BUCKED Box Set: A Bull Rider Western Romance (49 page)

The moon shone brightly overhead, lighting
the water and making a romantic silhouette dance across the waves. The whole
scene was pretty fucking disgusting.

It was just my luck to finally settle
down, after pushing my body so far past the limits that a policeman would come,
just as we were getting to sleep to kick us out. However, then it would stop
being so damn cute.

Still, I figured I didn’t want to chance
it, so I just sat down next to an overturned lifeguards stand and crawled
underneath it. “Tomorrow, we will find a hotel that takes cash and doesn’t ask
any fucking questions, but tonight, I just want to go to sleep.”

“I hear you…” She answered as she climbed
in next to me and cuddled up beside me.

The cool sea breeze was fairly chilly when
the sun went down and so, I made it a point to wrap my arms around her tightly
and pull her into me.

She laughed slightly, just as I was about
to say a dick comment about how much I did today, as opposed to what she did,
but realized before my mouth opened fully that she did have a point. Even
though it wasn’t physical, she had gone through a hell of a lot of distress
today. I didn’t say anything at all.

I just closed my eyes and tried to find
the sleep that I knew my body so desperately needed.

Then, just as I was drifting off, I heard
Ashley’s voice as she said, “It’s so beautiful here…”

I sighed and opened one eye to see the
moon once again, streaming through the spaces in the boards of the lifeguard
stand. Immediately, I heard the rustling of the waves and became overwhelmed
with the picture perfect ambiance, which was something that I certainly wasn’t
used to.

After relishing in it for a moment,
instead of just brushing her observation off with an aggravating comment, I
answered honestly, “Yeah…It really is.” Then I sighed and answered, “Please
don’t take this the wrong way, Ashley, but could you please go the fuck to
sleep?”

She laughed at this before she answered
easily, “Yes, Tyler. I’m sorry…”

Within seconds, I was back in the glorious
bosom of dreamland and thankfully, that was where I remained for the extent of
the evening.

When the sunlight began to stream through
the lifeguard stand, I knew that it would only be a matter of time before
people started to arrive and that would probably be where we ran into issues. I
shook Ashley awake.

“Good morning!” I exclaimed as I began to
slide out from beneath the overturned lifeguard stand.

It took a moment for Ashley to understand
her surroundings, but when she did, she yawned and answered, “Good morning.”

“We should probably get out of here… At
least until some people show up and we can look like we are just people on the
beach like everyone else.”

Ashley nodded as she made her way out from
underneath the stand. “Where are we going?”

“Breakfast?” I asked, realizing that I was
still starving. The fast convenience store food had done almost nothing for me
and I felt as though I hadn’t eaten in a week.

Ashley’s stomach growled as she covered it
and answered with a smile, “Yeah, breakfast sounds great.”

I took her hand and we began to make our
way back up the hill between the dunes as I hoped we didn’t stink too fucking
much. However, my first priority was breakfast, so we began to walk to a place
that served a lot for very little, with quick service.

While we were walking, Ashley said to me,
“Hey Tyler…” Her voice sounded very sheepish then, almost as though she was
afraid of something.

Afraid
of me?
I thought.
Shit!

“Yes?” I asked, trying to sound
approachable.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Whatever you want.”

She smiled awkwardly before she said,
“Besides your Dad…did you do anything…like illegal?”

“Why the fuck would you ask that?” I
demanded before I could stop myself.

“I’m sorry…” she spoke quickly now. “I
didn’t mean to bring up bad memories. It’s just that everywhere you go, people seem
to fear you and since we’re going to be on this little adventure together, I
would really like to know what I am getting myself into.”

At this, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Really? Are you scared of me?”

“No,” she said, this time solidly. In an
instant, her persona changed and she eyed me with a hard look before she added,
“I just want to know who you are, since you seem to be the only person I can
rely on.”

I nodded, being able to respect that and
thankful that she wasn’t actually afraid of me. “Fine. If you must know, the
only reason that people have that perception of me is because I give off a,
don’t fuck with me, vibe. I know how to handle myself, but I’m not into any
shit.” I shrugged. “Honest to God, all I do is strongman competitions. Nothing
else. Nothing shady and nothing illegal.”

She thought about this for a moment,
before she smiled and answered cheerfully, “Thank you.”

I thought it was a little strange, but
after the shock of her bluntness wore off, I realized that I kind of liked
answering her questions. This was partially because I really wanted to be
honest with her, but it was also partially because with everyone I had ever
gone out with or been around, Ashley was the only one who cared enough to ask.

After breakfast, we headed back to the
beach to hang out, just as we said we would and I was pleased.

There was something about spending another
day on the beach that made me feel like we were coming full-fucking-circle.
Usually, I would have cleared out long before this, but right now, it was
feeling damn good to be the one who was sticking around.

Chapter
47

Ashley

“So, what do you want to do?” I asked
Tyler as the beach day we shared once again was coming to a close and we were
thinking about going somewhere to find a hotel for the night.

He shrugged. “I don’t have a fucking
clue,” he answered as he put his arm around me. When I looked up at him, with
eyes that inadvertently showed signs of nervousness, he laughed, pulled me
tight against his body and added, “But hell, isn’t that the point of freedom?”

