectfully and it’s making you feel uncomfortable, tell me. I’ll make sure they stop.”
The words were sincere and quite unexpected. Rumi was used to city rudeness. Where most people didn’t even give anyone else the time of day, let alone try to help them in any way. It was refreshing and…sweet.
“Thank you, uh…,” Rumi trailed off as she realized they still hadn’t exchanged names.
The woman held out her hand, “Mira.”
“Mira,” The name slipped off Rumi’s tongue like fine wine, pungent and intoxicating. Without breaking their eye contact, Rumi blindly reached out to slide her palm into Mira’s. “Rumi.”
Part of her cringed as her name was the only other word she could fathom speaking right now. Not when Mira was looking at her in a way that made her skin tingle pleasantly and made her think she for sure was not joking when she said she only wanted her eyes on Rumi.
“Rumi,” A ghost of a smile reached Mira’s lips as she took the offered hand and raised it so she could place a delicate kiss to the soft skin of Rumi’s knuckles. Rumi’s heart quickly found its way back into her throat. “It’s very nice to meet you, Rumi.”
Her jaw hung just the slightest bit as those silky lips touched her skin. The bar disappeared around them, her brain centering itself on the way Mira’s smoldering eyes held her in place as her lips lingered a little longer than necessary, not that Rumi minded.
“T-thank you…Mira.”
The fiery warmth of Mira’s hand was gone too soon as she released Rumi’s hand back to her, but her eyes stayed.
“Of course,” Mira looked at her with pursed lips, as if she was debating her next words. “Did you…would you like a drink?”
The thought of Rumi mixed with alcohol and standing next to this gorgeous woman just screamed disaster in the making. Rumi was already a lightweight as it was, she definitely didn’t need to be embarrassing herself in front of Mira by drunk giggling and spilling all her secrets all over the place like she normally does.
Rumi’s eyes darted over to the bar where she could still see her little crowd of friends, now talking to a few other unfamiliar faces, “Um, I should get back to my friends actually.” She turned back to Mira and hooked a thumb over her shoulder in their direction. “I just told them I was going to the restroom. Zoey will start looking for me if I’m gone too long.”
Mira stuffed her hands into her pockets, her face looking a little crestfallen as she nodded in understanding, “Of course. Don’t want to keep you from your friends.”
Her feet shuffled backwards on their own accord, almost tumbling over them, as she held Mira’s eyes, “Thanks, again. And it was nice to meet you. Maybe…maybe I’ll see you around?”
“Maybe.”
The word floated in the space between them, swirled around the air and twisted into something more than just a simple maybe. It became a silent want, a need, to turn that maybe into an absolutely. That they would definitely be seeing each other again.
Mira tipped her hat towards Rumi as she took her own step back, “Remember, anyone starts staring too long. Come find me.”
“I will,” Rumi answered a little too quickly, a little too eagerly.
A chuckle was released from full, pink lips. Mira dipped her head as she laughed, smile curving into something that had butterflies fluttering in Rumi’s stomach.
“I do hope I get to see you again tonight,” Brown eyes peeked from beneath that white Stetson and shimmered with a heat that surprised Rumi. “But not because someone is staring for too long.”
Rumi swallowed past the growing dryness in her throat. She wasn’t used to…this. The blatant flirting that was actually sweet, genuine, and didn’t come off as creepy or pushy. This felt…different. Like Rumi wanted to just ditch her friends, say fuck their night out, and stay with Mira for the rest of the night kind of different.
But she wasn’t that kind of friend…even if they might want her to be for one night.
“I guess we’ll see how the night goes,” Rumi felt the slight build of confidence in her chest as Mira’s smile turned to a smirk.
“Guess we will.”
Rumi bit her bottom lip, lungs expanding as Mira’s eyes honed in on the action and darkened just a fraction. She released it a little slower than normal so she could drag out the feeling of her body reacting to Mira’s almost hungry gaze. When those eyes became too heavy, too smoldering, Rumi began backing up, her body bumping into someone as she did. She apologized quickly before turning back to Mira who had taken a singular step closer, like she was ready to save her again if need be.
