Page 113 of Untamed
“Oh, he’s a fan. And I needed him to be okay with you being here. Morgan and your mom were gonna come too, but Morgan had school. And I also feared she’d let all the bulls out of the pens when no one was looking.”
I’m getting the “are you crazy” look again. “Don’t you think it’s a little late for my dad to be okay with us being together? I’ve been with you for the last three months. Besides, you don’t need his approval. You’re not asking me to marry you.”
The words hang between us and I think she wants to take them back, unsure of their meaning or what my reaction might be. I lean in and smile. “Yet. I haven’t asked youyet.” Her mouth opens into the perfectO. Speechless. Straightening my posture, I shrug, lightening the mood when it looks like she might cry again. “Besides, if I get on his good side now, there’s a better chance he’ll give me his blessing when the time comes. Then I can have you barefoot and pregnant in no time.”
That earns me a laugh. A “yeah, sure” kind of laugh. “Well, look at you, champ. You got my future all planned out for me, don’t you?”
Reaching for her hand, I start walking toward her dad with her. “I do, actually. You’re going to love being married to me.”
She rolls her eyes, but the smile’s still there. “I’m sure.”
“Whoa, control your excitement a bit. It’s a little overwhelming.”
We laugh as Archer finally comes over, smiling tenderly at Maesyn, and I don’t think she’s seen him smile like that at her in a while. And you know what he says to her?
“Freedom looks good on you.”
It doesn’t always happen right away, but if you don’t look back, your past won’t follow you.
I leave Maesyn and her dad talking, and I head to the autograph session, and then return to the locker room to apply rosin to my bull rope and mentally prepare myself for my ride. As I’m working it into the rope, graying from months of me doing this very same thing before every ride, I think of Maesyn again. I think about wanting to marry her, not yet, eventually, but when those thoughts turn to her in bed, naked, breathless beneath me this morning and it provokes a reaction both physically, and emotionally. I push the thoughts aside for now. There will be time later.
The ritual in the locker room, it’s usually the same for me. I won’t go as far to say I’m superstitious or anything like that, but I like to keep to a similar process every time. I think, too. It’s like my mind won’t shut off. One thing keeps rattling around in my head. Something my dad said to me right before the championship last year. “Winning happens when practice meets opportunity.”
This is my opportunity again.
“Good luck tonight,” riders tell me as they pass by, knowing they’re not winning this championship, but still giving me support. In the month since Thackerville and that goddamn disaster, I managed to get back into the number one spot and hold on this week. But if I don’t ride Asteroid for at least an 82, it might be Javier’s for the taking, a rider out of Mexico. Speaking of riders, you might also be wondering what happened to Henry that night?
Well, he talked about pressing charges, denied it was me who beat the crap out of him, and then told everyone he was in a bar fight. We haven’t talked about it since and honestly, I don’t plan to. I’d rather forget that happened at all.
Trying to clear my mind, I lean down and tighten the straps of my spurs. Then I tape up my fingers, covering calluses on my right hand. Given we’re toward the end of the season, it’s basically raw now. I take a couple more strips and wrap them around my wrist and knuckles.
The noise from the stands rumbles through the locker room, shaking the rafters. This week, it’s the biggest week in the bull riding championship and I can imagine the fans are excited. It’s nice to have the noise as a distraction.
With my glove in my back pocket and the small leather thong I use to tie the glove in place draped around my neck, I walk out of the locker room hoping that when I return to it, I’ll be the world champion once again.
I’m the last rider, so I have time. Probably too much time and I don’t fucking dare look where I know she is. If I do . . . if I even glance her way, she’ll take hold of my mind. She doesn’t mean to; it’s the fire inside her drawing me in, burning her memory deep in my veins.
Noise draws my attention, the grunting of Asteroid. He’s already in the chute. Climbing over the chute, I carefully balance my foot on the slats, and place my other boot on Asteroid’s back just to let him know I’m here. He snorts and bristles, moving around in the chute like he’s pissed by my presence. Told you he’d care later.
With a racing heart and a shaky grip on my sanity, I climb over so my feet are on each side of the chute. Ty and Reid are beside me along with the contractor, the one who knows Asteroid better than anyone. “Easy, man,” Reid reminds me, a hand on my vest. “He knows you’re there.”
I’m alwayscareful.The last thing you want when you’re in the chute is for your spurs to grab the bull or pin your leg between the chute and the bull. Done it before and it ain’t pretty.
Once I’m in position, I lower myself onto Asteroid’s back with my feet still on the slats. My knees are bent and back straight just in case Asteroid decides to try to throw me forward in the chute.
Like I’m dealing with a sleeping giant, I carefully drop the loop of my bull rope down his side. Reid grabs the loop with a hook and pulls it underneath him. Once the rope is in place, I tie it off and slowly stand. Asteroid’s not making too much of a fuss so far, but you never know when he’s going to change his mind and decide he wants me off him.
I’m not up yet so I climb out of the chute and stretch out my muscles in my neck and upper back. After last night, I’m feeling the soreness in my groin and knee. My back’s still sore and at some point I’ll probably end up having surgery on the disc I fucked up. None of that matters at the moment. You deal with the pain and take the ride.
It’s then, when I’m standing there waiting, trying not to watch the other riders, I want to look at Maesyn and where I know she’s sitting. And when I think I might, Reid knocks my shoulder. “Don’t you dare look at her. Focus.”
He knows me well. I drop my stare to Asteroid.
I’ve learned to control my nerves but it wasn’t until I met Maesyn that I learned the distractions were something I could control too.
“Two more riders,” the chute boss shouts.
I put my glove on and tie it to my wrist with the leather thong, keeping my vision low and only on what I’m doing. I still don’t watch the riders ahead of me. I don’t care what they’re doing. What matters is my ride.
