Broken Trouble (Broken Storm #1) (19 page)

              I clung to his back, but slowly let my legs down until my boots touched the dirt, my hold loosening.

              "We were just waiting on you to get control of the bull," Gavin said, his back tense against my hands. Why did I still have my hands on his back again? It was too late to hog tie Gavin now.

              "I'd love to see you actually control the bull when you're on him, bein’ as how you can barely control him when you're not," Jayden interrupted, the ropes the guys had used to tie him were completely gone.

So much for that.

              "Says the two guys who can't even control their girlfriend," Sike paused, tilting his head to the side as if in wonder, but his eyes sparked with burning hatred. "Wait, whose girlfriend is she again? Are you all so weak that you have to share her?" He paused again and I knew his next words would be the last straw for Jayden and Gavin. "No, I know. She's no one’s. She's just trying out all of you guys, right? I however, have no problems with women and there's nothing I can't ride, even you." His last sentence was spoken with disgust, like he was going to be sick just at the thought of touching someone like me.

              "Go ahead and come over here and give me a try, we'll see which parts you have left after I'm done with you," I snapped, my face flushing red in anger. No wonder the guys absolutely hated this guy. I'd only known him for an hour or two and I was already ready to gut the man and leave him in the garbage bin in a back alley somewhere. On second thought, since we’re out in the country, we would just leave his body for the buzzards.

              Sike's lip curled up in a cruel snarl that I think was meant to be a smile. "Enough talk, let's see who can ride this beast."

              Was he calling me or the bull the beast?

              He turned and headed towards the bull pin, answering my unspoken question.

              I felt something brush my arm and turned to see Dylan holding my shirt. He kept his eyes on the ground, for which I was glad. He would no doubt get an eyeful if he was to look at me. I slipped my shirt on and followed the guys, smiling a bit at him in thanks.

              "I'll let one of you go first, so you can ride him when he's nice and calm," Sike said.

              "I can ride him no matter what mood he's in," Jayden boasted.

              "Then show me," Sike gestured to the bull.

              "Easy," Jayden said, moving towards the pen where the bull was. I moved up beside him, knowing that no matter what I said, there was nothing we could do to stop this now. Starre still hadn't shown up with Polly.

              Jayden turned to me, placing his hands on both my cheeks and kissing my lips before giving me his usual cocky smile and a wink. "I'll be fine, Sweetheart."

              I stood in shock, watching as he climbed into the pen, getting on the bull and doing something with a rope and his hand. I tried to pay attention to what he was doing, but it was hard not being distracted by the fact that the kiss had been our first real one.

              He probably did it on purpose, knowing it would give him enough time to get on the bull.

              I only snapped out of it when the gate sprang open and Otoktay leaped from the pen. He spun and bucked, leaping high into the air as he did so. Jayden jerked around on top of him, one of his arms high in the air as he rode the bull. I heard the bull let out an angry howl as he went, furious to have Jayden on his back.

              Jayden seemed to be doing surprisingly good for riding a huge, raging beast, especially when he was only hanging on with a single rope.

Not that I was impressed, he was still an idiot.

              Otoktay changed directions, spinning sharply in the other direction. I watched in horror as Jayden flew off the bull's back and through the air. The bull stopped bucking immediately, watching as Jayden landed with a hard thump in the sand of the corral not too far away from him.

              The bull was out for blood. Even I could see it. With a roar, the bull charged towards Jayden, completely ignoring the other cowboys who were darting around in front of it, waving their hats around to distract it.

              Jayden hopped out of the dirt as if he hadn't just been flung off a bull and took off running towards the fencing of the corral.

              "Run, Jayden, run!" Sike yelled out sarcastically, laughing hysterically. If I could have picked him up and thrown him into the path of the charging bull, I would have. At least then the bull would have someone to take out his fury on other than Jayden.

              The bull was gaining quickly on Jayden, who had made it to the fence, leaping up on it to dart over. I reached for one of his arms along with several other people, trying to yank him over the fence quicker.

