BUCKED Box Set: A Bull Rider Western Romance (26 page)

So, I decided to just be nice to her and
let her come to me. But after being rebuked for a week straight, my confidence
was a little shaky when it came to Ashley in particular.

One hour on the beach was all I needed to
score any perfect bikini bottom and size DD pair of boobs that I wanted, so I
knew I hadn’t lost my magic lady touch; I had just found a very intriguing
challenge.

Like any good hunter though, I realized
after a week that despite what I had originally concluded, I was still trying
to find that sweet spot; that weak link in her defenses that, if pulled with
the right finesse, could cause the entirety of that fortress she worked so hard
at maintaining to come crumbling down around her, leaving her vulnerable.

In short, I knew that I needed a different
approach. It was time to go back to the basics.

Chapter
5

Ashley

The first week with my father and his new
family was the absolute worst. I felt like I was in a perpetual nightmare.

On top of having my supposedly loving
father continue to put on an act of being constantly aggravated at me for not wanting
to cuddle up and be one happy family, all of the memories that I found at every
single point throughout the entire house, as well as the beach town that it was
built on, was driving me absolutely insane.

When I was in the house, everything
reminded me of my mother and the fact that she wasn’t there, while going
outside of the house, everything was so different it was like my memories
didn’t matter.

It felt as though my whole life was just
swallowed up and dragged away by the tides, without leaving a shred of
evidence, besides the house that was now infested by people that I couldn’t
stand.

Everyone else seemed to be having a great
time. Even my father, when he wasn’t scowling at me, was living it up with his
new family.

I hadn’t heard my father laugh in years,
but throughout the course of the week, I heard him belt out a few jolly, deep
belly laughs that were so jovial that I wondered if he was faking it. Still,
that was none of my business. Questions were not welcomed and apparently,
neither was any mention of the past. It just didn’t seem right. I felt as
though the beach house was now some cruel funhouse, which laughed at me and
mocked my misery everywhere I went.

Even when I was in my room alone, the memories
of the past screamed to get my attention, just by existing in everything that I
loved the last time I was here. I could remember decorating the room the first
summer that we bought it. I picked out everything from the bed-set to the
curtains and even though I grew older, I had always liked the simplicity of the
room. It was the place I always felt represented the epitome of my childhood.
It was a space where I could be myself, where good memories were, at one time,
endless.

However, now those very same memories
seemed to be laughing at me, along with the rest of my house. My room in that
beach house had become a museum of my own misery, but for reasons that I wasn’t
even sure of, I could not bring myself to change a thing.

Just like the rest of the house, the
unchanged nature of my room was bittersweet, and even though it caused me pain
to look at the countless memory triggers, I just couldn’t let go, fearing that
if I did, those memories would be lost forever and I would resort to living
like my father; an empty shell of the man that he once was.

Still, it did not take long for me to wish
that I was back at school. I knew that I would miss it, but I was hoping that
there would be at least a few moments this summer, perhaps when I was alone
with my father, or just hanging out at the beach, where I would feel my
mother’s presence and be overwhelmed with a sense of calm.

If that had happened, even just once, I
knew that going to this beach and enduring my new life would have been worth
it. But during that first week, I felt nothing of the sort.

When the time was right and I was sure
that no one would come looking for me, I snuck out of my window and spent a lot
of time on the beach, away from prying eyes. The reason that I had to sneak,
besides the fact that I had no interest in even being asked if I wanted to join
my father and his wife on their adventures, was because I went at night.

The beach looked completely different at
night and being as young as I was the last time I was there, I wasn’t allowed on
the beach after it got dark. On the strip of roads, there were still plenty of
memories, but at the beach, it felt like I had managed to step into a whole new
world. It was the only place and time of day where I could get some peace.

Then, one night, after I had snuck out and
had just settled into my spot, I heard someone come up behind me. It wasn’t
that uncommon for adults to stroll along the beach at night, since there was a
serene nature to it that was not possible to achieve during the day, with all
of the kids and people running around.

However, I had a strange feeling that I
didn’t want to be snuck up on and so, I turned around to see who was closing in
on me.

I felt a sudden sense of dread and
aggravation as I watched Tyler, one of the two last people that I ever wanted
to see, especially while I was in the only half-peaceful place I could find
around this house, sauntering towards me.

I rolled my eyes. “Go away,” I spat.

I saw his form stop short, as though he
was shot, before he replied, “Well aren’t you the gracious host.”

“If it were up to me, Tyler, you wouldn’t
even have access to the beach, let alone my father’s beach house,” I answered,
hoping that if I insulted him enough, he would kindly go away.

“And if it were up to me, that beach house
would be filled with myself and a whole hell of a lot of blond, perfectly
sculpted women in bikinis that stripped and sucked my dick on command, but we
can’t always get what we want, can we?” His eyebrows raised and he smiled at
me, but I wanted to spit in his face.

“Ewww…” I exclaimed, balling my shaking
fist and hoping that he came close enough so that I could hit him. “You are a
disgrace to men.”

At this, he burst out laughing and said,
“Okay, so maybe you wouldn’t have said it that way, but if you had the option
to have a whole shit-ton of men willing to do whatever you wanted them to do,
or our parents, which would you want?” Then, he sneered and narrowed his eyes
and teased, “Unless, of course, men actually aren’t your thing…”

“What? No!” I exclaimed. “I like men…”
Then, for effect, I looked him up and down, before I retorted, “I just have no
interest in immature, whiny men who think they are so irresistible because they
are comfortable with words like dick and pussy.”

