Chapter 5 Nash
nash
Driving always gave me a sense of peace.
It was soothing, monotonous, and it just let me exist for a moment.
I didn’t have to make decisions, argue, or fight for my life; it was just me and the endless road.
It was my favorite thing about Bronc riding; it gave me peace and time to get my head in the game.
Right now, I was feeling anything but peaceful, I was fucking fuming.
My wife hadn’t answered my calls and my father was up my ass.
I needed to go find her to get this shit squared away before the season started and my asshole of a father pulled my funding.
I was so close to being able to do this on my own, but I was still too afraid to make the leap when I was so close to winning nationals.
My phone rang. My heart immediately leapt as I prayed it was Iris. Brook’s name appeared on my console and I rolled my eyes.
“What do you want?” I snapped.
“Did you make it there?” he asked.
“I’m about an hour away,” I grunted.
“I can’t believe you haven’t seen your wife since you got married,” he said, disappointment lacing his tone. “It’s been almost a year.”
“I saw her when I was up here in November,” I said defensively, remembering how big of a disaster that was.
Finding out she was at the rodeo was one thing, but when she came back with the riders, I lost my shit.
I thought she had used her wife status to slip into the back, but when I found out she knew a few riders and some of the workers, she had already left.
Safe to say that was the last time she spoke to me or called me.
I was relieved at first; it bothered me around the holidays when I hadn’t heard from her.
I tried to decide if I should go see her, but nationals took up all my time.
After that it felt like too much time had passed.
“One time, Nash,” he sighed. “No wonder she’s pissed.”
“I know, but what the hell do you expect, Brooks? I did this for dad because he forced me to,” I huffed. “You should have married her if you wanted to keep her happy.”
“No one forced you, dad thought I would be better for a corporate CEO’s daughter,” he growled. “You’re not the only one who is stuck in this shitty life. At least you get to do what you love.”
“Brooks, what the fuck are we doing?” I wanted to yell.
“You know we have no choice,” he sighed. “I mean we do, but he’s made himself such a big part of our finances that we’d be starting all over again. I’ve invested too much in this fucking company to just walk away from this.”
“I’m so close to being free, Brooks,” I said, running my hands through my hair.
“Iris is a nice woman. She’s got a good head on her shoulders and she’s a hard worker if you took the time to get to know her.” Brooks sounded smitten, it surprised me.
Did my brother like her?
“Sounds like you might have gotten to know her too well,” I said, jealousy hitting me out of nowhere.
“We could have been happy here at her farm. I would run it, she would help me, we would keep her family legacy alive and maybe even continue it,” he said softly as anger rose in me. “But father has different plans for the farm. We aren’t keeping it.”
“What?” I sat up straighter my anger completely disappearing. “I thought the whole point of selling it to us was so she could keep the farm in her family, that's why we got married.”
“Dad fucked up on a deal and now he needs the farm to pull him out of the mess,” he sighed. “He needs to sell it before…I get married.”
“Jesus Christ, Brooks, when the hell were you going to tell me you were going to get married?” I took a deep breath attempting to quell this anger my father always brought out of me.
“You would have gotten an invitation,” he said. “I’m surprised I even know and I wasn’t just given a date and a fucking time.”
“Brooks, he’s going too fucking far,” I growled. “When is it ever gonna end or be enough?”
“Just worry about Iris,” he said. “Get her to do what he wants and maybe while you’re there get to know your wife. She would be a great rodeo wife, and I think she might surprise you.”
“Yeah, by killing me after she finds out we are selling her family farm.” I rolled my eyes even though I knew he couldn’t see me.
“If there is a way to keep her farm, then I will try,” he said, sounding exhausted. “Get what we need, and I’ll see what I can do.”
“That doesn’t sound good, Brooks.”
“I know, but what else can I do? Father has fucked up royally,” he growled. “That’s all he does with these deals he thinks are going to make us rich.”
“Do I even want to know?” I asked, seeing a sign for the Boozy Bandit.
“No, but I’ll fix it,” he said with faux confidence that almost sounded like the real thing.
“I’m about to get to Sterling Ridge.” My nerves kicked up a notch.
“Good luck, and I’m serious, give her a chance, Nash,” he said.
There was no way that was happening, but I appeased Brooks because that was easier. “Fine, I will. See you later.”
I hung up the call pulling into the Boozy Bandit parking lot.
