A Wild Ride (Jessica Brodie Diaries #3)

by K. F. Breene

  “Thank you Lady and Gladis for helping me learn those few months.” I laughed. I hadn’t forgotten my roots. After William snubbed me all I did was work out and learn to cook. Well, let’s be honest, I learned how to read and follow directions (recipes).

  “And the last thing, the biggest thing, I’ll miss is the nights when Jess, Betz and I would all just hang out in the living room together, chatting and watchin’ TV. No going out, no need to get all snazzed up, nothin’. Just hanging out. Same as when we was all here, with Gladis and Lady. Except, less alcohol and more TV.”

  “One thing I won’t miss is how often that damn TV was on,” I said dryly. It was seriously on every second Adam was home, if he was in front of it or not.

  “Yeah, I certainly won’t miss her makin’ me eat at the dinner table,” Adam conceded.

  “What did you think about the intrusion?” Gladis asked Lump.

  Lump shrugged. “I mean, it’s Jess. She does cook a mean meal. And she makes Adam jump around, so that’s funny.” She shrugged again. “I don’t know. It’s Jess. She’s a quiet roommate. She wasn’t really an intrusion.”

  “I would have loved to be a fly on the wall.” William smirked. “Betsy doesn’t push Adam around all that much, but if I know Jessica, she was pushing at every single thing Adam said, even if he was agreeing, just to see what she could get away with it.”

  “Yes! How do you deal with it, Willie? Damned exhausting!” Adam sighed.

  William laughed. “It’s easy once you learn the tells. Plus, it keeps it interesting.”

  “I don’t know about interesting, but I had to eat my Wheaties in the morning!” Adam sighed again, totally put-out. “That’s another thing I’ll miss. The fresh fruit bowls. Or the fruit smoothies. First day I helped myself—“

  “And ate all my breakfast!” I interrupted.

  Adam laughed. “Well, she handed me coffee, I thought she was making me breakfast, too. Second day she set aside a portion for me. Healthy, but a good start. Willie’s got you trained right, girl!”

  “Ask William what he does to coincide with my programming…” I gave Lump a smug look.

  “I make eggs and hash browns to offset her fruit and coffee,” William said as if he were reciting a confession. “But I started the practice.”

  To Adam’s groan I said, “It’s true. He did start it. He was already making the eggs and hash browns, so I let him dictate what I needed to contribute.”

  “Well, thanks Willie—it was a hotel in the mornings for a week.”

  “Do you want her to move in forever?” Lump asked, eyeing Adam. Thank God I could tell she was just trying to get his goat.

  “God no! No offense Jess, Willie—I love ya, but no. Please no. I like the simple life.”

  “Are you calling me simple?” Lump asked in mock anger.

  “Yes!” Adam grinned, smiling with soft eyes at Lump. “And I love you every second for it!”

  Lump shared a minute with him while the rest of us smiled and sipped our wine. It was good to see them happy. Even better to see them happy with each other.

  As William and I entered his—our house, he stepped me in the entryway as he closed the door. He then stepped in front of me, bracing his strong arms to either side of me, and doing a wall push-up, lowering his body against mine. He pushed his body into me as he opened my mouth and probed with his tongue. He deepened the kiss as I ran my hands up those muscular arms to his outstanding shoulders. I let go of my worry, of the “what if’s”, of the stress of furniture shopping and how it would all work, and focused on William’s soft lips; on his hard cock rubbing against me through his jeans; on his playful tongue, swirling and flicking me into a fervent desire.

  He backed off the kiss slightly, leaving his body firmly pressed against me. “Welcome home, baby.”

  In that moment I decided to forget all my moaning and make it work. William was sharing his home with me; eager to share his home with me. What’s more, I wanted this. I wanted to unite our lives more firmly. Granted, it wasn’t optimal, what with everything being in his name, but I’d worry about that down the road. Right now I would make this place habitable—no more statues and pictures of live stalk—and I’d see how I felt after that.

