She walks back to the stands where her friends are, and I follow behind her.
I wait for her to sit down between her friends, and then I take my hat off and hold it to my chest. I stare at her, wanting her eyes on me before I ask her, "You okay now?"
She juts her chin out. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just embarrassed. You didn't have to carry me."
Her friend sitting next to her gasps loudly, looking back and forth between us. "Becca! Are you okay? What happened?"
Becca. Her name is Becca.
She shakes her head with a blush on her cheeks. "I tripped coming from the bathroom, and then there was a stampede of people that tried to get by me. This guy," she says, pointing at me, "decided the best course of action was to pick me up and try to carry me back to my seat."
I smile at her description of what happened. "It was my pleasure. Becca," I say, drawing out her name, pleased that I now have it.
Becca's forehead creases. "I wasn't thanking you."
The dirty look that she's giving me doesn't even faze me. I shrug my shoulders. "It was still my pleasure."
At that moment, the announcers come over the speaker. "Up next is a fan favorite. We're going to take a little break, and then Lucas Granger will be riding Rampage. Hold on to your hats. It's going to be a hell of a ride."
All at once, Becca's friend points up at the big Jumbo-tron. "That's you," she says, pointing at it and looking at me.
I turn and look, and sure enough, my face is up on the big screen. "Yep. It is."
I turn back to Becca and tilt my head at her. "You going to wish me luck?"
She rolls her eyes. "Sure. Good luck."
I just laugh. She’s going to make me work for it. I put one foot on the higher step and lean over toward her. I can feel all of her friends’ eyes on me. The two guys in her group of friends are big guys, and I guess I’m lucky they seem to be more interested in the women next to them than Becca, not that I’d give up if they were. I wait until Becca’s eyes meet mine again. "So how about a wager?"
She crosses her arms over her chest. "I'm not making a bet with you."
"I'm not saying a bet, but how about if I stay on Rampage the eight seconds, you'll give me your number?"
She seems surprised by that, but she recovers quickly. "Sorry, but I'm not interested."
She's lying. I may have just met her, but I can read people. I know that what she just said is not the full truth. She has a tinge to her cheeks, and the way her voice has dropped a little tells me that she’s interested. She may not want to be, but she is.
I take a long look at her and stand up to my full height. "Well, at least stick around and watch. I have a feeling that you're going to be my good luck charm."
She shrugs as if she doesn't care one way or another.
I put my hat back on my head. "I'll see you later, Becca. It was nice seeing you all. Thanks for coming out," I tell the rest of them. I walk down the steps, and I can feel Becca's eyes on me.
I walk across the arena knowing that I need to get her out of my head because I need to concentrate on the event that is about to take place. Rampage is a mean son of a bitch, and if I'm not ready for him or if I’m distracted, he could hurt me badly.
I try to clear my head as I walk over to the chute and climb in. I shouldn't, but I can't resist looking across the arena at where Becca is sitting. She's sitting on the edge of her seat, hands in her lap, leaning forward, and I can feel her eyes on me.
She may have acted like she's not interested, but I know she is. The stadium is quiet. I take deep breaths waiting for the announcer to start. When he does the countdown and the chute opens, I hold on, gripping my legs around the beast underneath me. I listen to the crowd count, and once I hit eight seconds and the buzzer sounds, I jump off the back of the bull, landing on my feet, and run to the fence.
I did it, I made it the whole eight seconds. It's probably the best ride that I've had in a very long time, and I know exactly why that was. As I stand up on the second rung of the railing, I look over to where Becca and her friends are. I point at her, letting her know that she really is my good luck charm. I climb over the fence, and when I jump down on the other side, I'm surrounded by people congratulating me and slapping me on the back.