              It wasn't fast enough.

              The bull charged in. It lowered its head and slammed into the fence, and Jayden's leg. The fence shook with the force of Otoktay’s weight

              Jayden screamed, using his free leg to kick Otoktay in the head. The angry bull jerked its head around, releasing his leg enough for us to pull him over the fence before the bull slammed its head into the fence several more times.

              Gavin grabbed him under his arms and pulled him a safe distance away from the fence. My heart thundered in my chest as I stood, completely useless, and unable to help him.

              Wyatt appeared, using a knife to cut the pant leg of his jeans, examining his leg. The fact that there didn't appear the be any blood was a relief, though that didn't stop me from worrying. Wyatt felt his leg, asking him questions about the pain and where it hurt the most, before pulling back with a sigh of relief.

              "Is it broke?" Gavin asked from behind me.

              "No, not unless it's a hairline fracture. I think he's just banged up a bit, maybe pulled a muscle. He's lucky," Wyatt said, standing up to frown down at the still panting Jayden.

              "Your leg was between his horns," Landon told Jayden, punctuating Wyatt's point.

              Jayden smirked, then grimaced in pain, "I guess there's no way we could keep this just between us and not tell Polly?"

              "Not a chance," Polly's voice rang out over the crowd of people.

              Jayden paled even further, as Polly made her way to him. He was in trouble, and I was pretty sure this time would be much worse than the last.

              The ride back to the ranch was filled with awkward silence. The air in the truck made me feel claustrophobic. The need to open a window kept nagging at me, but I refused to move, not wanting to draw attention to myself.

              I barely even noticed when Starre's truck separated from the rest, heading towards her house.

              I knew there was no immediate danger to myself, but with what had happened, I wasn’t sure of how things would go when we got back. Just because I wasn't the one who did something completely insane and stupid, that didn't mean I wouldn't be the one blamed for it.

              I knew that from experience. I’d always been the one to take the blame for others’ mistakes. It was always my fault. I was the one held responsible and punished. I was the one who received the beatings.

              The last time was by the last people who had adopted me. Their daughter had come home late one night from a party, drunk and high, too out of it for her parents to be able to punish her right away for it. So, instead of confronting their daughter about it in the morning, they had come to my room, looking for an outlet for their anger and disappointment.

              I hadn't been expecting anything that night, already asleep in my bed when they stormed in. I woke up when I was dragged off the bed and onto the floor. Instead of curling up into a protective ball and waiting for the beating out like I normally did, I’d scrambled up and tried to get away. When the woman grabbed me, I’d backhanded her.

              It was the worst mistake I could have made at that moment, and the beating was worse because of it. I could still remember the man's fists landing punch after punch as his wife screamed hysterically, scratching and yanking at my hair while making sure I hadn't been able to curl into a fetal position to protect myself.

              When they had finally exhausted themselves, the man had carried me out onto the balcony and threw me off.

              Their pool had broken my fall. I was barely conscious, and I couldn't swim very well. I’d clung to a blow up duck for what felt like hours, until I finally had the energy to get to the edge of pool and crawl out. Then I passed out. When I'd woken up a bit before dawn, I’d walked away from that house and never looked back.

              That night was also the reason why I kept my doors blocked or locked now.

              I’d spent a few months being passed from foster home to foster home, until I ended up here, at the ranch. I twisted the end of my shirt in my hand nervously as we pulled up into the ranch yard. I was slow to get out of the car and even slower to head inside. A grim mood hung over us all. Something really bad was happening.

              Jayden had hurt himself. He almost got himself killed, and the night wasn't even over. Now it was punishment time, and I braced myself, wondering if, and how, they would twist this around so I was to blame.

              When a hand brushed my back lightly, I flinched and lurched away from the touch, my body shooting straight into flight mode.

              What stopped me from running was looking back and seeing Wyatt's eyes as he watched my reaction. His relaxed body, and calm eyes were contagious.

