Chapter Nine
Caine
This is the worst night out I’ve ever had. Or maybe it’s always been this depressing, and I haven’t been paying attention.
Kyle and I meet at Porters, a local bar in the area.
This place is our usual hub for picking up women, and tonight I figure the only way to get a certain brunette out of my head is to get another one in my bed.
Well, get in their bed, since I don’t bring pussy home.
But as I look around the joint, I just feel empty.
At what point does this just become sad?
Here I sit with Kyle, a friend I’ve had since I was five, and now, we are both in our forties sitting in a bar checking out women like we are in our twenties.
Kyle has never been married. He dates; he has just never met a woman he’s ever wanted to marry before.
Unlike me, the asshat who married someone because I mistook lust for love.
Kyle is also the local doctor in our little town.
I sit back in the booth with a pint in front of me. “This is just pathetic,” I grumble.
“Speak for yourself,” he says when a woman from across the bar eyes him.
“You’ve already fucked her,” I tell him.
Kyle turns brown eyes to me, brows raised. “Really? How do you know?”
“I don’t know; the chances are just high that you have,” I respond, my lips twitching as I laugh at him.
“Fuck you, I thought you actually remembered someone I didn’t.” He scowls and runs a tanned hand over his face and sighs. “Okay, so maybe this is a little sad. But how else are we supposed to meet anyone?”
My mind drifts back to Micky and, fuck if regret isn’t eating away at me.
I’m consumed with images of her laughing, and, oddly, making fun of me.
“You have a creepy smile on your face, man,” Kyle says to me, his face twisting with a look of horror.
“Sorry,” I reply sarcastically. “I hadn’t realized my face had done anything.”
“Hey, are you Caine Montgomery?” asks a blonde I’ve actually never seen before. Still, it’s weird that she knows my name.
“Who are you?” I ask instead of answering her question.
I think we’ve already established that I’m an asshole, so why tempt fate now?
“I’m Macy Lou,” she answers with a smile.
I look at her, trying to take her in, in the dimly lit bar. She has blonde hair that’s obviously dyed, the roots coming in dark. She looks young though, possibly in her early thirties.
I wonder how she knows who I am. I’ve been off the rodeo circuit now for five years.
“Are you gonna tell me your name?” she asks tentatively.
She purses her lips as she looks at me, twirling her hair around her finger.
“Sorry, darlin’, I’m not interested,” I find myself saying.
What the fuck is wrong with me? Available pussy is standing right in front of me. But my dick doesn’t even twitch at the tits spilling out of her tank top.
“Oh.” She stands up straighter. “I guess you’re not who I thought you were.” She swipes her hair, flinging it over her shoulder as she walks away.
“Okay, who the fuck are you right now? I can honestly say I have never seen you turn down pussy,” Kyle says. The fucker reaches over the table and hits me on the side of the head. “Has the damage of bronc riding slowly damaged your brain? Do I need to take you in for a CT scan?”
“I just wasn’t feeling it,” I answer with a shrug.
“Then why the fuck did you come out tonight?” he asks like he’s the one I just turned down.
I honestly don’t know how to answer that question. I don’t know what to say. I had come out to forget the brown-haired girl who had been on my mind for months. But the moment an opportunity comes into my lap, I turn it away.
I’m never gonna see her again! It’s not as though if I stay a monk, I’ll be able to win her over! Yet, I found nothing appealing about that other woman.
“Don’t you think it’s weird that she knew my name?” I ask Kyle as I look around the bar without actually looking around the bar.
“What do you mean?” he asks, his brow furrowed as he looks at me.
“I’m retired, five years, and she knew my name,” I explain.
Kyle just shrugs, then runs a hand through his dark brown hair. “I don’t know; maybe she knows you from coaching?”
“Who the fuck cares about the trainers?” I ask, shaking my head.
“What do you want me to say? That you’re hot?” Kyle asks, his lips twisting in disgust.
“No, you fuckwit! I want you to say it’s weird that an old guy like me is still getting recognized.”
“Why would I admit that? I get your leftovers! If it’s weird for you, then it’s really sad for me.”
“Kyle, it’s always been sad for you.” I laugh.
“Fuck you!” he groans, throwing a wadded-up napkin at my head.
“Hey, Caine!” waves one of my students, and I wince when I see Macy Lou sitting on his lap.
Jason is twenty-one. And I scowl as I see him taking shot after shot! Kid’s gonna be feeling that tomorrow. I hope he falls right on his sorry ass! That’s the only way he’s gonna learn that drinking and riding don’t mix.
“Looks like he’s getting your leftovers tonight,” Kyle mutters with a chuckle as he brings his beer to his lips.
Three of my students walk over to me, three random women on their arms. The buckle bunnies are out in full force tonight.
“Hey, Caine!” they all say with smiles on their faces.
“You gonna be able to train tomorrow?” I ask Jason with a frown. His face is flushed, and he’s swaying on his feet.
“Don’t be such a buzzkill,” he drawls, his upper lip curling in a sneer. “Maybe you need to get laid.”
Kyle laughs.
“What’s so funny, old man?” Jerod, another one of my riders, asks Kyle.
“That you think Caine needs help gettin’ laid,” Kyle says with a smirk as he brings his beer to his lips.
“Well, he’s sitting alone,” Jason snickers.
“By choice. He could have gone home with your little friend,” Kyle says, lifting his chin in the direction of Macy Lou.
“Very funny,” Jason says with a laugh.
“I think it’s funny you think I’m kidding,” Kyle counters, shaking his head at the young man.
I’m not gonna lie. I feel a small twinge of satisfaction that the woman on his arm is someone I rejected.
I already acknowledged that I’m a dick. This only solidifies that truth.
“You want Caine?” Jason asks Macy Lou, his brow furrowed.
“Well, he is gorgeous,” Macy Lou replies, turning her gaze toward me.
“I’m good,” I say, holding up my hand. “In fact, I think I’m gonna call it a night.”
“You want company?” Macy Lou asks, looking at me through her mascara-coated eyelashes.
“As I said, I’m good,” I answer as I stand up.
With the way this woman is staring at me, I’m really glad I turned her down.
She looks ready to pounce! And I do not bring pussy to my house.
The last thing I need is for this woman to know where I live, any woman for that matter.
The ranch is one thing. We have six houses on the property; they have no way of knowing which one is mine.
“FYI, if you come drunk tomorrow, you’ll all be mucking the stalls,” I warn my riders. They all look ready to fall down. I just shake my head. “Have a good night, Kyle,” I say, shaking my buddy’s hand before reaching inside my back pocket and removing my wallet.
I throw a twenty down on the table and tip the bill of my hat to everyone as I leave.
What a fucking bust! What a waste of fucking time! And what the fuck am I doing? I’m pining over a woman I have no chance of getting or ever seeing again! This is just crazy-making!
I get in my truck, toss my hat onto the seat beside me and growl into the air!
FUCK!