Last time I saw Iris she was wearing a shirt from this place, and it was a Friday night so the chance I would find her here, it was a good starting point.
If she was drinking it might not be the best time to ask her to get in touch with my father, but maybe a few drinks would make her a little more amiable.
She might not even be here, but hopefully I could find out something about her, maybe where she worked and lived. Small towns were notorious for airing out people’s business, even more so after a few drinks.
The bar was fairly busy as I walked in with the usual hustle and bustle you find in small town bars, except this bar had a mechanical bull towards the back. A small thrill shot through me, wanting to get on, but I would look for Iris first and then have fun.
I went to the bar to get a beer and walk around since it was standing room only. I leaned against a post towards the front of the bar with a good view of everything, but every blonde looked like Iris and with the dim light, it was impossible to get a good look at all the women.
Someone announced that Beau was next up onto the bull as I took a long drink of my beer, watching a very good-looking dark-haired man walk up to the ring they had the mechanical bull in.
He wore a Boozy Bandit shirt with jeans that hugged his ass just right, looking like an All-American boy.
He pulled a woman who wore shorts with an amazing ass, a Boozy Bandit shirt, boots and a cowboy hat dipped low.
She faced him rolling with the rhythm of the bull, their bodies anticipating each dip and turn of the machine.
It was an erotic dance I wouldn’t mind being a part of and when she dismounted a little less gracefully, a different woman from the crowd took her place.
They slowed the bull enough to let her on as the man helped her up.
He grabbed the woman, rolling his hips indecently while her friends screamed for her.
The poor woman was helpless against this man’s charms, and it seemed I was too since I had walked closer and hadn’t even realized it.
I leaned against the railing separating me from the mechanical bull, hoping he would notice me or even better, give me a ride too.
Just as that thought surfaced, he looked over at me and I gave him a smolder, the one that said I’d like to see him naked.
The bull turned him away, but as it brought him around again, he nodded towards the entrance to get in like it was a dare.
I grinned knowing this was one dare I would not walk away from.
“I’d like a ride,” I said to the man who was controlling the bull.
“Let him through!” the man yelled as he let the woman down.
He stood on the bull holding onto a strap from the ceiling, his body rolling with each movement.
“Go on through.” They opened the gate for me, and I tried to keep the confidence off my face.
No sense in letting him know this was a piece of cake for me.
“Come on, stud, let’s see what ya got,” he said, holding his hand out to me.
I waited for the head to dip before I jumped on facing him like the woman at the beginning.
“Oh, confident, are we?” He raised his eyebrow.
He lowered himself slowly over my lap, straddling me indecently and as much as I should care, I didn’t. The bull dipped forward, pushing him snuggly over my crotch. He put his hands over my shoulder as I tightened my core, keeping us steady with one hand on his waist.
“Giddy up, cowboy,” he smirked, rolling his hips like he was fucking me, disguising the lude gesture as moving with the bull.
He was cheeky and I liked it.
Whoops and hollers faded into the background while I willed myself not to get hard in front of all these people.
The bull worked to throw us off, each dip and turn only pushed us closer together to where he was grinding on me.
We turned abruptly, knocking us off balance.
My thighs tightened, righting us on the next movement.
I pulled him closer. “Don’t fall off, Kitten.”
He grinned, standing with ease, grabbing on the rope as he bit his lip seductively. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about me.”
His full lip between his teeth was mesmerizing. I wasn’t ready for the abrupt turn of the bull, and it sent me flying. I laughed that his distraction had worked, but I was ok with that. That small taste was all I needed. I was hooked, maybe while I was here, I would have a little fun.
The man jumped off the bull gracefully, walking to me and holding his hand out.
“Thanks,” I said, letting him help me up.
“You’re a natural or you’re a seasoned mechanical bull rider,” he chuckled.
“I had good motivation.” I grinned.
We walked out of the space, to the bar.
“Can I buy ya a drink?” I asked.
“I’m on the clock,” he said over his shoulder.
“What time do you get off?” I followed him.
“Don’t know,” he yelled as the music changed to a more upbeat tune.
“I don’t mind waiting,” I yelled, when we got to the bar.
“Who says I want you to wait—”
“Nash, what the hell are you doing here?!”
I looked to my left to see the blonde with the great ass in the shorts and Boozy Bandit shirt with the cowboy hat. My wife glared at me with her hands on her hips looking between the man and I. Oh, so this was how she was going to play this? She was on his lap first.