Ridin' Dirty: An Outlaw Author Anthology (OAMC Book 1) (63 page)

“Well ma’am, I’m glad I’ll be your first.” Cody calling me
ma’am
makes me giggle. Something tells me he’s going to be a lot of firsts for me, he just doesn’t know it yet. “Really though, if I knew my way around this place of yours, I would take you somewhere better.”

“This is perfect. You have a strong southern accent. Where are you from?” He pays for the tickets and we turn to walk away. Once we’re out of the line, Cody slides his fingertips down my forearm, entwining our fingers. I look down at our hands, feeling my heart rate pick up and my pulse start to pound. I’ve never held hands before.

“I’m from a small town in North Carolina called Cherokee.” That’s like a thousand miles from here!

“How long are you here?” My heart drops into my stomach, because after today I know I’m not going to want him to leave. What will happen when he does?

“Tomorrow.” Fuck, that soon? I bite the corner of my bottom lip, drop my head and give him a nod. “Hey, what you wanna ride first?” I’m thankful for the subject change because I don’t want to think about him leaving anymore.

Looking around at all the rides, I find my favorite and gripping his hand tighter in mine, I start running that way. We get in line for the Sizzler behind a few other people. “This is my favorite ride. Do you like it?”

“Honestly, I usually don’t ride the rides. I’ve never been on a date at the fair either.” Now Cody’s own cheeks are blushing from his admission. I reach my free hand up, laying my palm against his cheek and he leans into my touch, closing his eyes for a brief second.

“Well sir, I’m glad I’ll be your first too.” We both laugh again and hand our tickets to the carny that’s controlling the ride.

Cody sits on the inside, with me on the outside, since he weighs more than I do. After the carny goes around making sure everyone’s bar is locked in place, the ride starts. Starting off slow, we go to one side of the gate, then picking up some speed, the rides takes us to the opposite side. The ride goes faster and I start sliding toward Cody. His arm goes around my shoulders and we zoom full speed to each of the four points of the ride. I’m pressed tightly against him and my head flies back with my laughter. As the ride comes to a stop, I look over at Cody to see him watching me with a smile.

We hop off and walk to the gate. I start pulling him to the next ride. Same as before, we stand in line behind a few people. “Okay, now this is my second favorite. I hope you don’t get sick easily.” I give him a devilish smile while wagging my brows, making him laugh and shake his head.

“I think I’ll manage.” He gives me a wink that makes me wanna fall at his feet. Cody is so handsome, sexy and perfect. Once we hand over our tickets, I rush to get the Jesse James seat on the Tilt O’ Whirl. We pull the bar down over us as the carny comes around checking everyone. The ride starts moving. When we get to the part I love, I scream, “Spin!” We both lean my way, taking the bar with us. We’re spinning in circles so fast, our heads are pinned to the back of the seat and our laughter rings out. I thought last night was great, but it has nothing on today. I feel like a little kid again. I feel free and I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun. I know for a fact I’ve never had this much fun with a guy before.

Next, we find the Ferris Wheel and repeat; stand in line, hand over tickets, take our seat. We get to the top and the ride stops. We both look out of the bucket seat. You can see all of the fairgrounds from up here. “Sonya, thanks for meeting me today. It’s been awesome. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun.” Cody lays his hand on my thigh and I lay mine on his as well.

Our eyes connect and I tell him, honestly, “Me either.” Trying to break the intense feeling growing between us, I question, “Are you ready for tonight?”

“As long as you’ll be there, I’m ready. I want you close. I wanna look in the stands and see you there.”

“I’ll be there, cheering you on from front row. What bull are you riding?”

“I won’t know until later. We pick from a bowl so it’s luck of the draw.” My eyes are drawn to his. Cody makes me feel so comfortable around him, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t break the connection I feel towards him. The Ferris Wheel starts moving again and we finally make it to the bottom.

