BUCKED Box Set: A Bull Rider Western Romance (41 page)

I wanted him to feel what he had put me
through. I knew that he understood the passion that we had shared, but I also
wanted him to know the pain and the hurt that I had undergone all while trying
to make the best out of my situation. I didn’t want to worry about anything
anymore. I was done playing this game of cat and mouse, even though I still
knew, deep down, no matter how hard I tried to hide it, that I still had feelings
for him. But I wasn’t going to let that knowledge get the best of me. I wasn’t
about to allow him to take control over my life ever again.

Just as I did when I left for college and
reinvented myself, I was going to take control of my life once again. I
realized that just because I was in the house where my family, my real family
had once vacationed, in a town where everyone knew me, didn’t mean that I still
could not effectively reinvent myself.

Therefore, that night, early in the
evening, I grabbed my fake ID and headed out on the town.

Tonight, I decided, was going to be a very
good night.

Chapter
34

Tyler

I had laid fucking low for a little while
after the incident at the gym. Although I was sure if anything was going to
come from it, legally, then it would have by now, but I still couldn’t be too
sure. So I stayed away until I was absolutely sure that the coast was clear. I
certainly didn’t want to be charged with anything; not over a fight with that
piece of shit.

However, I did curse myself for having a
strike of conscious. I was pretty sure if anything, that would be what did me
in. It was a stupid move on my part, but then again, it would have been worse
if the man died.

Even though I hadn’t shown my face in the
gym for a little while, I had monitored the news and there wasn’t even a
passing story of a man being beaten to death in the local gym, so I figured I
was out of a murder charge. It would’ve been assault at the most and I figured
that if they were really looking for me, they would have found me.

After all, I hadn’t up and fucking
disappeared.

In a way, I was proud of myself. I hadn’t
killed him and with the mood I was in, that was saying a lot.

So, instead of the gym, I had worked out
all I could on the beach. It wasn’t the absolute best scenario, but for a
little while, it would have to do.

After a week though, I was in dire need of
weight training and other essentials to my craft that just couldn’t be
substituted by making up my own shit.

It went beyond a want. It was now a
necessity and so, I ran over to the gym early that morning.

I had been around a lot of gyms in my
life. It was where I felt relatively safe and so I was fairly certain that I
understood the social structure. Even for something as big as someone getting
the shit beat out of them, a week should be enough time where people were still
talking about it in passing, but weren’t actively insinuating.

I prepared myself for chatter and even
planned for it.

So when I arrived at the gym that day and
flawlessly made it through my reps without so much as a pause, I felt like I
could make it through anything that anyone had to say.

However, as I continued my workout,
spending ample time in the room with other avid gym enthusiasts, some of which
I had come to know by name, no one said anything about what had happened.

A few of them asked me where I was,
because they hadn’t seen me all week, but even when I went up to the front desk
to buy a bottle of water, speaking to the exact same man who I had informed of
my suspicions, he said nothing.

In my paranoid mind, I began to think that
perhaps this was all a trick.
Was someone
trying to fuck me up? Is this some kind of revenge?
The accusation seemed
laughable and probably would have been if I wasn’t so nervous.

However, I knew that if there were people
who were on to me, if I did anything suspicious, it would not help me at all.
So I did my best to remain calm.

When I was finished with my workout
though, I couldn’t help but make my way down to where the fight had occurred. I
went into the room and began to work out, but while I did so, I checked out the
area where I had left the man. Everything seemed perfectly fine. There wasn’t a
drop of blood, or a body, so I had no idea what was going on.

Maybe
he was gone before anyone got down here…
I thought, trying to
reassure myself, but that didn’t really work.

I had expected someone to say something,
but the fact that no one was saying anything, like it hadn’t even happened, was
eerie and it made me increasingly uncomfortable. I was all right with dodging
questions and playing dumb, but I was not prepared for such a deafening
silence.

Therefore, as soon as I left the gym, I
realized that I most definitely was in dire need of a drink. I decided as soon
as I started my run back home, feeling far weaker than I should have, that I
was going to go out on the town tonight and try to fucking relax.

I thought about asking Ashley if she
wanted to join me, but since all I had received from her from the past week was
radio silence, I figured to hell with her.

Deciding that I would return to my old
ways, I came to the conclusion that what I truly needed was for tonight to be
all about me.

After all, with all of the shit that had
gone down throughout this entire summer, with the fucking domino effect that
had caused me to freak out and realign all of my priorities, at least
temporarily, I needed to get back in touch with the man that I was before
meeting Ashley. I needed a night where I could just be me. I could chase girls,
be an asshole and enjoy the true and lasting fruits of my labor without any
strings attached.

Chapter
35

Ashley

The bar was increasingly packed, but that
wasn’t such a bad thing for me. Having become a regular at the majority of
these bars, I was let in without much fuss and since I was looking for
something or someone to take my mind off of my dickhead of a stepbrother, I
wasn’t so unhappy with the amount of people surrounding me.

I waded through the crowd toward the
bartender, before I ordered a drink and began to sip it slowly as I walked
through the mass of people.

I had to say that I looked hot tonight and
the fact that I didn’t have anyone holding me back made the situation even
better.

There was a part of me that felt free.
Tonight, not only was I free from Tyler’s watchful eye, but I was also free
from the messed up relationship that I had with the entirety of my family.