“I should go,” Rumi giggled nervously, her body half turning back towards the bar.
“Be careful.”
They shared one last look, one last linger that didn’t end until Rumi could no longer see her between the throng of bodies and beer bottles.
Rumi stopped the moment she was sure those heated eyes were no longer on her. Her heart threatened to beat its way out of her chest as she placed a calming hand against it. It had been a long while since anyone had made her feel this way. So riled up, so affected by simple words and looks that her world was tilting on its axis.
Mira wasn’t at all like the people back home.
The people in bars back home would have taken advantage of her fall to slip a hand a little too low, or try to get a free drink out of her for ‘doing her a favor’, or simply just try to blatantly get her to hook up with them in a gross bathroom stall. It was few and far between that she could actually find anyone even close to Mira’s standard, and she hadn’t even spoken to her for more than ten minutes. But already she could tell the type of person Mira was. Respectful, not at all pushy when she declined a drink together, chivalrous.
A much more welcomed difference that Rumi hoped she got to experience again. Soon.
“Was the bathroom line outrageous?”
Rumi shook her head as she sidled back up to Zoey who silently handed her a beer. She looked at it with disdain before looking back at her best friend.
“No, but getting through all the people was.”
Jinu was suddenly next to her, a devilish smirk on his face, “By people do you mean that fine ass cowgirl we saw in the diner earlier?”
Zoey gasped and began jumping over the heads of the people surrounding them so she could see across the bar, “No way! She’s here? Where?”
“Oh, she’s here alright,” Jinu slung an arm around Rumi’s shoulders and gave her a little shake. “And our precious Rumi here almost face planted into the floor until said fine ass cowgirl saved her ass.”
“What?” Zoey’s loud squeal turned a few heads.
Rumi groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose, “Okay, first off, her name is Mira. Not fine ass cowgirl. Please never call her that again. Second, yes, she saved me from making a complete fool of myself. That was it. Nothing else happened. Can we drop it?”
“The way you two were fucking each other with your eyes didn’t look like nothing,” Jinu laughed.
Rumi rolled her eyes as she pushed his hand off her shoulders, “We were not doing…that. You were just seeing things.”
“Sure,” Jinu drawled before taking a sip of his beer. “And I was totally seeing things when I saw her kiss your hand.”
Zoey’s eyes almost popped out of her head, “She did what now?!”
Jinu stepped up to Zoey like he was spilling the secret of the century, “She kissed her hand, Zo. Full on lips to knuckle contact. You should have seen our poor girl’s face. She was red as a tomato!”
Zoey grabbed his hand, shaking it violently and making beer spill from the bottle, “Mira kissed Rumi?! Where the fuck was I at? You have to tell us everything, Rumi!”
“There’s nothing else to tell,” Rumi groaned. “Please, let’s just drop it.”
“Are you kidding me? Drop it?”
“There’s no way in hell we’re dropping this,” Jinu looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “Our goal for this trip is to get your dusty bits out for a ride with a pretty cowgirl and you’ve just taken that first step. We are not stopping here.”
“We need to find Mira and bring her back right now so you two can continue with the gooey cuteness and fall into a bed of hay together by the end of the night,” Zoey started jumping over the crowd once more. “Why did you even come back to us? You should have stayed with her.”
Rumi just watched Zoey basically almost climb atop Jinu’s head so she could get a better look around, “We all came here together. I wasn’t going to just ditch you both for someone I don’t even know.”
Both of her best friends froze, heads turning towards her slowly like creepy robots.
“I’m sorry,” Jinu blinked away his confusion. “What did you just say?”
Zoey’s boots hit the bar floor with an almost audible thump as she processed what Rumi had just said, “It sounds like she’s saying she didn’t want to ditch us for some ridiculously hot, muscled, super tan cowgirl who is clearly interested in her.”
