A Wild Ride (Jessica Brodie Diaries #3)(55)

“Which group of men are you referring to?” Lump asked, glancing behind her. “The group of guys anxiously waiting to ride Willie’s famous bulls? Or the ones waiting anxiously to ride Willie’s famous woman?”

I glanced behind me again. “What do you mean?”

“The ones that are waiting to ride bulls heard about the bull that nearly killed Willie. It was great marketing. It led to questions about what other kinds of bulls he’s got. If that one was a fluke or not. Willie’s got a few bulls in the rodeos, and more here to test. All these guys want to be bull testers. They want the practice. Some the glory. Mostly they are a bunch of idiots, but there are a couple big time riders here, so the word’s out.”

“That’s good for William, right?”

Lump shrugged. “You’d have to ask Adam. Or Willie. Adam seems to think so--“

“Ty, too,” Candace added.

“Anyway, the other guys heard Willie was making it out tonight. They want to see the town celebrity.”

“So where do I fit in?”

Lump laughed. “You are the town celebrity. They want to see Willie, too—he had a narrow miss. He is well respected among these guys. But no, they want to see the rodeo goddess that jumped in front of a lunatic bull, took off her shirt, and saved the day.”

Candace giggled.

“Wait. What? Why?” I looked around again. Now that she mentioned it, some of the groups of men were glancing in our direction, talking while they did.

“What do you mean why?” Lump was saying, her and Candace looking at me now. “Four reasons, actually. First, when things were looking bad, the heroic girlfriend jumped into the ring and flagged down a giant, angry bull. Then she led it to the holding pen to get locked in, thus saving her man from certain death. She saved Ty as well, of course, because he would’ve been caught up and killed most assuredly, they say. Most men would think you are crazy, true, but bull riders are crazy themselves, and they think you are heroic.”

I scoffed.

“Second, it is legend how far that bull head-butted you while you were in the air. I saw it myself. My God, Jess, it was pretty vicious! You were on your way down one minute, then the next you flew another twelve feet! It was measured.

“Third,” she held up three fingers with a smirk. “Is it not the most noble thing that a woman risks herself to save her man? But it doesn’t stop there. You tried to fight your way out of your death bed to get to William’s side, they say. You assaulted half the staff to get there; to sit with him day and night. You wouldn’t even get up to pee or eat, they say.”

“That is just stupid,” I interjected, even though it was mostly true. I did sound a bit crazy.

“Fourth,” Lump went on. She started laughing, as did Candace. “Fourth, Jessica Brodie, and the biggest wonder of the story—the detail that will get you a date with any of the guys in the rodeo world, even enabling you to steel Adam and Ty if Willie would allow it—you did all this in nothing but jeans and a lacy, black, see-through teddy.”

Lump and Candace started laughing harder. I felt a weird smirk creep up my face.

“At first,” Candace said, “no one believed the bit about the teddy. I mean, what woman would try to rescue someone without clothes? How would no one see that she was walking around before the incident, naked?”

“Yeah,” Lump picked up the story again, having a hard time with a straight face. “That is until they were told you took off your shirt to wave in the bulls face. You had the teddy on underneath. That made you the sexiest bull-rider’s girlfriend ever! Now all the single bull-riders look at Candace and I with wondering glances to our chest. No doubt wondering if we, too, are wearing a black, lacy, see-through teddy. We are incredibly sexy by default.”

“But it was a bra." My face was as hot as the sun.

“Guys don’t know the difference. Teddy sounds better.” Candace waved the thought away with her hand.

We went back to watching the bull riding, Candace and Lump still chuckling.

Ty came over a while later with a smile on his face. “Jess,” he said merrily. “Can I have an autograph? I already got one from Willie.”

“Shut up.” I flushed.

He laughed. “How are you anyway? All healed up?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. The shoulder is sore occasionally, and the ribs hurt a teensy bit, but that is my own fault. I didn’t rest it properly in the beginning.”

“Yeah, I heard you pissed yourself waiting for Willie to wake up.”

“Would the lot of you shut up?!”

Ty just laughed, shook his head, and walked back to where a cowboy was getting ready.

I watched a few more cowboys, talking with the girls, but decided I was bored. The joy of this sport had worn thin. Plus, William was leaning heavily against the fence. He was certainly fooling many, but not me. I made my way over.

“Hey babes, watch-ya up to?” I asked with a light voice.

He straightened up immediately, then reached for me, bringing me in to his body. We watched the bull riding together, his chin resting on my head.

“How are you tonight, my little heroine?” he asked with a warm voice.

“Oh jeez, not you, too!”

He just laughed and kissed the top of my head.

“How are you feeling?” I asked him quietly, careful no one could over hear.