Life did not happen. Tonight, I was
embracing the idea that I controlled my destiny. Not only would I be able to
enjoy myself, but if I wanted something, I was going to do whatever I could to
make that wish come true.

It had taken me a week and in all
fairness, I was also taking a page right out of Tyler’s book by making myself
proud, instead of working to make someone else happy for me. But I truly felt
that it was going to work.

I was confident and I looked great! What
could go wrong?

Once I found a spot in the club that
wasn’t completely overflowing, I grabbed a high-top table and sat down. I knew
that being by myself was something that would attract attention from the men
who were seeking out a woman for the evening, but that was kind of what I
wanted.

There was a part of me that wanted to show
Tyler that he didn’t have anything on me. I wanted to be my own woman and what
I chose to do, or tell anyone that I did, would remain my secret.

I wasn’t looking to get laid, but if I
happened to find a nice gentleman and things escalated, I certainly wasn’t
against a one night stand; if only to show Tyler what kind a woman I really
could be.

I was surprised, however, that it didn’t
take long at all for a man to come up and sit down next to me.

The man looked nothing like Tyler, but had
his own interesting allure. I immediately picked up on the bad boy vibe, but
since he was attractive — nicely dressed and seemed nice — I didn’t really pay
much mind to my instincts.

However, he did look like he had been in a
fight rather recently. His nose looked almost like it was broken and either eye
appeared to have bruises. I thought that was a bit strange, but I wasn’t about
to make a big deal out of it. I figured that it wasn’t my business anyway.

“Hey, you’re…Ashley, right?” the man said
smoothly as he slid into the seat.

“Yes.” I smiled back at him, but shot a
suspicious look in his direction. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

“You know Tyler, right? I’ve seen you two
at the gym together.”

“Yeah, I do,” I answered, wondering what
this could be about.
Go figure,
I
thought, trying not to roll my eyes.
The
first man who seeks me out knows that I have a connection to Tyler.
Still,
I was hopeful that this was where his knowledge of me and Tyler ended, although
I knew that I couldn’t be so sure. His questioning made me a little bit leery.

He slid closer to me and answered, “So…I
have a question for you.”

“Yes?” I asked, trying to be diplomatic
over the whole thing.

“If I were to buy you a drink, would Tyler
be okay with that?”

I beamed, happy that he wasn’t here on
behalf of Tyler, or at least I didn’t think so. Besides, if he were, I was
going to make it very clear about where I stood. So, I made it a point to smile
in an alluring fashion before I looked over at him and answered, “Let’s just
say that I couldn’t give a shit what Tyler thinks.”

He laughed before he said, “I heard that
you were his.”

“You couldn’t be more wrong,” I answered
and then after a pause, I glanced around before looking straight back at him
and asking, “So, how about that drink?”

The man smiled at me and moved away toward
the bar and as I watched him, another man caught my eye. Immediately, I was
aggravated.

I wondered why he would be here, when all
I wanted was some peace, and quickly concluded that he must be following me.

“Hey…” He said before smiling in a strange
fashion.

Is
he jealous?
I couldn’t help but wonder.
I hope so.

“Hi,” I answered stiffly.

Tyler leaned heavily against the table
before he answered, “So, what are you doing here?”

“Minding my own business, which is
something that I wish you could do for one night,” I spat harshly. “Are you
following me?”

At this, he glared at me and answered,
“What? No! Shit. I just happened to go to a club. Is that a crime?”

I looked over at him with a careful stare
before I answered, “Well…No. I guess it isn’t…So, you’re just here?”

“In the flesh,” he answered, spreading his
massively attractive arms out as he stepped away from the table slightly, as
though to illustrate his presence further.

“Um…okay.”

“Do you want a drink?” He
motioned
to my empty glass.

I shook my head. “No. That’s okay.”

Before I could explain that I already had
someone getting me a drink, as though right on cue, the man returned and slid
past Tyler, making it clear that he was with me. Since they knew one another, I
thought that was slightly strange.

“Hey sweetheart,” he answered in a sly
tone that was different from the one he had used with me before. I didn’t like
the way his eyes slid between me and Tyler. Suddenly, there was a sense of
awkwardness between the three of us, growing stronger.

I wanted to make Tyler jealous, but this
seemed to be something else entirely.

“Is he bothering you?” the man asked.

“Him?” Tyler snarled at me.

I looked between them and couldn’t tell
what was going on. “I thought you two knew one another.”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that. He’s a
squirmy little piece of shit,” Tyler answered heatedly, looking pugnaciously at
the man.

“
Aww
, would you look at
that,” the man teased in a mean fashion, which made me automatically dislike
him. “I guess Tyler minds a little more than you thought he would.”

“Yeah, I do fucking mind. Get away from
her,” Tyler answered, staring at the man with a hard look in his eye.

“What is the matter with you? Don’t like a
little friendly competition? Can’t take it? Do you feel out of your league?”
The man continued to press Tyler, who just grew angrier.

I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I
suddenly realized that it was not about me at all. The man didn’t like me, or
if he did, that wasn’t his prime reason for buying me a drink. It was all about
Tyler. For some reason, this man made it clear that he needed to get back at
Tyler for something. However, if he thought that I was the way to do it, he
couldn’t have been more wrong.

As angry as I was with Tyler, I wasn’t
going to go with a random guy just to spite him; at least, not like this.