              I had shown my weakness by flinching away from him, and he obviously had no intentions of hitting me. I bowed my head, avoiding his eyes in embarrassment.

              We stood there in awkward silence for a minute before he moved forward, holding an arm out behind me and waiting. I looked up into his eyes in question, but only saw the everlasting patience that made Wyatt who he was. Instead of touching me again, he was offering the same gesture as before, only this time waiting for me to accept it.

              He was letting me take my time and choose what I thought I needed. Whether I wanted to trust him, was left up to me, and I was grateful for it. Being given that option had me shifting back into his hand. The warmth on his skin seeped through my shirt quickly, helping me relax.

              I saw the corner of his mouth twitch in a small grin before he moved forward and I followed along beside him. Was this something he did with horses? Because if it was, it was no wonder he was amazing with them.

              By the time we stepped into the ranch house, I was still nervous, but felt more at ease than I’d had on the way here.

              Polly led everyone into another room. Jayden followed close behind her with his head hung. The other guys filed in behind him, so I went along with them.

              Polly made Jayden listen, but she didn’t need to beat the lesson into him. She was a rare person. Someone who could love an adopted son like her own. But my past hammered away at my confidence, and I remembered, I’d misjudged people before.

              We entered the living room. Several long, purple couches were positioned along the back of the room, giving everyone a place to sit. Across from the couches was a large TV. As long as I’ve been here, I couldn't remember ever hearing it on.

              Polly reached into the drawer of an end table, grabbing a bottle of painkillers. Chili appeared from the kitchen with a glass of water, making his first appearance of the evening. How they both knew Jayden would need them was beyond me.

              Jayden swallowed the pills, grimacing in pain as he sat back against the couch, and adjusted his leg.

              "Explain," Chili demanded, taking a seat next to Polly, where she stood in front of the couch, her hands on her hips.

              Jayden coughed awkwardly, uncomfortable for the first time since I'd known him.

              It surprised me to see him at a lack of words, but it was even more surprising when it was Gavin who spoke, "Sike was there."

              Polly sighed heavily, her shoulders deflating. Even Chili suddenly looked tired, running his hand over the scruff on his face. It was obvious that they knew all about the guys’ hatred for Sike.

              Polly huffed, "Every time you get around that boy, y'all are fighting. This can't keep happening. We've told y'all before; if ya see him, ya need to avoid him."

              "We tried, but we couldn't," Jayden answered.

              "There's no ‘but.’ Did he force ya to get on that bull?"

              "No, but-"

              "Then there's no reason for you boys to have done what ya did. What if you had hurt that bull? Would ya have had the money to reimburse Barett?" Polly paced across the wood floor. Both Jayden and Gavin stayed quiet, keeping their eyes on the floor. They both seemed to know just how much trouble they were in. "Starre already told me everyone was trying to stop you two from going through with it, so ya had plenty of chances to back out, and ya didn't," Polly paused and exchanged a look with Chili, the tired, somber nod told me that whatever punishment they had just come up with was bad. "I've let things slide a lot, and ya boys have come a long way from where ya were, but this was irresponsible and dangerous, and I can't let it go." She paused again before dropping the punishment bomb. "You're both banned from entering in the rodeo."

              "If we don't enter then we're handing over first place to that asshole," Gavin ground out, his eyes dark with hatred.

              Polly raised an eyebrow, but ignored the curse, "Well, ya both should have thought of that before risking your lives. Now, are ya sure ya don't need to go to the hospital Jayden?"

              "You know I won't," Jayden muttered, clearly not happy with the punishment either. His face was pale and his posture was stiff.

              "The vet will be out tomorrow, he'll scan your leg to make sure it's not broke," Chili said.

              Was it normal for ranchers to get their injuries checked out by the vet? Was that even safe? Why weren't they fighting him to go to the hospital? I’d always assumed Polly would be the first one to be forcing him to go to the doctor, yet that wasn't the case.

              "Is that all?" Gavin growled.

