Chapter 21 Nash
nash
“Did you eat something?” Iris asked, walking out of the bathroom.
I shook my head. “I’m too nervous.”
“You got this, Nash,” Beau said, slipping his jeans on. “You had the second-best score.”
“Here, in case you get hungry, since you don’t go on for another two hours.” Iris handed me a bar of some sort that I stuffed into my pocket. “And here, just in case you're still hungry.”
She gave me a pack of nuts.
“Don’t forget your bag,” Beau said, putting it by the door.
All morning, they had taken care of me with small gestures, something I wasn’t used to. It was a little jarring, not having silence to think about my ritual and go through points in my head. I appreciated what they were doing for me, but it was an adjustment.
“Ok, I have to go,” I said, grabbing my hat.
“Don’t be stiff, roll those hips and trust your instincts,” Iris said, running her hands on my shoulders. “You got this. You were almost first and I think today’s ride will be even better.”
She leaned up to kiss me. It was chaste until I deepened it, appreciating her and her advice. Iris didn’t know rodeo like I did, but she paid attention, and she had been around it most of her life. It was comforting and she was easy to talk to about it.
“Whatever she said,” Beau said, hugging my back. “You looked great out there. The pictures I got were fantastic. Maybe you should post one.”
“Yes, that black and white one you got,” Iris said, hugging me too.
My chest tightened with affection, at least I think that’s what it was. It was unfamiliar, but it felt good.
“Post it,” I said, turning around to kiss him too before grabbing his phone and texting myself my login. “I rarely post anything but I’m sure it will be better than whatever I do.”
“You should take a look—”
“I don’t need to look at it,” I said quickly. “You said it looks great. Iris agrees and I trust you both.”
“Ok, but if you don’t like it, we can delete it later,” he said, biting his lip.
“I doubt it,” I said, giving him a reassuring smile. “Ok, I really got to go.”
“Good luck,” they said as I grabbed my bag, opening the door.
“We’ll be cheering for ya,” Iris said, blowing me a kiss.
I left before I decided I needed to fuck them for good luck.
The rodeo was already buzzing by the time I made it in.
Bull riding was going on and then we were up next.
I checked in, grabbing my number and finding out my placement.
There were six of us riding today and we would soon find out who would be the winners.
The purse wasn’t big today, but it did count towards our goal for finals in Vegas.
In order to make the finals in Vegas, you had to make a certain amount of winnings to qualify.
Most riders went for the bigger rodeos that had bigger winnings, but with that came intense competition. I tried to play smarter than that.
Once they announced the bull riding winners, a man came by giving us all a warning that our portion was about to start. I stretched my body while listening to music. Once I felt limber enough, I changed into my riding outfit by the time the first rider had gone out.
I was the third one to ride. It wasn’t the best placement, but it beat going last. I hated going last, the anticipation was the worst. A rider said hello as I waited, offering their good luck.
“Yarbrough, you’re up!”
I held my hand up, so he knew I had heard him. Putting away my earphones, I grabbed my gloves and hat. My mind always went into autopilot as I got ready. I went through my checklist of things I needed to do before the chute opened.
“Ready?” they asked me as I adjusted my grip.
One last check that I had recently added to my list. Looking over my shoulder, I looked into the crowd and found them immediately. I touched my heart, raising my hand up, signaling I was ready.
The chute opened, the crowd went wild and I counted.
One, tighten my core. Two, lean back feet out.
Three, correct my overcorrection. Four, keep my hand up, keep my core engaged.
Five, don’t look at the clock. Six, stay fluid.
Seven, almost fucking there breathe through the burn. Eight, dismount and walk away.
I threw my leg over, ready to jump off when the horse jerked towards me, knocking me down. A sharp pain exploded in my thigh and on my side. Instinctively I rolled away, narrowly missing the hind legs.
A rodeo clown helped me up and moved away. The pain was barely tolerable as I waved to the crowd. Iris and Beau were already coming down the stands quickly. Guilt hit me as they ushered me out of the ring and they took me to the doctor they had on hand.
