I spot them right when I walk in, Madelyn’s bright red hair is like a flame in the dimly lit bar. Lyla is next to them and my eyebrows rise when I see that Hudson, the guy from Prim + Proper is standing behind her. I give her a look as we get closer and she just shrugs in response, but I can see the interest in her eyes.
“Hey!” Madelyn shouts over the music as Teller and I join them at the bar.
“Hey! Thanks for coming out.”
“Anytime! Don’t think that I forgot that we still need to have a girl’s night one day soon.”
“Let’s try to do it next week,” I suggest, and she nods.
The bartender comes over a few seconds later and we all put in an order. Teller and Lyla both order beer, Hudson orders a whiskey, and Madelyn, Iris, and I all order lemon drop martinis.
“So, why are we all at The Fainting Goat?” Lyla asks after our drinks are set in front of us.
“I need to ride that,” I say, pointing to the corner of the room where a mechanical bull is.
The contraption seems to take up half of the bar, with a giant foam padding circle around it. There’s some bored looking guy working the controllers while a bachelorette party takes a turn on it. Some guys are standing around hooting and hollering as the girls climb on and ride.
The whole thing isn’t really my scene, but I’m hoping that it will count as doing something crazy. Normally I would be too embarrassed to get up and do something like this, especially in front of a crowd. That was why I invited my friends. I know that they’ll support me and try to make this fun.
“Any particular reason?” Lyla asks, eyeing the bull uncertainly.
“Uh, my mom died a little over a month ago and she left me this list, this bucket list. Doing something crazy was on the list.”
There’s a moment of silence as that news hits everyone and I take another big gulp of my drink.
“Does riding a mechanical bull counts as crazy?” Iris asks and for a second, I think she’s making fun of me, but when I look over to her, it looks like she’s trying to figure out an equation in her head and I know that she was seriously asking.
“For me, it does. I would never get on one willingly.”
“Smart girl,” Lyla jokes and I laugh.
“I was hoping that you would do it with me, actually,” I tell her and she winces but I know that she will. I know that they all will.
“I’ll go put our names on the list,” Teller says, passing me his beer bottle as he heads over to the guy at the control box.
“Is Chet going to be showing up tonight?” Madelyn asks, and I notice that she looks less than thrilled with the idea of hanging out with him.
“Uh, no. Why?”
“I heard about your date the other night. The whole town did.”
“Great.”
“Yeah, that’s not how people are saying it went,” she quips and I laugh, downing the last of my martini and licking some of the sugar off of the rim as Teller walks back over to us.
“We’re up next,” he tells the group and I pass him back his beer.
We don’t have to wait long before the first name is called.
“Up next!” the operator calls over the speakers, “is Lyla Winters!”
Lyla groans so loud that I can hear her over the music. She downs the last of her whiskey and heads over to the bull. The rest of our group follows and I grin, leaning closer to Teller as Lyla pads across the soft pads and hops up onto the bull. She gives me a playful grin as she grabs hold of the strap attached to the bull and gives a nod.
She raises her hand as the bull starts to move and we all whoop and holler. She grins, laughing as the speed of the bull picks up. There’s a timer on the back wall, and I cheer when she passes eight seconds.
Teller is laughing next to me, one hand resting on my shoulder, the other holding his beer bottle as he calls out tips for her. Madelyn and Iris are both grinning like lunatics and laughing as they count off the seconds and Hudson is just watching, a smile on his face, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes locked on Lyla.
The bull twists, blurring before my eyes as it spins and bucks, and Lyla goes tumbling off the side, laughing as she bounces on the soft mats.
“Who’s next?” the operator asks as Hudson leans over the rails and helps Lyla stand up.
Iris raises her hand timidly, and I’m surprised that she volunteered. She pads gingerly over to the bull and tries to climb onto the bull, but she’s too short. The bartender ends up coming over and giving her a boost up and I notice the way her cheeks heat as his hands linger at her waist. He gives her a smile and a thumbs-up before he heads back behind the bar.
The bull starts up and Iris scrambles to grab hold of the strap and raise her other hand. She makes it ten seconds before she slides off the side, landing with a giggle on the mat.
Madelyn goes next and is laughing so hard that she only makes it seven seconds. She points at me when she stands up, a wild grin on her face, and I know that it’s my turn.
Teller claps me on the shoulder, grinning down at me. “You got this, Sutton.”
I nod, making my way over to the bull. I have to jump twice before I make it onto the back and grab hold of the strap. I nod and the bull starts.
I’ve watched my friends go and I’m feeling way more relaxed about it. I know that there are people in the crowd watching me, but I don’t let it get to me. I just have fun.
I can hear Teller and my friends cheering and I grin, happiness bubbling up inside of me. I must be past the eight seconds because the speed picks up and I have to hold on tighter. My legs start to slip and I giggle as I fly through the air and land on the padding.
Teller is there when I climb back to my feet. He’s clapping and cheering, a wide smile on his face, and I could swear he looks almost proud of me.
“Your turn!” I say, pointing at him and he groans, his head falling back as he stares at the ceiling but he makes his way over to the entrance.
“Try to beat my time,” I challenge him as I pass by and he laughs, easily hopping up onto the bull.
He lasts a few seconds longer than me, and I cheer as he hits the mat. He makes his way back over to us and we all turn to look at Hudson. He just raises his eyebrow at us but when Lyla nudges him with her elbow, he relents and goes to take his turn.
I try to catch Lyla’s eye to talk to her about him and why he’s here tonight but her eyes never stray from Hudson on the bull.
He slips off just after eight seconds and Lyla cheers for him. We all join in and then follow Madelyn back to the bar to order another round. I buy the next round. It’s the least I can do after they all did that with me.
Madelyn and Iris talk about work and we make plans with Lyla to do a girl’s night next week. They each pull me aside and give me a hug, telling me that they’re sorry to hear about my mom and to let them know if I want help with the rest of the bucket list.
The night starts to wind down a few hours later and I know that both Iris and Madelyn have to get up early the next day for work. Teller does too, and so we close out our tab and all head outside to the parking lot.
Madelyn and Iris are parked over on the other side of the lot, so Teller and I walk them over to their cars. I’m happy to make sure that they get there safely, and I love that Teller suggested it instead of them having to ask.