              "Yes," Polly stated, watching as Gavin got up and strode out of the room. Jayden followed behind him, limping.

              After they left the room, everyone sat in silence before Polly waved us off
.
, "Everyone go on to bed. It's late and y'all will need your sleep for tomorrow."

              I followed the other guys up the stairs to the second story, everyone taking turns with the bathroom before heading off to bed.

              I couldn't help but feel responsible for what had happened. If I hadn't been there, then things might have gone down differently, and no one would be injured, or in trouble. Maybe I should have convinced them to leave early. When I came out of the bathroom, I was still feeling down and like everything that happened tonight was my fault.

              Wyatt stood in the hallway, leaning against the wall, waiting for me. His warm blue eyes searched mine before he moved towards me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders in half hug, his chin brushing the top on my head. "You did good, cowgirl," he murmured, then let me go, and disappeared into the bathroom.

              I stood there stunned. Wyatt had made physical contact with me so many times tonight that I’d lost track, and his kind words were reassuring. He was more understanding of me than I was.

              I made it to my room in a daze, hesitating on the other side of the door. I wondered if I should put the chair in front of it or not. With everything that had happened, my mind was churning with the memories I tried to keep buried. Yet Wyatt's reassurance and support had me second guessing my need to block the door.

              I took a step, pausing before making my way to the bed. I laid down, staring at the door, wondering if I was making a mistake by trusting them.

              That was my insecurity speaking, because in my heart, I knew I could.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

              I woke up a short time later, dragging myself out of bed. Waking up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom sucked, and I wished my body would just completely shut down at night so I could get some sleep. I quickly slipped out the door and into the hall, making it to the bathroom without making any sound. When I came back out, the door to the bathroom let out a loud groan and I froze, listening intently for any movement in the rooms.

              Instead of waking up any of the guys though, I woke up the puppy. I heard the scratching of nails on the floor as the puppy started barking and scratching at the door.

              Within seconds I could hear the groan and cursing of Gavin as he woke up. My eyes wide, I tiptoed down the hallway, trying to make it back to my room before they came out, but only managed a few steps before the door opened, light from the room flooding into the hall.

              Even in the dark, I could see the broad shoulders and muscular frame of Gavin.

              In only his boxers.

              Why did he have to be such a jerk when he was so hot? I sighed, bringing his attention to me as he paused just outside his door. The puppy ran around his feet until he came up to me, his tail wagging so hard that his whole body was wiggling. I reached down to pet him, scratching behind his ears until he let out a playful growl, trying to attack my hand.

              Gavin walked down the hall towards the steps, apparently thinking that ignoring me was the best way to handle seeing me in the middle of the night. "Come on, Mutt," he called, heading down the stairs.

              The puppy, or Mutt, which was apparently his name now, lingered with me for a few moments, his stubbornness to show his new owner he didn't have to do what he said keeping him in place. Then he took off after Gavin as fast as he could, hopping down the stairs behind him, then darting underneath his feet.

              There was a curse and Gavin tumbled forward, slipping and falling down the steps. There were loud thuds as he fell, then a long groan when he came to a stop. I ran to the edge of the stairs, looking down at him. "Are you okay?"

              "Of course, now that I fell down the steps she asks how I am," I heard him murmur to himself. "What do you think? You got Mutt to fucking kill me, didn't you?"

              "Well, you're talking so at least you didn't break your neck. I can't say the same about any brain damage though."

              "Shit," Gavin cursed, moving around at the bottom of the stairs. I really couldn't see him very well, so I turned to search for a light switch. That's all I needed was to go back to sleep without checking to make sure he wasn't bleeding out and then wake to him dead.

              "Where's the light switch?" I asked him, running my hands over the walls.

              "No! Don't you fucking turn the lights on. Just go back to sleep," Gavin replied, sounding both panicked and angry.

              Well, now I was really curious.

              I found the light switch and flipped it on, turning back around to peer down the stairs at Gavin.