Wild Ride: A Bad Boy Romance (8 page)

The other guard
grabbed me, trying to hold on to me.

But my strength
was too much for him. It was the strength of love. It was the strength of fury
and intense anxiety….Colton couldn’t die. I wouldn’t let him. I would save him
myself. At least that’s what I was thinking at the moment….no matter how
delusional the thoughts were….that’s how powerful that look we had exchanged
had been…I knew he was the man for me. I knew we were meant to be together, and
now he had been ripped away from me cruelly, by some idiotic bull, by participating
in some idiotic brutal sport….

I ran past the
security guard. His grip was nothing against my new strength, a strength born
out of love and anxiety.

I wasn’t even
aware of the other people in the crowd. I might have knocked them over. I might
have just rushed through them, through the crowd. I didn’t know what was happening,
but a second later I was climbing the fence to the rodeo arena.

I was over it
in a second.

Colton was
still lying on the ground. The medical staff had rushed into the arena, and
were leaning over him…the smile was still on his face, but the blood was still
gushing out, despite the pressure they were applying to his abdomen with their
hands. There were two medical staff, and their hands were already soaked with
Colton’s blood. At least his guts had stopped pouring out of him…now they were
just hanging, looking sickly and alien against the backdrop of his impressive
leather cowboy gear.

The bull was
still angry. A team of four men had surrounded it, holding their cattle prods
with sedation drugs loaded. They looked like professionals, in their movements
and confidence. They didn’t take their eyes off the bull for a moment.

But the bull
was still enraged…enraged that a measly human, a cowboy all in leather, had
dared to ride him for so long.

He was huffing
and puffing and pacing and scratch his hoofs against the dirt.

“You can’t be
out here, lady,” called one of the bull handlers to me.

“I don’t care,”
I yelled back.

To get to
Colton, I would have to rush past the bull.

I saw his hat
lying there, totally crushed, trampled. I picked it up. I put it on my head. I must
have looked like a lunatic. I didn’t care at all though in that moment.

The dust and
dirt fell from the hat down across my body.

I dashed right
towards Colton in a full out sprint.

The bull was
raging, roaring.

It saw me. Apparently
Colton’s hat reminded it of Colton, of the rider who had dared to stay on the
bull for so long.

“Watch out,”
cried the bull handlers.

The bull had
broken free.

At the last
moment, one of the bull handlers managed to stab the bull in the rear flank
with a long cattle prod device, releasing strong sedative drugs into it.

But the bull
was still roaring and angry, sprinting after me.

It was faster
than me, far faster. No matter how much adrenaline I had pumping in me, the
bull would always outrun me.

“It shouldn’t
still be on four legs,” yelled one of the bull handlers. “I gave it 1000 cc’s.”

“It’s still
running,” shouted another.

“Look out,
lady!” cried another one.

“What an
idiot,” I heard someone else yelling.

I ran over to
Colton.

The bull was
inches behind me. I could feel its breath against the back of my hair.

“Colton!” I
cried out. “Colton! Are you ok?”

“He can’t hear
you. He’s unconscious,” said one of the medical attendants, unaware of the bull
right behind me.

The bull was
chasing me.

It ran right
over us, its powerful hoof landing right on Colton’s chest.

“Oh my God!” I
cried.

It was my
fault…my fault that the bull had escaped once again and now hurt Colton more
than he was already hurt…

The last thing
I remembered was Colton’s’ face…he momentarily woke up as the bull trampled his
chest…he looked me right in the eye…a look of confusion…but I could tell he was
happy to see me.

I was too
overwhelmed…

I passed out,
and didn’t know any more.

Colton woke up
in the hospital, hurting terribly.

“So the
champion is awake,” said the doctor, looking away from his clipboard for a
moment.

“What the hell
happened?” said Colton, wincing with the pain. He tried to move a little in the
bed, but he could barely move his head more than an inch without feeling an
excruciating pain. His chest hurt. It felt like he had been run over by a tractor-trailer.
His guts ached with an intense pain…his stomach was twisted completely into
knots.

“You had an
accident while riding a bull, as I understand it,” said the doctor. “A
completely idiotic activity, if you ask me…”

“How did I do
though?”

“What do you
mean? You’re still alive, if that’s what your wondering. You wouldn’t believe
how many patients come in and ask if they’re alive. I mean, what do they think,
that this is what heaven looks like? A barren hospital room?”

“You never
know,” said Colton, speaking slowly, even though he was trying to make a joke.
For some reason, his whole face hurt, including his jaw, even when he moved it
just a fraction of an inch in order to try to get some words out. “But what I
meant was how did I do in the match? Did I win?”

