Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Doesn’t make a blind bit of difference. Sponsors don’t want to know you once there’s even a hint of cheating. Contractors refuse to work with you. Rodeo committees stop inviting you. My career ended that day, and I don’t even get a right to defend myself.
I needed a new direction, because I had to get money from somewhere.
Casey and I have been making apps long before vibe coding. And we put together something I knew, and people can’t resist.
Rodeo and gambling.
It’s been out a little over eighteen months, and it’s blown up like a sex doll at a bachelor party.
We kept it under the radar, since neither of us was eighteen when we launched it, but as soon as we became legal, we started replying to emails and vetting investors, and we nailed down an offer that is sweet as baby back ribs.
“Okay, so what do you get when you think of rodeo and casinos…” Casey pauses for dramatic effect. “BuckTrack! That’s what.”
“BuckTrack?” Emily is leaning forward now. She loves when Casey starts getting animated about his ideas. “What does it do?”
“I’m glad you asked, little cousin! Until BuckTrack, rodeo betting has largely been based on reputation and gut feeling. But not anymore! Our app crunches huge amounts of data to generate probability models and predictive ratings.”
“Like people betting on me winning a barrel race?”
“Yeah, I mean, they can’t actually place bets on our app at the moment, obviously. We’re charging a couple of bucks for the download, and it just gives you the numbers. Your ranking on BuckTrack is pretty good, by the way, even though you’re not pro yet.”
Emily grins. “So it works then.”
“Sure does. It works well enough that we’ve got a deal. A new investor from some big gambling conglomerate, which is fucking awesome. They have the gambling licenses, and if you can actually place bets—”
“Then BuckTrack is a money printing machine.”
“And that’s where my schedule comes in,” Carrie says, checking her phone. “And we’re already running behind. Argh. Look, we had a call. Well, Casey did. This is real, people. The investor wants to meet with his representative. Today! We gotta go.”
I’m shaking my head already. “We can’t. We need a contract, we need to know the value of what we’re selling. Carrie—”
“All taken care of, courtesy of your favorite sister.” She points at herself. “I’ve done the math, I’ve reviewed the preliminary contract they emailed Casey, and I’ve arranged for the whole deal to go down in Wyoming, where our investor, Mr. Emmett Smith, is based.”
“I have a race in Wyoming, day after tomorrow,” Emily says.
Carrie nods. “Exactly. I thought we could all head there tonight. I’ve already spoken to Mom and Dad, and they’re cool with it so long as we’re all together. They don’t know why we’re going there, but your barrel race is the perfect excuse. Nobody’s questioning us wanting a bit of a road trip and a night with just the four of us.”
“Wait… Wyoming.” The wheels are turning inside my head.
I’m piecing things together and wondering about stars aligning and fate intervening. Not for the first time. Because how can this be a coincidence?
Everyone’s looking at me, wondering what I’m thinking. And so I just blurt it out. “Wyoming has same-day marriage licenses.”
4
Emily
“Our mothers are gonna flip.” Carrie shakes her head on a long exhale, tugging her cheeks down with both hands. “This is crazy.” She turns to me, releasing her face to hold mine as we ride down the interstate in the back of Roman’s truck toward Wyoming. “Crazy!”
“I know!” I chirp, bouncing in the seat and slapping my hands over hers.
“No, not excited crazy, like, holy shit, the family is going to freak out crazy. You’re getting married without telling our moms and dads?”
Carrie looks like the vein in her forehead is about to pop as I catch Roman’s eyes in the rearview. They have a new sparkle, a new…determination. Something shifted inside him. I knew he wanted to provide for me. Financially and more. But it was the money that held him back.
“I’ve always been…unpredictable.” I squeeze my shoulders to my ears, my insides twisting tighter than a reining horse chasing a paycheck.
Roman and Casey have been exploring their combined technical genius since they both got iPads for Christmas when they were 6 years old. It all started with Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, and a whole load of other games I had no interest in at that time. But the two of them fell down that rabbit hole.
Then came Minecraft, learning commands, and something called Java, and after that, there was no stopping them.
They are nerds on the inside and hunks of burning love on the outside, and I love them both. In vastly different ways.
I tug myself up between the front seats, Roman instinctively reaching back with one hand to squeeze my cheeks. “Where will the nuptials take place?”