Page 109 of Left on Read
“What do you mean?”
“Those things move fast. Unless the point is to watch whoever is dancing go flying off it.”
I looked back at the stage as the men set up the machinery. “It probably has slower settings, right?”
“I hope so. Tonight has been a wild ride. When they said it was a cowboy night, they meant it,” Noah commented. “I’m still a little concerned with how good Zane is with a lasso.”
I chuckled, remembering Zane’s second set and how he’d made swinging a lasso the sexiest thing ever. “Bet you can’t wait to play cowboy with him later.”
Noah winked, the silver ring in his eyebrow glinting in the light. “I’m definitely asking if he can bring that home tonight.”
The men finished setting up the bull and jumped off the stage. The lights lowered, and the crowd fell silent.
“All right, folks. It’s time for our final number of the night,” the DJ said over the loudspeaker. “Now, for your viewing pleasure, let’s welcome Drew back to the stage.”
River was going to dance with the mechanical bull? He’d told me he was doing something different. This certainly was different.
The audience erupted in cheers as the lights on the stage flashed. A moment later, the opening notes to “Old Town Road” by Little Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus blasted out of the speakers.
The crowd went wild as River sauntered into the middle of the stage wearing a pair of jeans, a blue plaid shirt, and a cowboy hat, looking every bit the part of the sexy cowboy.
He worked the crowd along with the intro, riling everyone up until they were cheering and screaming for him.
As soon as the vocals kicked in, River did a backflip, but not a normal one. This was one of his parkour moves where he kicked his legs when he was in midair, making it even more spectacular.
I shrieked like a groupie, cheering for my man along with everyone else. He grinned at the crowd, then his eyes collided with mine.
My breath caught when he winked, and I nearly choked as he did the sexiest body roll I’d ever seen, his attention still on me.
This wasn’t the first time I’d come to the club to see him work, but I was feeling extra raw after my talk with Zane, so every look from River felt like a physical touch.
“Breathe,” Noah teased, lightly slapping my arm.
“I’m trying.” I couldn’t tear my eyes from River as he began to dance, moving sensually in time to the music.
His sense of rhythm was incredible, every move fluid as he moved sinuously across the stage.
My neck and chest heated when he did another flying flip, only this one was more of a midair sideways twist. Then, like he had springs in his feet, he transitioned into a back handspring the moment he landed from the first twist.
When his feet touched down from the handspring, he did a sort of swan dive and spun in midair so he landed in a splay-legged pushup.
Holy mother of mercy.
The audience was split between sitting in shock at the show of athleticism and screaming like they were at the Super Bowl halftime show.
I’d seen some of River and Zane’s gymnastics moves in their usual routines, but nothing like that.
River grinned at the audience, his gaze finding mine. His look went hot as he rolled his body in a slow wave, his crotch and stomach grazing the floor.
I forced myself to breathe like a normal person and not like I’d just run up a dozen flights of stairs.
River winked, then went back into dancer mode, working the stage and making everyone in the room wish they were those lucky floorboards.
The chorus kicked in and River jumped on the mechanical bull, straddling it like he’d been born on a ranch. The bull began to sway back and forth in a slow rhythm, catching the beat of the song.
River worked the bull like any seasoned rodeo rider, moving with the swings and grinding along to the song. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought someone could make riding a mechanical bull sexy, but River did and made it look easy.
When the verses started up again, River switched to flipping around the bull like it was a pummel horse, showing off his gymnastics skills. I had no idea what any of the moves he did were called, but he made them look effortless and sexy, and the fact that the bull was moving made it even more impressive.