I smiled up at him and gazed down at the
ocean while I thought for a moment. It was really strange to be
free
, especially in this sense. However,
as I took in a deep breath before releasing it in its entirety, I answered him
with an honesty that even surprised myself. “Yeah…I guess you’re right. I’ve
never done anything like this before though.” At this, I looked up at him again
and continued, “I’ve always been the good girl; the one who does what she is
told, almost unquestioningly. I never thought I would do something like this,
but it feels great!”

He smiled down at me. “You want to know
something kind of crazy?”

“What?”

“With all of the shit that I have done
throughout my life, this is actually a first for me as well.”

“You’ve never run away before?”

At this, Tyler looked at me as though
slightly angry before he answered, “Do you really think this is what you are
doing? Running away?”

I shrugged, not wanting to upset him, but
not entirely sure what I did wrong. “Sort of…”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you not a
fucking adult?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Do you not have reasons for doing what
you did that you can explain in a logical fucking manner?”

I shrugged again, still nervous, but
coming to realize that he was more trying to prove a point then he was actually
angry. “Yes.”

“Then, you didn’t run away. You are paving
your own path; living your own damn life,” he barked, then sighed before he
said, “Running away is what whiny little bitches do when they don’t get their
new Ferrari and that isn’t you. You are building your life, so don’t you dare
insult yourself, or me for that matter, by describing what you did and what you
are doing as a fucking temper tantrum.”

I nodded again, this time seeing his
point. “I understand. You’re right. I am taking control of my own life. This
isn’t just some stupid game. This is what I need to do in order to get my life
back on track!”

“Exactly!” he exclaimed, as though trying
to be ultra-supportive.

“Thanks…” I answered carefully and then
fell into thought for a moment, before I looked back at him and asked a
question that was burning inside of me, but also one that I wasn’t sure I
wanted to know the answer to. “Hey, when you said I was building my life…” He
looked at me expectantly when I paused and I seriously considered stopping the
conversation, but just sighed and continued on, knowing that I had to ask now.
“Do you think that there is a possibility that could permanently include…you?”

I held my breath for the moment that it
took him to answer, realizing how loaded that question was. I didn’t mean that
he was positively stuck with me forever, but I did want to have someone that I
knew with me on this strange journey. And he would be the most preferred
person, since it was him that caused me to take this leap of faith in the first
place.

Therefore, I figured it was appropriate.

“I’m still fucking here, aren’t I?” he
asked and I smiled, knowing that was probably the best answer I was going to
get from him at this time.

However, that was certainly better than
nothing.

Chapter
48

Tyler

We had stayed at the hotel about two
weeks. It was fucking fantastic!

I knew right away that we should have done
this when we first started seeing each other. Since were in a beach town, we
didn’t actually need a car for anything and with the funds I had saved up, we
were doing pretty damn well.

I had won a lot of strongman competitions
over the years and that had made a world of difference when it came to having
money to burn.

Of course, I had spent a shitload of it on
my car; I paid in cash, so I wouldn’t ever have to worry about anything and now
the only matter that we had to address was how to get back to it.

Still, that wasn’t a big deal, I thought,
since my mother and Ashley’s stupid ass father had probably not even noticed
that we left. We figured they were living it up, fucking as much as possible,
before my mother went off with the body builder I had found her with when
Ashley’s father wasn’t looking in order to fuck some more.

Regardless, it was very possible that
neither one of them even remembered that we were still on the same damn island,
much less care whether we ever came back or not. They were probably just as
happy, if not happier, without us.

And that was fucking fine with us. The
less we were looked for, the happier I knew we would be.

So, I figured when we got tired of the
island, or before Ashley returned to school, we would take a bus back to her
father’s house and take the car. I would get Ashley back to school and after
that, I planned to travel the country and fight in competitions, while she got
a part-time job and went to school.

I knew that together we could do this and
that was the first time that I was sure about including anyone in any of my
future plans.

I had to admit that it felt pretty fucking
cool.

However, I was concerned, slightly for
Ashley. I knew women pretty well and the fact that she was not even interested
in trying to talk to her father about what had happened bothered me slightly.

I had no idea what the hell there was to
say. He was an ass all around, end of story, but I still thought that her sheer
lack of interest in talking about him was a little odd.

I tried to bring it up over the course of
the two weeks staying at the hotel, but she just changed the subject. I got
that she didn’t want to talk about it, but I also didn’t know if shutting her
father out completely was such a good idea.

When I made this suggestion, she was quick
to shoot it down, telling me that my experience and her experience were two
totally different situations. I didn’t press the matter.

Then one night, while Ashley was working
on some school preparation stuff, I decided to go out for a run alone.

I was used to running alone. Even though
we were enjoying our newfound freedom to just be ourselves, independent of any
parental figure, neither one of us were the up the ass, overly gooey type and
so, we liked to have our space.

The run for the first few miles went well.
I ran along the beach and enjoyed the sand being kicked up between my toes for
a little longer than I supposed I should have, because when I looked up, I
noticed I was dangerously close to the back of Ashley’s father’s house.

I wasn’t scared of the asshole, but I also
didn’t want to instigate anything. The last thing I needed was any kind of
official police report written about my ass. So I decided to stay away.

It wasn’t that I was afraid of anything,
but who the hell knew what the future would bring? I didn’t want to risk my
name coming up too many times in the police reports.