Page 100 of Untamed
Invented by former PBR rider Cody Lambert, the vest is designed to prevent injury when a rider gets stomped on or gored by a bull. The vest is made of a material called Kevlar, the same material used to make bulletproof vests. A rider's vest helps protect bones and internal organs that are otherwise vulnerable to injury if crushed by a 2,000-pound bull.
I sleep in Haylee’s truck in the driveway.
When I wake up, my skin burns from the sun. Sitting up, I see Haylee walking toward me, a little slower than usual eating a bag of beef jerky, in her bra, underwear, and cowboy boots. She reminds me of a toddler who refuses to get dressed and eats what she wants on the road.
“Is Ty here?” I ask when she gets in the truck and looks over at me.
“He just left. They’re heading for Thackerville.” She takes another bite of beef jerky. “Why did you sleep in the truck?”
“She should do something with her life besides spreading her legs for me.”
My heart splits at the words so hard to accept, let alone say. “Grayer told me to leave. He says I’m a distraction and basically, a slut.”
I tell her everything he said and that I refused to stay there with him after that.
Haylee doesn’t say much. She’s a listener. She’s just there for me. But then she asks, “Do you want to go home?” She’s stroking my hair back to cup my face with her palms. “If that’s what you want, we will.”
“Ty’s expecting you to be in Thackerville with him, isn’t he?”
“Yeah, but we’re just messing around, Maesyn. He’s a boy. One I just met.” She shrugs and her eyes drop from mine. “It’s not like he loves me. I know that. And you’remy girl. I go where you go and if you say it’s time to leave, we leave.”
Her loyalty to me means the world to a girl who’s just had her heart ripped out. “But what if he does? What if he loves you? What if he’s your one chance at true love? I can’t ruin that for you.”
Her cheeks flush because though she knows it’s not there, I think she wants it to be. They’re cute together. “Let’s go to Thackerville. Fuck Grayer.”
It’s only an hour drive to Thackerville from Decatur. We stop off for food and it feels like forever since we’ve really been able to talk. Haylee tells me all about Ty and how funny he is, which I experienced the night we watched Wyatt together. It’s nice to see her so happy, but I can’t help that I’m feeling a little down. I want to tell her everything about Grayer, but then it hurts.
I want to be happy for her and I am, but it’s one of those things where you keep thinking to yourself, why can’t I have that too?
I want more than anything for Haylee to be happy. “Are you glad you came?” I ask, dipping my fries in ketchup.
Haylee takes a drink of her milkshake and then smiles. “I am. I never want to go home.”
It makes me a little sad to hear that because I don’t know what I’m going to do now. I knew chasing Grayer around wasn’t a life, but goddamn it, I was starting to enjoy being a roadie. I could easily see myself traveling with him to events and cheering him on. If that made me one of those buckle bunnies, I didn’t care. I’ll take that if I can have Grayer and the open road of freedom around every corner.
And then, it hits me. Why am I like this? Why am I doing this to myself over a guy?
Well . . . because I love him.
There. No more liking. I love him even though it’s been just a few weeks. I don’t care if that makes me naïve, or whatever. You can’t help who you love.
That’s exactly it. For the first time since Jamie, and four years to the date he died, I fell in love with someone. It was something I never thought possible but it happened.
I think about Haylee’s mom, Annie. She had stable, predictable, and look where that got her? A widower. You can prepare all you want, but it’ll never stop fate from sending you a nice “fuck you” curveball.
“My name is too average,” Haylee notes, staring at the waitress’s name tag. “I should change it to something more . . . I don’t know, wild?”
“Like they do when you become a Muslim or something like a tribal thing?”
She nods.
I point to my phone. “Urban Dictionary says your name is tough, feisty, adorable, sympathetic, sexy, shy, girly, but tomboyish. Someone who has a big heart and is a great friend.”
“Did they just throw words together?” she snorts, reaching for her sweet tea. “Who makes that up? What’s your name say?”
“My spelling isn’t in there.”
“See.” She sets her tea down. “I want a name where even Urban Dictionary is like, bitch, I got nothing on you.”
