He gets the rosin hot by roughly running his hand up and down it, and I can tell it’s getting real sticky. After he taps his fists against the rope, the helper releases it, giving him enough slack to grab it when he’s ready. The music is loud as hell, and the crowd is already excited. Funny how when you’re in the pen, you can barely hear anything other than your heart and erratic breathing.

Once he’s finished warming his rope, Cooper puts his palm in position and wraps it the way I taught him. At any second now, he’ll give the nod, letting them know he’s ready for the chute to be opened. Those ten seconds pass so slow, but when he does, it all goes by so fast.

His positioning is perfect with a straight back and his chin tucked. With his toes forward, Cooper rides with total control. I watch him and glance up at the clock. Five seconds. Six seconds. And right as it switches to eight, the buzzer goes off, and he purposely falls. He quickly bounces up with a big ass grin on his face and rushes out, waving to the crowd. I cup my hands around my mouth and yell his name. He sees me and points right in my direction, happy as can be.

Maize’s beaming when I glance over at her. “He’s going to win, isn’t he?”

“Yeah! He just won this whole damn thing! There’s no way the competitors can catch up to his score now.”

She squeals and wraps her arms around me, and I love seeing her so excited about a sport I’m so passionate about.

Cooper eventually finds me, and he’s on cloud nine. “I did it. I kept it simple just like you said. I felt like I was fucking flying!”

I pat him hard on his back. “Fuck yeah. You placed, man. That means if you keep it up, you could go pro, join PBR, and become a world champ.”

Cooper gives me a tight hug. “Thanks, Gavin.”

“You’re welcome. Now get ready to go out there and smile real big for the cameras when you get your fuckin’ buckle. Congrats. You made me proud.”