  In the week to come I wanted to get a start on furniture shopping, now having a need to fit in to my new home, but with William and I having different, and equally crazy schedules, it was impossible. Work was keeping me insanely busy because they were dangling another promotion in my face. I wanted to show them what I was made of, but there was so much dang work to get finished that a normal work day just wasn’t enough. Then I had the dance lessons, gym, and self-defense. Half the people in my dance class thought I was getting abused by William because of the hands-on self-defense I was learning, and the other half thought I was having great sex. 50% were correct, though it had nothing to do with the bruises.

  After a particularly exhausting day, I arrived home ready for a glass of wine and a thrilling movie that didn’t require brainpower. I walked into the house in a daze. And then stopped abruptly.

  What the...?

  Everything was gone. All furniture, all pictures, all decorations...everything! The kitchen was devoid of decorations, glasses and plates, but did have the cookware.

  In the bedroom there was a futon, my paintings and my pictures, and a couple paintings of Williams. There was also the big flat screen TV that used to be in the living room. Oh, and clothes. Dresser, night stands, everything else was gone.

  I heard the door open and rushed out to meet William wandering in the door looking tired and haggard. He saw me and smiled, then looked past me to the living room and sagged.

  "Forgot about that," he muttered.

  "What is going on?" I asked, incredulous.

  "Well," he said heading toward the kitchen for a beer. I waited for him to open it, have a minute to himself to have a sip, then head out to me.

  “You wanted to be on equal footing, right? We go 50/50 on furniture as if we were just getting out of college and moving in to a place together. You have nothing, so I donated all my stuff except what I couldn't part with. You're welcome."

  It wasn't often I got this wry humor. But then, we usually didn't see each other right away after one of us had a hard day. Welcome to living together...

  Must tread lightly.

  "Thank you, William!" I stepped to him and hugged him. He put his arms around me tiredly.

  "Only problem is that I had a shit day today and now I have no couch to sit on."

  I followed him into the bedroom where we sat on the uncomfortable futon together.

  "Oh," he continued, "and I left all the cookware. It is top quality so I figured you could just deal with it."

  Yikes. Someone needed some alone time.

  "Do you want me to run to Target and get you a chair?" I asked, faking genuine.

  Often times if you feigned going the extra mile you were rewarded by a better disposition. Occasionally, you were also rewarded with having to follow through. Which sucked.

  William chuckled and laid down, pulling me with him. I rested my head on his chest, his cologne mixing in my nose and arousing me. It never took very much to get me in the mood. I slid my hand down his chest, heading for the pot of gold, only to be thwarted by his hand landing on mine, stopping my progress.

  “Need to relax a minute, love,” William said, his deep voice rumbling in his chest. “And get something to eat. I’ll happily take you to the moon later.”

  I laughed and snuggled into him.

  I spent the next several weeks shopping for furniture one piece at a time—I didn’t have much choice, after all—trying to make the various rooms come together. It really wasn’t my forte but I was making it happen. Most of the time I had Lump or Gladis, or both, trailing around helping me with colors and styles. Sometimes William went, though he wasn’t fond of all the options, and helped very little.

  William didn’t care about the furniture, but was ecstatic that
I was a permanent resident in the house. Coming home with me cooking us dinner, or surprising me with a meal and candle light after a long day, was what he had apparently wanted for some time. It seemed funny that it took me this long to resign myself to something so natural. We rarely got on each other’s nerves and craved each other’s presence as much now as when we first started dating.

  Though we were normally together in the evenings, I hadn’t made a point of going to the bull riding practices. Lump always went, and was now getting on the smaller and easier bulls. I knew that if I went she would try and get me on one, too, and it really wasn’t my thing. I usually stayed home with a good book and a glass of wine—with the TV off. It was quiet and relaxing and a nice way to spend some quality alone time.

  But this evening, as I walked into the warm, stuffy house, I didn’t feel like being alone. I didn’t feel like picking up the book I was reading. I actually felt like heading out to the practice fields and seeing what was going on. It was like a pull—like I was missing something and now I needed to catch up. Candace usually went, and Lump would be there, so I could hang out and chat while watching William do his thing.