Jinu took Rumi by the shoulders and gave her a serious look.
“Rumi, look at me closely when I say this,” His eyes searched hers to make sure she was looking. “We are trying to get you to ditch us so you can go gallivanting off into the sunset and have wild barn sex and come back home at three in the morning with hay and chicken shit in your hair like a normal person your age.”
Rumi cringed, “I don’t think having sex in a barn and getting chicken shit in your hair is a ‘normal’ thing someone my age does.”
Zoey repeatedly banged her head against Jinu’s shoulder.
“That’s not the point, Rumi. We’re trying to get you to venture out, have a little fun,” Zoey gave Rumi that warm smile that was reserved for letting her know she only wanted what was best for her best friend. “Maybe take a leap with someone who clearly seems to like you, and that you like as well.”
Rumi opened her mouth, fully prepared to shoot down Zoey’s statement, but was stopped by a finger on her lips.
“You can’t lie to me, Ru,” Zoey only shook her head. There was no changing her mind. “I see how you look at her. You haven’t looked at anyone remotely the same since high school when you were ‘in love’ with Penelope from fourth period art class.”
“She’s not wrong,” Jinu readily agreed.
“I want you to know that I’m saying this with every ounce of love I have for you in my heart,” Zoey took her hands and looked at her pointedly with a sickeningly sweet smile. “But if you don’t go find her and at least talk to her for the rest of the night, I will drop you off in the middle of a mountain and let you walk the four hundred and twenty miles back home. With food and water, of course.”
Rumi’s shoulders deflated with a deep sigh as she hung her head. If there was one thing her best friend was known for, it was living up to her threats. Even if this threat was very far-fetched to happen, Rumi just knew she’d make her do something equally as terrible.
Jinu chuckled, patting Rumi’s shoulder as she pushed Zoey’s hands away, “Look on the bright side. At least she can’t invoke best friend rule number seventeen anymore.”
The corner of Rumi’s lips twisted up in satisfaction as the sole of her shoe connected with the top of Jinu’s foot, sending him into a string of curses.
Rumi nervously fumbled with her untouched beer bottle as she sat at the end of the bar, alone. Jinu and Zoey had given her a little reprieve, deciding to go jump into the line dance with Mystery that was unfolding on the dance floor so Rumi could work up the nerve to go find Mira.
What exactly was she supposed to say when she found her?
Hey, I’m back! My friends forced me to come find you and talk to you so I wouldn’t have to hitch hike back home? How have you been in the twenty minutes since I saw you?
Rumi snorted, her face twisting into a cringe as she finally took a swig of warm beer. It was a far cry from her drink of choice. She set the bottle onto the bar, pushing it away with a disgusted face before signaling to the bartender.
A man with a full beard and black stetson smiled at her politely as he stepped over to her, “What can I get for you?”
“Can I get a–.”
Someone appeared next to her, squeezing their way in close to her shoulder as they cut her off.
“She’ll have a Dirty Shirley, Liam.”
The bartender shrugged, not questioning the cut in as he left to go make the drink. Rumi watched him move down the bar with a stunned silence before her eyes flickered over to the person taking the seat next to her. The man was a pillar of solid muscle with a face Rumi could only describe as a god. Every feature was perfectly sculpted– chiseled jaw, narrow green eyes, perfectly set nose, and smirking lips. Black hair peeked from underneath his brown stetson as he flicked the rim of his hat so he could better see Rumi.
“Hi there,” He smiled cheekily at her, eyes roaming her face as he got more comfortable in his seat. “Pretty lady like you shouldn’t be here all alone.”
Rumi stared at his face a little longer, his eyes growing slightly familiar the long she held them.
“I’m not alone. My friends are ju–.”
“Not sitting here with you?” He leaned in a tad closer.
Her brow pinched as she leaned away, “Well, no. They just decided to go join the line dance. Nothing wrong with that.”
