Page 37 of Chasing Home
“Nah. I don’t think so.”
“I haven’t exactly had much luck here since I arrived. Haven’t done what I set out to do either,” she grumbles beneath her breath.
“Did you have big plans, then?”
Her laugh is sarcastic. “Yeah. You could say that.”
“Is there anything I can help you with?” I offer.
She releases a tight breath, shaking her head. “I brought this on myself.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to do it by yourself. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not that bad. And even if it is, I’m up for the challenge.”
“I heard that you ride bulls.”
I fold my hands in my lap and watch her with an easy stare, curious to see where she’s going with this. And I damn well like that she’s been listening to things about me. Maybe even asking. Either-or, it makes my confidence grow two sizes.
“Yeah, that’s right. Sometimes. It’s a hobby that drives my moms nutty,” I answer.
She tips her chin and flicks her blinker on before turning onto the road that leads right into town and down Main Street. “Well, getting to know me isn’t like riding a bull. I may attack like one, but there won’t be any glory in spending the allotted time with me without injuring yourself. Because you will get hurt, Johnny. Maybe not the same way you would getting tossed from a bull’s back, but it’ll hurt all the same.”
The warning is meant to be subtle but is still as obvious as if she had screamed it at me. It’s a real shame her warnings don’t matter much to me.
“It’s only fair that I make that decision for myself, though, right? And if I decide that it’s worth the pain, then that should be the end of discussion.”
“If you willingly sign yourself up to get hurt, you’re either stupid or reckless.”
“Do I get bonus points if I’m both?” I tease.
I’m rewarded with a slight smile. “No. You don’t.”
“Worth a shot.”
There’s a pause between us as she slows the car’s speed, following the limit sign at the corner of the road, and we turn off Main Street. The towering house she’s staying in grows larger in size the closer we get to it, and my gut tightens. Despite the groups of nice homes that we pass, I can’t drag my eyes from the total eyesore at the end of the block.
“The only person who knows why I’m here is Eliza,” she admits.
“She’s a good one to trust. I can see why you’d tell her.”
“And you want me to trust you.”
I nod. “I do.”
“Tell me something about you to make us even, then. Something nobody else knows.”
“Shit, that’s tough.” Running my palm over my mouth and jaw, I consider what to say. “I’ve always been an open book with everyone I know.”
“You have to have at least one thing. Nobody is that open.”
I chuckle, dropping my hand back to my lap. “Fair enough. Alright, when I was thirteen, I snuck onto Steele Ranch through a hole in the far-west fence and took one of the tractors for a joyride. Scared the shit out of a few cows and their calves before Brody found me and joined in. We stayed out ripping around the pasture until an hour before we knew Wade would be up, and then Brody smuggled me back out.”
“What?”
The horror in her tone has me barking a laugh. “Oh yeah. Brody was a shit disturber in his young adult years.”
A soft amusement fills her expression. “I can picture you driving around in a tractor and causing mayhem. I’d bet you did it often.”
“As often as possible. I still try and have fun. Maybe that’s why I find myself on a bucking monster’s back from time to time.”