Instead of getting aggravated or insulted
though, he nodded thoughtfully before he answered, “No...Actually, those are
two very good words…” Then, his sneer doubled in size before he answered,
“Especially when said together.”

“Enough!” I yelled at him and stood in an
effort to leave.
So much for a nice
relaxing night!
I thought, before attempting to pass by him, while
resisting the urge to put my fist through his perfectly formed features. I knew
that if I did and there was any kind of mark, he would probably be the kind of
guy to press charges.

However, he grasped my arm, laughing as
though I was just overreacting as he said, “I’m sorry. I was just joking. I
didn’t know you were so serious all the time…I’m sorry…I meant no disrespect. I
was just playing around.”

After trying to tug my arm free, I stomped
to a halt and demanded, “If you don’t get your hand off of my arm, I will
scream so loud, you will be arrested and charged with some kind of assault
faster than you can lay on your charm.” When he gaped at me, I added, “How’s
that for serious?”

As he released my arm, he explained,
“Whoa…Sorry. I just came out here because I wanted to see if you were okay. I
noticed that you haven’t been too talkative and I wanted to help…If I could.”

I knew that I should just walk away,
because the look in his eyes was already causing me to have doubts about
wanting to drown him, has I had a moment ago, and I was sure that wasn’t good.
Now, instead of looking with that stupid, cocky expression, he seemed
legitimate and serious. It was almost as though he was giving me a real,
genuine answer and I wondered if all of the callous talk was just a cover.

However, I wasn’t sure and so I knew that
I shouldn’t put my guard down. Yet, instead of walking away, I felt myself
shrug. “I’m all right.”

“You don’t really look all right,” he
answered, giving me large eyes and a sensitive expression.

“What do you care?”

“For starters, I don’t think it is fair
for your father to shut you out like he did. I think it’s mean and I think that
you need someone to talk to, or you are going to go absolutely crazy this
summer.” He shrugged before he added in a charming, almost innocent way,
“That’s what I think.”

I knew that he was trying to be charming
now, but he also seemed so sincere. I wanted to think that it was and so I
said, “It’s just, the last time I was here, my mother was alive and that was
five years ago. Now that my life is so different,” I stared at him before I
said, “And you’re here, it feels like everyone else…” I stopped there,
wondering why I was telling him anything, when he caught my gaze and said
something I didn’t expect.

“Forgot? Like everyone is running around,
doing their own thing and trying to salvage the happy memories without making
effort to acknowledge that even though those times were supposed to be happy,
after what happened, they can come across as being almost horrific?”

I looked at him with surprise as we began
to walk back toward the house. “Yeah…Something like that. How did you know?”

“I have felt similar…” He answered, but
didn’t elaborate. Still, I felt for the first time since I had arrived here,
while in the presence of another person, a sense of calm.

It wasn’t enlightening or anything, but it
did make me feel just a little bit better and that was enough to give me hope.

Even
with all of his callousness, maybe I misjudged this guy,
I
thought, before I wondered if I had just gone crazy.

Chapter
6

Tyler

That
went well,
I thought as I made my way confidently up to my room.
I couldn’t help but to feel encouraged. I knew that I had made great strides
within the female psyche and I was proud of myself. Hell, I’m always proud of
myself, but today, I felt as though I had successfully bridged a gigantic gap
between me and some fine ass, and that was a cause to celebrate.

Still, I knew that if I did anything now
that would be considered strange, I would not be able to enjoy the fruits of my
labor. So I decided to get to bed early that night.

I had planned to go out, which was
actually how I had discovered Ashley out there and decided that it was a perfect
opportunity to get her mind on my efforts. After what had happened, eventually
on the beach, I was sure that I was close to rubbing up against that
sweet-spot, which would give her no other choice but to crash into my arms.

It was all a work in progress, but I
figured if I laid low for a little while and didn’t annoy her, another golden
opportunity would just land in my lap. So, I settled in and soon fell into a
deep sleep.

I didn’t even have to wait that long for
such a golden opportunity either.

A few days after my intervention with
Ashley on the beach, we all happened to be having breakfast together with her
father and my mother.

I smiled as I concocted the perfect plan,
before I said, loud enough to burst my parents out of their little love bubble,
“Hey Ashley, it’s good to see you…Hey, uh…I was wondering if you would like to
go to the beach with me today.”

I watched her eyes grow wide as she
realized what was happening, but my mother jumped in quickly, asking me, “When
are you going to do that?” I knew that she just wanted to know when I was going
to be completely out of her sight, but I used it to my own advantage.

“I plan to go chill there after my morning
workout.” I shrugged in a smooth, calculated fashion and answered, “Nothing too
exciting. Just going to get outside.” I flashed a smile at Ashley, before
pressing it around the table.

“Go ahead!” my stepfather urged, no doubt
just as eager to empty the house as my mother. “You should go and get some
sun...”

“It might make you feel better,” my mother
urged.

Still, Ashley seemed hesitant. She looked
at me as though to beg for some kind of help, but I only drove the nail in
deeper, tactfully of course, in order to shut out any hope of her not doing
exactly as I wanted. I put on my best, nice guy face and said to her, “Come on!
It’ll be fun.”

“Yeah, Ashley,” her father urged, jumping
on the bandwagon as he so often did. “Go out, get a tan and have a good time
with your stepbrother.”

Eventually, strategically, after a few
more frantic looks, Ashley was bullied into it and just as she promised, after
my morning workout, which was made even better since I now had a goal to aspire
to, I found her on the beach.