The doctor
laughed, a scoffing laugh. “It’s amazing…you sports guys and race car drivers
are all alike…the injured are all just fun and games until you wind up paraplegic,
believe me.”

“Am I still in
first?” said Colton.

“Yes,” said the
doctor, in an exasperated voice. “From what I understand, you did spectacularly
well on the bull...until you fell off that is. You’re still ranked number 1 in
the country, according to some of the nurses who happen to be big fans. I
practically had to fight them off you…they wanted to give you sponge baths and
all that…I told them that could wait until you woke up, at the very least.”

Colton grinned.
Although just thinking about a sexy nurse giving him a sponge back made his
body hurt in anticipation of the movements required for that type of fun.

“Well, thanks
anyway, Doc.”

“You got to get
your head on straight,” said the doctor, giving Colton one final exasperated
look before leaving the room, his white lab coat flapping behind him as he
turned the corner into the hallway. His stethoscope flapped too, clanging
against his laminated hospital ID card as he walked swiftly.

Colton lay
there for a moment, trying to remember what had happened.

At first,
nothing came back to him. Absolutely nothing…then he remembered it.

Well, he didn’t
remember all the events. He couldn’t even remember the bull.

But he
remembered a look that he had shared with…what was her name, Katy?

It was that
sexy woman from the other night…the night he had fired his old manager had
decided to change his career.

Colton was
overcome with a strange feeling, a feeling that ran through his chest, around
his solar plexus, his heart, and seemed to gush up through his head. It was the
feeling of love…a feeling that Colton hadn’t actually felt since he was a young
teenager in love for the first time.

Colton remembered
how it had felt to look at Katy. Somehow his intuition had drawn his gaze
towards her, alone in the crowd. Around her there had been countless young
busty women with their shirts off, swinging their breast back and forth enticingly,
but Colton had had eyes for her, for Katy.

Then he remembered…that’s
how he had been gored by the bull. He had been so transfixed on Katy and on her
face that he had lost all his normal awareness. He had stood frozen still like
an idiot, just waiting for the angry bull to gore him.

“I heard you
were awake,” said someone.

“It’s you!”
said Colton, sitting up in bed a little, at the sight of Katy. “Ow, shit,” he
said, wincing in pain. It felt like his whole body was on fire.

“It’s me…” said
Katy, peering around the corner of the room’s entrance. “Do you want to see me?
Can I come in?” She spoke timidly, as if she wasn’t sure what Colton thought of
her.

“Of course!”
said Colton, mustering as much enthusiasm as his bruised and battered body
would allow him. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Katy didn’t
answer, but she came into the room slowly.

She looked beautiful.
She reminded him of some wild animal, maybe a gazelle, or a beautiful bird.

Her face was….exceptionally
exquisite, just radiating beauty.

She was dirty
and dusty, probably from the rodeo, but it only seemed to enhance her natural beauty.

“Hey, you’re
wearing my hat,” said Colton, surprised.

She was wearing
his hat all right, but it was battered, as if it had been trampled by a bull.

“I wanted to
come by and see how you were doing,” said Katy, shyly.

“I was just
thinking about you,” said Colton.

“You were?”
said Katy, seeming excited at the possibility.

“Of course,”
said Colton.
 
“I was thinking about
that…look we shared, before the bull got me. I don’t remember much of it. I
don’t remember riding the bull at all.
 
But I can clearly remember sharing that look with you….it was like I
felt love for the first time…it was so intense.”

Katy laughed
nervously. “I was really hoping you’d say that,” she said. “I feel the same
way, but I was worried I’d become delusional or something, and that I was the
only one who felt it.”

“No, I
definitely felt it too,” said Colton, looking her right in the eyes.

“You really
did?” said Katy, walking slowly over to the hospital bed.

“Of course,”
said Colton, reaching out and slowly gripping Katy’s arm.

“I’m so glad,”
said Katy, not knowing quite what to say. But even if she was a little lost for
words, her body was feeling the same way it had back at the rodeo…overwhelmed
with love, full of love for Colton.

Colton’s body
felt the same way. His heart was beating faster, and he had that feeling again,
that warm feeling running through his heart and solar plexus, seemingly filling
his pain-racked body. Interestingly, it seemed to make the pain subside a
little…it was like a powerful and natural pain reliever…nature’s best pain
killer.

“I’m so glad
you’re here,” said Colton, again, looking Katy right in the eyes.

Katy leaned down
slowly. Their lips were just inches apart. As gently as she could, Katy pressed
her lips down against Colton’s. The kiss sent sparks flying in Colton’s mind…it
was intense, almost as intense as sex itself…even though it was just a kiss.

“I love you,” said
Katy, looking him dead in the eye.