I swear Cody is going to lean in to kiss me, but I turn my head so he doesn’t have the chance. “So those are the only three rides I like. Wanna ride them again?” We end up riding each ride five more times. After the last ride, my eyes are huge as I take in what is left of our tickets. “I think you over did it with all these tickets, Cody. What are we gonna do with the rest of them?” My hands, along with his, are filled with unused tickets. He looks around for a second.

“Here, let me have ‘em.” Cody takes all of the tickets and starts walking behind me. I turn around to follow him, stopping in my tracks when I see him kneel before a little boy dressed as a cowboy. “Here, you can have these tickets.”

The parents look down with smiles, and the mom says, “Thank you. Aren’t you Cody Sterling?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replies with a smile.

“I thought so. Braxton loves you. He’s always saying how he’s going to grow up and be just like you.”

“Braxton, you wanna ride bulls one day?” Cody looks eye level with the boy who’s no older than six.

“Yes!” The boy’s smile beams while he nods vigorously.

“Do you have a pen, ma’am?” Cody asks the mom.

“No, I’m sorry, I don’t.”

“I do.” I step up, handing Cody the pen I pulled out of my purse. I watch in awe as he signs the boy’s hat and then pats him on the back.

“Are you going to be there tonight, watching in the stands?” The boy nods happily while Cody hands his hat back. The woman mouths
thank you
as they walk away.

Cody steps back, taking my hand once again. This time a feeling of him being way too good for me takes over. “You hungry?” Cody questions while handing me the pen.

Shaking off the bad thoughts, I nod my head and we go in search of the food vendors. “That was really nice.”

“What?” His brows furrow. He really doesn’t know what I’m talking about.

“What you did for that boy, signing his hat and giving him our tickets.”

“Oh.” His blush returns. “I like kids and it’s a good day in my world if I can make one happy,” Cody tells me before ordering our food.

“You have many layers to you, but you’re a good man, Cody Sterling.” Smiling up at him, he pulls me close and lays a kiss on the top of my head. “Bull riding seems dangerous.” I state while taking a bite of my delicious funnel cake.

“It is. In this sport, it’s only a matter of when you’re gonna get hurt. I wanna be number one in the world before that happens.” Cody snatches a piece of my cake with a smile. I don’t know how I feel about his response.

“How do you get to be number one?”

“Well, I’ll leave here tomorrow, rest up some, and then I have a couple of shows back home. If I do good in those, then in a couple of months, I’ll be in the championship in Las Vegas. If I win in Vegas, I’ll be number one in the world PBR.”

“How do they score it?”

“If my balance is off just a little, I lose points like I did last night. If I control the bull then I get style points.”

“And what does the bull get out of it? The whole tightening a rope around his nuts seems kinda mean.”

Cody laughs before saying, “The bull gets a score too. He gets bucking points, agility, and style. The rope just pisses him off. When they aren’t in those chutes they get treated better than most kids do. After their run is up, they’ll live a happy life in a field, well fed. They will never go to a butcher or a place to be slaughtered, unlike the cows ‘round here.” I guess he does have a point. “It’s time to go. So what’re you gonna do when I’m gone, Sonya? You ask me a lot of questions, but I have yet to know much about you.”

“I work at a clothing store. I graduated college with a bachelor’s degree in business. Really, there isn’t much to tell. Your life seems much more exciting than mine.” God, if he only knew the truth. 

Throwing our trash away, he leads me over to the stadium where he talks to the head guy and gets Pudge and I seats in the front row. Cody helps me find my seat, then gives me a hug and kiss on the forehead. “I’ll see you after.”

“Be careful.”

“I’ll try,” Cody says, with a wink over his shoulder as he walks away. I pull my phone out of my purse and call Pudge, letting her know where I’m sitting.

***

“How was your date?” Pudge hits my arm with her shoulder while we sit and wait for the show to start.

“It was amazing! I had so much fun! We went on rides, ate, talked, and he gave our tickets to a little boy, then signed his hat. He’s something special, Pudge. How was yours?”