The man handed over a bill to Liam as he set the drink down in front of Rumi. She stared at it for a moment, eyes wary as she looked at the red and white swirls. This looked a little too sweet for her taste.
“But they left you alone in an unfamiliar bar where anyone could just walk up and start talking to you,” The man chuckled as he pushed the drink closer to her.
Rumi arched her brow, “You mean like you just did?”
His chuckle deepened as he nodded, “Exactly.”
Brown eyes darted back to green as her curiosity grew, “You look familiar.”
“Ah, you’ve finally noticed,” The guy reached for her discarded beer bottle and held her eyes as he took a drink of it. A yucky feeling curled in Rumi’s stomach. “Maybe you’d really recognize me if I was on a horse riding down Main Street.”
Rumi’s brain went back to the cowboy sitting atop the horse that they’d seen earlier that morning, “That was you?”
“Guilty,” The now half empty beer bottle clinked against the bartop. “I was hoping I was going to see you here tonight since everyone in town is here.”
Rumi snorted, “Why? You don’t even know me.”
“No, but I want to. I’m sure you noticed how much you captured my attention when I saw you in town.” His hand arm slowly slid across the back of Rumi’s bar stool, the warmth of his hand dangerously close to her back. “When I saw how beautiful you were, I just knew I had to try and talk to you. Buy you a drink…maybe take you out.”
Rumi cackled low in her throat, disbelief filling her tone as she scooted a little further up her chair and away from that icky warmth, “Don’t waste any time, do you?”
“Not when I see something I want.”
There was the slightest movement behind her and Rumi already knew that hand was inching towards the small of her back. Her skin began to crawl, heart rate picking up in an unpleasant feeling. Rumi was more than capable of handling this situation but the last thing she wanted to do was draw even more unwanted attention to herself, especially when there was about ten rows of bodies between her and her friends.
She was about two seconds away from jumping out of her chair and excusing herself to anywhere when someone squeezed between them. The man’s hand was flung from Rumi’s chair without care or remorse, landing against the bar with a slap and a hiss. It took all of one second for Rumi to see now familiar pink hair and a white stetson.
“I’m not interrupting, am I Chase?” Mira turned, body leaning back against the bar as she looked between the man, Chase, and Rumi.
Chase snatched the beer bottle off the counter with a little more force than necessary as he glared at Mira.
“Actually, you are, Mira. I was just asking this pretty lady if she wanted to go out with me.”
The muscles in Mira’s jaw clenched, steely eyes never leaving the man’s as she reached for the untouched drink in front of Rumi and took a sip, “Well, looks to me like she’s not interested. Am I right, Rumi?”
Rumi tore her eyes away from the tall woman to look over at Chase who practically had steam coming from his ears. She shook her head decidedly, giving him a too sweet smile.
“I’m not interested,” Short and sweet. She didn’t need to explain herself any further. She didn’t need to give a why.
The corner of Chase’s lip twitched into a sneer, hand throwing down the beer bottle and letting it spill across the surface as he stood.
“Fucking lesbians,” Chase muttered, just audible enough for both of them to hear.
As he went to step away, Mira’s hand snagged the fabric of his shirt and pulled him back. She stood just an inch taller than him, her figure imposing as she came almost nose to nose with the man.
“Watch your mouth,” Mira spat, her finger poking heavily into his chest. “And next time, don’t put your fucking hands on a woman– or anyone, for that matter –without permission first. Don’t want that pretty little face getting messed up, do you?”
Rumi watched as Chase’s face faded into three different shades of red, nostrils flaring as he heaved angrily. They stayed like that for a few silent seconds. She was sure they were drawing a few eyes their way but no one seemed to move to help or break up the situation.
Chase finally broke from Mira’s gaze as he snorted, hands raising in the air in surrender.
“Whatever. Not like she’s worth it anyway.”
The fist flew before anyone else could move.