“Hey, do you think you can let in the man and woman? Their names are Beau and Iris,” I said to the rodeo assistant.
He raised a brow.
“Or just tell them I’m fine,” I said, knowing the Spanish Inquisition was on its way.
“Yarbrough, I don’t think—”
“Never mind,” I snapped, as a sharp pain shot through my leg.
“Don’t get testy with me,” he griped.
“I just don’t want them to worry,” I said through gritted teeth, as they elevated my leg.
“Never thought I’d see the day you—”
“Shut up,” I said, as my heart raced for a different reason than my injury.
I never thought this day would come either.
“Jesus Christ, Nash,” Beau grumbled, running towards me.
“I’m ok,” I said, walking out of the arena.
“You don’t look ok,” he said, as he pulled my arm over his shoulder to help me walk.
“I only pulled a muscle with some mild bruising,” I said, downplaying my injuries.
“Bullshit,” he growled. “I can hear it in your voice that it’s more than just mild bruising.”
I looked around the parking lot for Iris.
“She’s on her way back from picking up some stuff for you,” he said, reading my mind. “Now where is your truck?”
“Over there,” I said, nodding toward where it was.
The walk to the truck was never-ending even though it was fairly close. Beau helped me into the truck and drove us out. The pain meds were finally kicking in. The lull of the drive was making me sleepy.
“How’s he doing?” Iris’s voice made me open my eyes.
The passenger door was open as she leaned over me.
“Hey, you ok?” The worry on her face made me uncomfortable.
“Peachy, I could ride tomorrow,” I smiled.
She rolled her eyes. “Sure, Cowboy. Come on, let’s get you in bed to rest.”
I took a deep breath, almost tempted to ask to stay here instead, moving sounded awful. Iris helped me out by taking a lot of my weight. Don’t know how she did it, but she corralled me like a baby cow ready to tie me up. Fuck, that sounded appealing.
“What are you smiling about?” she asked, as we walked in the hotel.
“Nothing,” I said, feeling my cheeks heat up.
“That don’t look like nothing,” Beau said, pulling my arm over his shoulder, helping me to walk a little easier and I felt better that not so much weight was on Iris.
“It’s my secret,” I shushed him.
“I think the pain meds are kicking in,” Iris said, as we rode up the elevator.
“Good, he was grimacing way too much on the way over here,” Beau said, as we got off.
“I’m fine,” I said, at least I tried, but it felt like I had had too much to drink and I was getting tired by the second.
“Come on, big boy,” Iris said, leading me into the bedroom.
“I’ll be a good boy for you,” I said, attempting to pull her toward me.
Iris chuckled. “Then be a good boy and let us take care of you.”
“Ok, I like this,” I mumbled, feeling them take my boots off. “No one ever takes care of me.”
“We got you, babe.”
I dreamt of winning the national championship with Iris and Beau by my side until the slam of a door abruptly woke us up.
My body jerked in pain at the abrupt movement, and I took a moment to catalogue my pain.
Angry voices caught my attention, it wasn't just two voices, but three.
Fuck, was my brother here or worse my father?
Pushing through the pain, I got up from the bed, opening the door to the living room to see Jo, Beau and Iris arguing with each other. They stopped talking when they saw me. Iris immediately came to me when Jo stepped in front of her.
“You better move your ass before I move it for you,” Iris snapped. “I don’t care about your fancy shit, you're pissing me off.”
“Look, darling, I don’t what he told you, but get your shit and move on,” Jo snarled. “I don’t know what you did, but your Buckle Bunny shit stops right now. I will get the marriage annulled and—”
“Jo, stop—”
“Buckle Bunny shit?!” Iris snarled. “Watch how you speak to me, bitch.”
Iris stepped forward as Beau wrapped an arm around her waist.
“Nash, I don’t know what the hell you did to get yourself in this situation, but we can get this annulled before it's too late,” Jo said, putting her hand on my shoulder. “Now, pack your shit and let’s go. I don’t even want to know why this guy is here too."
“Jo, we've been married too long to get our marriage annulled," I said leaning against the door frame. “Iris is my wife and this is Beau, our—”
“Hi, I’m their boy toy,” Beau said, offering his hand with a smile.