“Perfect! I don’t want him to leave.” Her eyes get watery, which has me wrapping my arm around her jacket covered shoulders.

“We knew it would come to an end when we decided to meet them today, right?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Pudge’s head drops down. “I’ve just never met anyone like him and I don’t think I will again.”

“Yes you will, Pudge! You’re great and any guy would be lucky to have you. Let’s not think about it today, we have the rest of tonight and tomorrow. Then when they pull away we will cry, drown our sorrows in junk food and sappy movies, deal?”

“Deal.” We both laugh and get ready for the show to start.

The fireworks light up the sky as the riders are called out. They stand in a line with a bowl in front of them. One by one they pick a name out of the bowl and the announcer informs the audience which bull is picked for each rider. “Cody Sterling has picked number five. He will be riding Baby Blue. Congratulations guys, let’s have another night of safe rides. Now if everyone can stand for the National Anthem, Miss Megan Donnelly will be singing for us.”

It’s time for Cody! I watch the chute as some of the other riders are there helping ease him down onto the bull. He looks over my way, grinning with a wink. He tugs on his rope that we got ready earlier, his left arm goes up into the air and he nods his head. A man standing outside of the chute pulls the rope, opening up the door, and they come out into the arena. The clock starts ticking.

I can tell this bull is gentler than the one last night, but it doesn’t stop him from going crazy. Baby Blue bucks left and right, his back end and front come off the ground. I feel like this eight seconds is eight hours, I’m so nervous. Finally the buzzer sounds, Cody jumps off, Jake helps get the bull back in the chute and locked up. He controlled the shit outta that bull! I stand up, screaming his name with the rest of the fans, pointing at him. Cody comes over, standing on the gate in front of me. He throws his hat and I catch it before he jumps back down, taking his bow.

“He’s good for you,” Pudge tells me as we wait to hear the scoring, and I put his Stetson on my head.

“Pudge, he leaves tomorrow. Nothing good can come of that.”

“You don’t know that, Sonya! You can see it in his eyes when he looks at you. He’s not gonna want to let you go and maybe this is your chance to get away from all of that shit you do at the club.”

“What am I supposed to do? Jump in his truck and move a thousand miles away from my life for a man I met yesterday? Get real, Pudge, shit like that just doesn’t happen.” Ending the conversation, I start heading down the stadium and towards the stables, with her following closely behind.

Pudge has already found Jake so I stand to the side, waiting for him to come back out from the arena after the scoring. Cody spots me immediately and jogs over, picking me up in a tight hug and spinning me around while we both laugh. “Ninety-three, baby!”

“Congratulations! You did amazing!”

“Leave your car here. Come with me.” His hopeful eyes bore into mine as he sets me back on my feet, and I nod. Cody leads me out, making stops to sign autographs, and I get the stank eye by several women. The only time he lets go of my hand is when he’s signing something.

***

“Where did you find this place?” When we left the fairgrounds, Cody drove us out of town. He parked on a secluded dirt road where we’re lying in the back of his truck, looking up at the stars.

“I asked around. So, tell me about yourself.”

“I already told you, there isn’t much to tell. I’m twenty-two, I graduated college in May. I have always lived here and I work at a clothing store.” I’m not about to tell him the name of Ever’s store.

“You have any family?” Cody’s thumb brushes across the skin of my hand as I stiffen.

“No, it’s just me. That’s enough about me though. I wanna hear about you.”

“Well, it’s just mom and I back home. Ever since I was a little boy, I wanted to ride bulls just like my dad did. I decided not to go to college so I could live my dream. Now, here I am at twenty-four, about to make it happen.”

“What happened to your dad?”

“He got killed while riding.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Cody sits up on one elbow, facing me. He tucks some of the hair that has fallen out of my ponytail behind my ear. “It’s fine, it was a long time ago. Do you know how beautiful you are?”