Chase cried out, hands cradling his bloody nose as he stumbled back a few steps. There were some gasps around them but still, nobody moved. Rumi’s eyes widened as Mira took a step towards him while shaking out her hand with the now red knuckles.
“I suggest you find somewhere else to get a drink because you’re not welcome here anymore,” Mira pointed towards the exit sign before giving him a little shove towards it. “Go on.”
Chase almost stumbled over his own feet as he scurried towards the door, still holding his bloody nose as he went. Rumi’s eyes darted around to the few people at the bar who had watched the scene unfold. No one moved a muscle until the door was almost smacking Chase’s ass as it closed behind him.
Then everything went back to normal.
The bar came to life once more. Everyone continued with their conversations and drinks, hell, the dance floor hadn’t even stopped moving the entire time. Normally, back home, everyone would have stopped the moment things got tense between Mira and Chase. Phones would have been out and ready to record the moment things got crazy so they could be the first to post it to social media.
Here, everyone just let it play out and handle itself before going back to their business. Like it was just a normal Friday night at the bar.
“You okay?” Mira reappeared in front of a still stunned Rumi before flagging down Liam. “Let me get you some water.”
“Where did you even come from?” It was all Rumi’s brain could think to say in that moment as she watched Mira ask for a glass of water.
The glass was quickly handed to Mira and was in Rumi’s hands before she even got a response. Mira’s eyes bounced between her and the water, not moving an inch until she took a few sips to calm the nerves she hadn’t even realized were coiling in her chest.
“I may have just happened to look over when he started talking to you,” Mira confessed.
Rumi’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, “May have?”
“Or maybe I just find it incredibly hard to take my eyes off you.”
Brown eyes flickered over the rim of her cup, surprise shimmering behind them as she watched the soft smile gracing Mira’s features. Warmth curled its way between her ribs and seized her heart as Rumi realized that this time, Mira meant every word.
“You weren’t kidding earlier, were you?”
Mira pursed her lips, “About not wanting anyone else’s eyes on you but mine?” Rumi nodded slowly as she set down her water. Pink hair tousled loosely around her shoulders as she shook her head. “No, I wasn’t.”
Rumi fought off the smile that threatened to curl over her face. She let the implication of Mira’s words linger between them as the cowgirl continued to watch her closely. Her gaze was gentle and respectful, not at all like Chase’s had been the moment he locked eyes on Rumi, and now her skin tingled in a much more pleasant way.
“Good to know,” Rumi stated boldly. Her nerves from earlier were slowly dwindling, not fully gone, but were felt less and less with every passing moment Mira looked at her. There was an almost obvious affection and want glinting in those dark eyes. Maybe Zoey had been right when she said there was an interest somewhere in there.
Mira hummed as she laughed, her knuckles rasping against the bar top before she pushed away from it.
“Let me walk you to your friends. I’d offer to stay here with you and keep you company but I’ve got to get going. Early day tomorrow,” Mira’s head gestured towards the dance floor where Zoey and Jinu had disappeared to quite some time ago.
Rumi, not wanting to be alone any longer and also wanting to be in Mira’s presence just a little longer, silently agreed as she slid out of her seat.
“Are you okay with me touching you? This crowd can get pretty rough,” Mira asked as they began moving through the crowd.
A flush broke over her body at the thought of Mira touching her anywhere.
“I’m okay with it,” Rumi nodded, yelling over the suddenly louder music.
Mira gently guided her to walk in front of her, hands resting delicately over her arms as she began to weave them through the crowd. Their bodies were pressed precariously close, Mira’s arms shooting out to block the bodies from bumping into her as they stumbled into their way. Rumi swallowed thickly as the hand on her arm unconsciously shot down to her hip to steady her as someone stumbled into them. They were clearly drunk as they didn’t even turn to apologize or even acknowledge what they’d just done.
“You okay?” Mira moved in a little closer, her breath ghosting over Rumi’s ear as she spoke into over the thumping bass.
“Yeah,” She looked over her shoulder, eyes meeting Mira’s and realizing just how close they were now.