“I love you,
too,” said Colton.

There was a
pause…each one of them had something they wanted to say to the other, but they
were nervous about how the other would react.

“Listen,” said
Colton. “I’m really sorry I ran out on you like that at the hotel…I was going
through something with my career. I had just fired my agent. I had to take a
drive to clear my head, and I didn’t want to wake you up…I didn’t know how to
explain things to anyone…I needed to be by myself to think things over.”

Katy was
surprised. She thought Colton was going to bring up how it was her fault that
the bull had trampled him.

“It’s OK,
baby,” said Katy. “I don’t care about that. The past is the past. I know you
did what you thought was best at that time. Besides, at that point, I was just
another woman for that night, right?”

Colton couldn’t
look her in the eyes, but she knew that it was true. But it didn’t bother her really.
In fact, for her, Colton hadn’t been anything other than a distraction, really…despite
whatever she might have felt at the time…he hadn’t become really special until
that look they had shared at the rodeo. Katy wondered now whether or not seeing
Colton actually riding a bull had had anything to do with the love…seeing a man
doing something he was an expert was always something of an aphrodisiac, in a
way…although it wasn’t like she had just become turned on sexually…this was
love, after all, something more, something greater, something more intense…

“It’s really
fine,” said Katy. “Did it work out well, with your new manager?”

“I think so,”
said Colton, his expression brightening…he was glad that Katy wasn’t blaming
him. Plus, it was exciting to think about his new manager, who was going to
turn him into a celebrity.

Katy leaned down
and kissed Colton again.

Colton was
looking at her. A funny expression was working across her face.

“You look
worried,” said Colton.

“I’m worried
about you,” said Katy, gently touching his bandaged abdomen. “Are you going to
be OK?”

“I think so,”
said Colton, wincing as he touched his bandages. “What really hurts is where
this hoof print is…I think the bull gored me, but honestly it doesn’t hurt as
much as the bruise…it might be a bone bruise, actually, or some fractured or
broken bones…maybe a clavicle. I don’t know, really. I just woke up, and the
doctor barely told me anything. He just admonished me for being an idiot,
basically, and having such a dangerous job.”

“Oh baby,
that’s too bad,” cooed Katy, in the sweetest voice.

“You still seem
worried,” said Colton, looking right into her eyes. He noticed that she sort of
looked away, as if she didn’t want to meet his gaze.

“Listen,” said
Katy, slowly, as if she was searching for the right words. “I don’t know how to
tell you this…but…”

“What is it?”
said Colton. “You can tell me. Really, you can tell me anything. I barely know
you, but I know I love you.”

“I love you
too,” said Katy. Saying that seemed to give her the strength to say what she
needed too. “I feel terrible,” she continued. “I feel guilty. After I saw you
get gored, I was overtaken by…I don’t know what it was. But somehow I rushed
past some huge security guards. I even knocked one of them down…I hope he’s
OK.”

“I’m sure he’s
fine,” said Colton, giving her a little smile.

“Anyway, I
rushed onto the rodeo arena, the dirt, or whatever you call it…”

“You did what?”
said Colton, a look of shock spreading on his face. “Katy! That’s completely
insane. You could have gotten gored too. Did they have the bull sedated at that
point, or what? That’s crazy. What happened?”

“I know,
Colton. It was totally crazy. No, the bull was still angry. Anyway, I dashed
over to you. It’s my fault, Colton. I brought the bull over to you. If I hadn’t
run after you, the bull wouldn’t have chased me, and wouldn’t have given you
that horrible bruise.”

Katy waited,
with tears welling in her eyes. She was terrified that this was going to be the
end to their relationship…and end to a relationship before it even really had a
chance to begin. After all, Colton was supposed to be this bad boy sports star,
this rogue cowboy…who knew what his anger could do, and what would anger him?

To her great
surprise, Colton started to chuckle. His chuckle echoed around the room. It
grew and grew, until it was a great belly laugh.

“What is it?”
said Katy, growing more concerned. She thought for a moment he had lost his
mind…

“It’s just…ow,
ow, ow,” said Colton, gripping his stomach. “Oh shit, I can’t laugh. It hurts
too much to laugh…way too much.”

“You’re not mad
at me?” said Katy, her eyes wide.

Colton had to
make an effort not to laugh. But he gave her a huge smile. “This bruise, baby?
It’s nothing...the goring is much worse. Hell, I can’t count the number of times
I’ve been bruised in practice…all through my training…this is nothing…I can’t believe
you ran out towards the bull though…you little crazy, you!”

Katy’s tense
expression broke as she smiled.

Soon she was
laughing too, but she tried to stop it, so that Colton wouldn’t laugh and hurt
his abdomen.