Hard To Be Humble #2
…………………………………………………………………………………..
After Crazy Train, Till I Collapse by Eminem, and Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins finished playing, there was some quiet as the next track loaded.
“Look, if this is all to impress me, somehow…I—you know what?” Ollie’s laughter was like a haunting melody I couldn’t get enough of. “It might actually be working. This is fucking insane.”
Hey, I could take insane. Especially if she was impressed.
A rare smirk sliced across Mav’s face. “Don’t flatter yourself too much. This is real. He does this.”
“Every time,” Ryder added with a chuckle.
They all thought it was some damn joke, but I swear, this was a recipe for greatness. If I wanted to win, this was how I did it. If I didn’t listen, I’d lose. Every damn time. I wasn’t a superstitious man, but this shit worked.
It’s time to getcha some money.
“Shh!” I cranked the volume again as the next track started.
“Hey, my sweet boy.” Mama’s voice issued forth from the speakers. “I just know you’re gonna go out there and do your best today!”
“Oh. My. God!” Ollie cackled, forcing Walker into a wheezing fit of laughter at her side. “Is that your mom?” she gasped through giggles. “No. Stop it. Let me out, I’m riding with the horses!”
Nonbelievers. All of them. But they’d see. They’d see the truth soon enough.
I cranked the volume up higher, earning a scowl from Maverick.
“Just remember not to get distracted by any buckle bunnies, jezebelles, or harlots lookin’ to pull you off the path. Your path. The path to greatness.” Mama always had a way with words. Making me feel like I could reach for the stars.
“Jesus, Violet, you’re actually doin’ this shit for him?
” I frowned, momentarily pulled out of the zone as my dad’s voice cut through the speakers.
We really needed to re-record this damn thing.
“Don’t you think this is a little weird…
A little psych—” Bodacious’s high-pitched, obnoxious barking drowned out the rest of whatever Dad was trying to say. Not that it mattered anyway.
I was usually in a Zen state by now, so I forgot about this part.
“Damn dog!” My dad growled.
Mama’s voice no longer held that soft, lilting tone, fire now burning forth in each word as she snapped, “Bad, I’m tryin’ to do somethin’ for Cash, now get outta here!”
Dad’s voice already sounded a bit muffled and far off as he yelled, “I ain’t payin’ for his therapy!”
“Get out!” Mom’s voice rumbled, before softening once more. “Don’t you listen to him, Cash. He’s just jealous because the Good Lord gave him work ethic instead of the mountains of talent He gave you.”
“I’m trying to imagine him listening to this in the locker room before, like, a football game or something,” Ollie managed to get out before falling into a fit of giggles. “I…” she breathed, “I just can’t see it.”
Of course, she couldn’t see the vision. But she would. Oh boy, she would. And when I finally got her alone tonight, she’d be begging for a piece of Big Daddy. A winner. A champion.
She might think me crazy, and that was okay, so long as she knew I truly was. Cash Fucking. Mooney.
The smirk Maverick wore turned into a full-fledged smile. “He had a different CD in high school. And the squad didn’t mind. They thought it was cute.”
“Squad?” Ollie’s voice rang with confusion.
Ryder chuckled, and I glanced back to find a shit-eating grin of his own plastered on his face. “They must’ve. One time or another he ended up in bed with all of ‘em.”
“Squad?” Ollie repeated, the last part of the word rising an octave or two.
I turned around, flashing her a smirk. “Yeah, I did Cheer in high school. I was a base.”
“You did Cheer, as in did the cheerleaders or like…actually did Cheer?” Walker asked slowly.
“Well…both.” I grinned. “While my classmates were playin’ with each other’s balls, I was—”
“Learnin’ life skills and respectin’ women,” Mav cut in, shooting me a look from the driver’s seat. Man, he was prickly today. Probably because Chey and Stormie Mae were back home with Charlie and the kids for the weekend.
“Yep!” Ryder shook his head and laughed. “Respectin’ women, alright. Sometimes two at a time!”
“Wow.” Ollie’s mismatched gaze held mine for a long moment. I didn’t know what I expected to find in the depths after this whole ordeal, but warmth, maybe even a flicker of amusement, was not one of them. “I mean. You really are one of a kind.”
Something in my chest tightened, my blood pumping through my veins like a geyser about to blow. “Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing?” I asked with baited breath.
She bit her lip, dragging her teeth over the bottom one, trying and failing to hold back a smile. “I’ll have to get back to you on that.”
Well, it was no proclamation of love, but hey, I’d fucking take it. “Still wanna ride with the horses?” I grinned at her.
“No,” she admitted rather quickly before recovering with a shrug. “I can’t imagine I’d be quite as entertained back there.”
Ryder chuckled, breaking the tension between us. “Don’t worry, you’d still be able to hear it. He plays this on a loop on the trailer speakers for his horse.”
Ollie and Walker both gasped, more laughter bubbling out of them. “He does not!” Walker squealed.
I shrugged, turning back around, and pressed the ‘back’ button on the console.
“Hey, Stud. Well, I guess you’re on your way to another rodeo, and you know what that means! It’s time to kick. Some. Ass!”
“Oh, fuck me,” Ollie let out another cackle. “Not aga—”
“If you don’t want to hear it…” I turned back to grin at her. “You better stop talkin’ through it. This is how I win. And Big Daddy always wins.”