Mira’s hand tightened over her waist as they came nose to nose, her grip becoming more sure as Rumi gasped softly. The sound was like a lightning strike between them, bright, explosive, and raw. Rumi’s hand unconsciously lifted and hovered just over Mira’s head like she wanted to do nothing but pull her in and close the distance between them. Time slowed, the bar disappearing around them as they stood in the charged feeling crackling between them.
Rumi’s jaw trembled as she took in a stuttering breath, her gaze flickering over Mira’s hooded eyes. As their eyes locked, something seemed to snap awake in Mira.
She shot away, her cheeks curling into a soft pink as she cleared her throat.
“You okay? That guy clearly was too drunk to realize what he was doing.”
Rumi sucked her bottom lip between her teeth as the moment between them sizzled out, “I’m starting to get used to actually. I think I might be able to walk the rest of the way by myself without getting trampled.”
She hoped her forced lighter tone helped ease the small bit of awkwardness that clung between them.
Mira snorted and shook her head, “I said I’d walk you to your friends and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Not that I really want to, Rumi thought to herself as she felt that hand still on her hip, grip just a little lighter than before but still there.
They moved through the crowd without further incident, much to Rumi’s hidden disappointment. She could see Zoey and Jinu out on the dance floor smiling and laughing as they tried to keep up with the moves. Zoey, for the most part, was doing a not-so-horrible job while Jinu was…
“Wow, that twink really can’t dance,” Mira’s voice suddenly cut through the music.
Rumi couldn’t stop the bubble of laughter that broke free as she watched Jinu fall over his feet and almost smack his head against the floor.
“That’s one of my friends, Jinu. He can’t dance to save his life honestly,” Rumi wiped a lone tear from the corner of her eye.
Mira continued to watch him with a hint of worry and something Rumi couldn’t place, “Yeah, I saw him with you earlier.”
Rumi’s eyebrows raised at the confession as she slowly turned to look at the cowgirl. That confidence from earlier just kept rising.
“Did you now? Just exactly how long were you watching me?”
That beautiful pink flush found its way back across Mira’s cheeks.
“Long enough to see the way he put his arm around you,” She whispered, arms crossing over her chest as she looked away from Jinu and Rumi altogether. The jealousy from earlier reared its head once again.
Rumi snorted and made a disgusted face as she realized what Mira was probably thinking, “Me and Jinu would never work out. One, disgusting, because he’s like a brother to me. Two, he’s also very into men. So, there.”
Mira’s tense arms relaxed a little as she turned back to Rumi. She watched her for a moment as she processed the words, a small smile playing over her lips as her gaze dropped down to her feet.
“Good to know.”
Rumi’s words from earlier drifted into her ears and curled low in her belly as Mira slowly lifted her gaze back to her. They stood there for a moment, just holding each other’s eyes, until Mira’s flickered over to the large digital clock on the far wall.
“Unfortunately, I really do have to go,” Mira sighed, stepping just a hair closer to Rumi. Her hand reached out to tug at the blazer like she had earlier. “Maybe next time I see you, you won’t be in a painfully city girl outfit.”
Rumi gasped in mock hurt, “There is nothing wrong with my outfit.”
Mira chuckled lowly, her fingers inching up the fabric of her blazer and brushing against the curve of her hip, “I never said there was. I just wanted an excuse to bring up the question of if I’ll see you again.”
Heat flared over Rumi’s cheeks and ears, “Maybe.”
“Maybe,” Mira repeated the word as if she remembered it from earlier. Remembered the way it was a silent guarantee instead of a possibility. She licked her lips, staring at Rumi as she nodded and let her hand fall away. “I guess, maybe I’ll see you around then.”
“I guess you will,” Rumi husked low, shrugging as the cowgirl slowly began backing up.
Mira pinned her with a heavy stare as she grabbed the rim of her stetson and tipped it deeply towards her.
“Until next time, darling.”