Imagines and One-Shots (Book Three)

High Noon (Maxx Danziger) - Part 5

Two hours later

After you and Maxx went on all the rides you'd wanted to and played most of the rigged carnival games, you made your way to the rodeo arena. Maxx seemed to walk with a confident swagger – you, on the other hand, not so much. You didn't know why you were so nervous – you'd never seen Maxx ride, let alone ever even been to a rodeo before – but your steps were timid and nervous.

"Y'know, I'm gonna be fine, darlin'," Maxx squeezed your hand – when did he even grab your hand again? – and smiled at you, "Been doin' this since I was old enough to get on on'a these things by myself. 'Sides, I got my good luck charm with me today."

"What's your good luck charm?" you asked him.

"You," he smiled a little bigger. You felt your face get hot as he led you to the stands.

Maxx had you sit right up front, sitting with you for a few minutes until his dad, sister, and a couple of his friends showed up. You all talked for a bit until Maxx had to head to the stables to get ready for the competition.

Without really even thinking, he pressed a brief kiss to your temple before trotting off, honestly leaving you breathless. His sister looked at you with a knowing grin on her face, but if anyone else noticed, they didn't said anything about it.

~

20 minutes later

"Ain't no surprise Dick's goin' first," Dallas mentioned as you all watched the cowboy climb on top of the already irritated horse. You grumbled softly, not even realizing anyone heard it until you heard Jazzy laugh.

"You meet Dick today?" she asked.

"Briefly," you replied softly, "He's a...character. That's for sure."

"Ya ain't wrong on that one," Juliette snickered.

"So, uh... This may come as a surprise to all of you, but I have no idea what's going on," you shook your head, earning a laugh from everybody.

"Well, riders're scored based on how well they hold onto the horses and how high'a score the horse itself gets," Dallas explained.

"The horses are scored too? On what?"

"How tough they are to ride. The harder they kick, the higher their score."

"How long does Maxx have to stay on?"

"8 seconds!" Juliette chimed in.

"That doesn't seem that bad..." you trailed off.

"Feels like a lot longer when y're actually ridin' one of them things," Cliff added.

"Has he ever fallen off?"

"'Course he has," he nodded, "Ain't that good'a horse if they ain't throwin' ya off of 'em. But he's always gettin' back up and doin' it again." Though, to be honest, you weren't sure that made you feel any better.

You turned your attention back to the arena when a loud buzzer went off. The gate flew open and the horse ran out, doing everything it could to get Dick off of its back. 

The cowboy held on for the entire 8 seconds until the buzzer sounded again. He jumped off and hurried to the sidelines, his eyes trained on the scoreboard until it flashed with an '89'.

"An 89 is good, isn't it?" you asked softly in the midst of Dick's obnoxious cheers, hoping you were wrong but knowing you weren't.

"Too good," Cliff huffed.

"Puts him in first," Jazzy said nervously. No one else added anything as you noticed Dick coming over to where you were seated.