  “C’mon Fred, Ginger,” I called, not bothering to change. If I changed, Lump would definitely make me ride.

  Fred came bounding up. He was 90% recovered and had been without his doggie lampshade for a good few weeks. He was happy and playful and, like William, over protective. He would get antsy if William was play-fighting with me. He would get agitated if I was trying to practice my newly learned self-defense moves and counter moves with Lump, and he was downright overbearing with the licking when I hurt myself in any way. Humans weren’t the only ones that suffered with near-death experiences. Fred came close to losing his master, and it seemed like it was playing hell on his doggie confidence.

  I showed up to the practice ring as the boys were getting a rider on a bull. It looked like one of the young cowboys so they must be just getting started. I saw Candace and Lump on the opposite side of the chute, and headed in their direction.

  “Hey girls,” I said as I strolled up.

  They turned around, surprise flitting across their faces.

  “What’s up, Jess?” Lump said, turning back toward the rider.

  “Hi ya Jessica! I love that sweater!” Candace exclaimed.

  I looked down at my new cashmere sweater. “Thanks.”

  “What are you doing here? I thought you didn’t like coming to these?” Candace continued, determined not to freak out as Fred and Ginger checked in, then went to find their doggie friends. She was used to terriers.

  “They’re okay. I don’t know. I just felt like coming this time. See what everyone is up to. I’m not riding, though. Just watching.”

  I stepped up next to them. The cowboy and bull exploded into the arena. With two kicks the mini cowboy flew off into a pile of dirt.

  “The bigger bulls should be going soon. How is Willie doing with that bull you got him?” Candace asked while another mini cowboy was strapped on to a patient bull in the shoot.

  “It isn’t old enough to have sex with all the cows so no one knows how things are going. It is turning into a big, mean bull, so William thinks that is good.”

  “Hey Jessie girl.” Adam came up behind me. “Gettin’ on a bull this evenin’?”

  “Nah. I’m just here to socialize and let Fred and Ginger run around.”

  “How’s Fred? I hear he goes to work with you now.”

  I scoffed. “Yeah, he does. He took Ginger’s place. It is more than a little embarrassing, but William won’t bend on it. Two arguments in and he won’t even listen to how absurd it is.”

  “It is at that. A big Dobe sittin’ in an office. You talked to your boss?”

  “Wow—didn’t expect you to be on my side,” I said to Adam.

  Adam shrugged. “Willie can get a little…extreme sometimes. This is one of those times.”

  “I know. I have talked to my boss, yes. And he talked to his boss, which reports to William. So…”

  “And Tom?”

  “He is on my side, too, but not ready to intervene. He thinks William is still a little…fragile.”

  “He’s right.” Adam sighed. “I would be, too. If it was Betz, I would have a hard time steppin’ back, too.”

  “He’ll loosen up a little,” I said. “It’ll come. Another couple arguments to get him on the right road, then I’ll just refuse to take Fred.”

  “All planned out, huh?” Adam laughed. “Well, I’ve said it before and I’m gonna say it again—you’re the best thing for him. Best thing. And he, you. Can’t push him around too hard, and he don’t get his way all the time. Best thing.”

  “Something like that.”

  Adam nodded and watched the mini cowboy go flying. He chuckled as the little dude got up and scrambled toward the fence.

  “Should be an uneventful night, tonight. Not too many men out. Got only one new bull to try. I think Willie’s gonna wrastle that one.” Adam spat on the ground, trying to be dude-like. All the girls gave him scowls.

  “So,” Adam started again after we'd all gone back to peacefully watching bull riding. He was awfully chatty this evening. “I hear y’all are goin’ to San Fran?”

  I didn’t know how he knew, but William had mentioned taking me to San Francisco then to L.A. for my birthday. He was going to meet my parents, which I was not all that happy about. I wasn’t worried about them accepting him as him accepting them.

  “That’s the plan, yeah. We haven’t filled in all the details yet,” I replied.