Jo’s head whipped towards me so fast I thought she would hurt herself.
“Nash, what the fuck? When the hell were you going to tell me?”
I sighed, feeling drained. “It’s not something we have discussed going public with and—”
“It’s no one’s fucking business,” Iris snapped.
“It’s my business when I’m your fucking PR manager,” Jo sneered. “How am I supposed to stay ahead of the game when I don’t even know what playing field we are on? I’m playing checkers when you’re playing chess.”
“I didn’t think it was necessary,” I said, even though it had crossed my mind. “I wanted to keep her out of the spotlight.”
“If you want to protect her, then I need to know about her,” Jo sighed, while studying Iris. “How long have you been married?”
“About a year,” I sighed, as Iris came over to me, sliding under me to help me over to the sofa.
She and Beau sat me down carefully.
“A year? Jesus Christ,” Jo murmured, sitting down at a chair across from me.
Beau disappeared into the room as Iris lifted my leg on the coffee table.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, leaning my head back.
“I’m meeting a client nearby. I figured I'd stop by to see how you were doing and try to convince you to do that charity event in Denver,” she said, studying Iris and me.
Beau came back with a bottle of water and pills. My stomach growled as I grabbed the water, but Iris put a protein bar in my hand.
“You need to eat something before you take pain pills or else they will hurt your stomach,” she said, getting up and bringing a room service menu over. “Eat that and then we can order something else.”
“I want a steak,” I said, while eating the protein bar. “Mashed potatoes and whatever veggie. Have time for dinner, Jo?”
Iris stilled next to me but refrained from saying anything. Jo looked between the three of us, like we were a puzzle she was trying to figure out how to solve.
“As much as I would love to get the full story of whatever this is,” she pointed at us, “I have to meet my client for dinner, but I need the full story if you expect me to put out fires before they start, especially if you continue to bring them along to more rodeos.”
“This was just a one-time thing,” Beau said quickly. “He only invited us because I said I had never been to a rodeo before and I had always wanted tickets to come. Taking pictures here is amazing.”
I bit my lip before I disagreed. It wasn’t only a one-time thing. Having them here made me want them here every time.
“Did you take that picture on his social media?” Jo asked.
“Uh—”
“Yes, he did and a lot of other ones, too. They were all as good as the one he posted,” Iris said immediately.
“I just take pictures as a hobby,” Beau said, looking red.
“Well, I've seen your Instagram and it’s more than just a hobby,” Jo said. “You take amazing pictures.”
Beau looked like he was bracing himself for something. The distrust in his eyes made me wonder what was going on.
“That’s nothing; Beau has an eye for beauty,” Iris said, looking at Beau fondly.
Beau flinched like he had been slapped.
“Oh, don’t act surprised; I know those photos in your house are all you,” Iris said. “He has a collection of black and white ones that are absolutely gorgeous.”
A pang of jealousy hit me, I had yet to see what she was talking about.
Jo nodded, pulling out a business card. “Well, I’m always in need of an amazing photographer, even though I run a business solely of women, I think I’d make an exception just for you.”
Beau hesitantly took the card. “If you want a woman—”
“He’ll be in touch,” I growled, glaring at him.
Jo studied me for a moment, giving me a hint of a smile before turning to leave.
“I’m doing extensive background checks on everyone, just precautionary so if you'd like to tell Nash something, this is your warning,” she said, walking out like she had just said good evening.
“Damn, I don't want to like her, but I actually do,” Iris said.
I laughed, flinching when the pain spiked on my side. “Fuck,” I grimaced.
“Drink up those pills and let's order some food,” Beau said, putting Jo’s card down before looking at it for a second longer.
We spent the rest of the night lounging on the bed, watching rom-coms and action movies until we passed out from over-consumption.
I woke up in the middle of the night, uncomfortable, but ok when I saw the two people who had made this trip a hundred times better.
I was not only falling for my wife, but for the hot man she was friends with too.
I should be panicking except nothing had ever felt more right.