Summer of Sweaty Palms

Mateo's palms were sweating so bad he could barely grip the steering wheel. Summer in Southern California meant palm trees swaying in the heat and way too much pressure to be someone you weren't.

"Bro, you good?" Carlos asked from the passenger seat, blasting their town's local cable access station that somehow still existed in 2026. "You look like you're about to throw up."

"Just nervous about tonight," Mateo admitted, wiping his hands on his shorts for the third time.

The fairgrounds smelled like funnel cakes and desperation. This was it — his first real job operating the mechanical bull at SummerFest, and of course she would be there. Maya, the girl who'd sat behind him in AP English since freshman year, the one he'd been crushing on for approximately 473 days.

"Watch this," Carlos said, already in full hype beast mode. "Mateo's about to become the legendary bull whisperer of San Bernardino County."

The first riders were easy — middle-aged dads trying way too hard, tourists from Ohio who'd never seen anything wilder than a cow. Mateo controlled the bull with practiced precision, earning tips and grudging respect.

Then Maya walked up.

His palms went nuclear. Like, actual disaster zone sweating.

"Hey Mateo," she said, all casual, like she wasn't about to change his entire life. "Wanna watch me eat dirt?"

He adjusted the settings — gentle mode, probably. Maybe medium if he wanted to impress her but not actually hurt her. The bull started slow, predictable.

Then someone bumped the cable. The control panel glitched. Suddenly the bull went full chaotic mode — flying at speeds that definitely weren't in the employee handbook.

Maya lasted twelve seconds. TWELVE. She screamed and laughed and somehow made wiping out look cool.

"That was insane," she said, hair everywhere, grinning like she'd just won the lottery. "Your bull hates me."

"Actually," Mateo found himself saying, "I think you might be its favorite rider."

She smiled at him, really smiled, and suddenly his sweaty palms weren't the most embarrassing thing in the world.

"Same time tomorrow?" she asked.

"Definitely," Mateo said, and meant it.

Some nights change everything. This one started with palm sweat and ended with a date.