  I heard William call across the ring. It looked like he was ready to get on the new bull. A bunch of butterflies let loose in my belly for no reason. Yes, the sport was dangerous, but William and these boys knew what they were doing. A few sprained arms and ankles was about as much as close as they got to danger.

  “What’s the deal with that bull?” I asked Lump, giving Fred and Ginger a pat. They checked in more often these days—all Fred’s idea, I was sure.

  She shrugged unconcernedly, leaning down to scratch behind Ginger’s ears. “They think it is going to be too mellow for the circuit, but they are going to give it a try anyway. It is big enough, but that might be it.”

  I nodded. Good. He doesn’t need to be doing anything to break his fool neck.

  William was on and Adam was at the gate. By signal Adam opened the gate and let ‘r ripe. The bull burst out as normal, but didn’t seem inclined to care over much about the rider on his back. William gave him a spur, and nothing really happened besides a lazy hop. William gave him a second spur, which is really only enough to irritate an animal of that size with hide that thick.

  A third spur and the animal dead stopped, but not in that "at rest" kind of way that horses did. If it was a human, it would be angling its head, trying to get a read on why the hell someone was jabbing it in the sides. Irritation, to this bull, was worse than a cattle prod.

  William glanced over to Ty, trying to get a read on the situation. That's when everything exploded.

  Out of nowhere, the beast suddenly grunted really loud and jumped straight up into the air. All us girls made gasps and grabbed onto the bars. The bull spun around viciously, yanking William to the side. It whipped William around the other way immediately, lunching forward with a spin in the air. He landed with a jerk, then whipped William again.

  William was having a hard time of it, now. His body was slipping. The bull too strong and clever by half. They had hugely underestimated this bull. Hugely.

  William reached down to unravel the rope and disembark, but his hand caught. His body went sideways as the bull spun in the opposite direction, landed, then spun back, ripping William the other way, his hand suddenly ripped out of the rope.

  I let my breath go, not realizing I was holding it, as William started flying through the air. The bull spun, still in an angry haze, back toward him. In horror I watched, helpless, as the giant animal aimed a well placed blow straight into Willia
m's chest.

  The thud punched all the sound out of the arena.

  Breath caught in my chest, my adrenaline surging, time slowed down as William's trajectory changed, his limbs flying out of control as his large frame skidded across the dirt, his size trivial compared with that of the strength and power of the bull.

  "Help him," I murmured to no one and everyone at the same time.

  Before William could get up, move out of the way, the bull was on him, large beast running him over like a truck. It stomped, its back legs kicking as it trod. William curled into a ball, trying to protect himself from the onslaught.

  My heart was hammering. Ty was dancing around, waving his arms, not sure how to help. Unable to distract the angry bull from its prey.

  The bull made another pass, stomping and snorting. Then it turned, and bowed, scraping its horns along William's body. He flailed, squished against the dirt by a six hundred pound or more animal, before rolling up tight again, hoping help came for him.

  My heart was in my throat, utterly helpless, watching the love of my life gored on the arena floor while no one was able to help him.

  Ty ran up, second attempt, waving his arms, trying fervently to distract the large animal. The cattle dogs were loose, but it wasn’t helping. The bull, after throwing a quick head-butt toward Ty, and a well-placed kick to the side of one of the dogs, resumed its single-minded determination of William’s destruction.

  The night filled with cries and screams, yells and waving limbs. Everyone was trying to do what they could to distract. Adam was in the arena, trying to help Ty. Another man hoped in as well, doing the same thing. In the middle of it all was William, on the ground, weakly struggling now, as wave after wave of the bull's horns smashed and struck his body. One such gore had a horn hooking under William's arm, then yanking, tossing my love into the air like a sack of rice. William's body was lifeless as he hit the ground.

  All thought left me. Sounds ceased to exist. Before I knew it I was over the fence with my shirt in my hand, waving and yelling for all I was worth. I didn’t have a plan—I didn’t even know I planned to be a hero—but I did know that William didn’t have long, and if I hadn’t messed up his life with all my problems, neither would this damn bull!