by Chase, T. A.
“I wanted to let you know I’m back in the States. Just got released from duty a few
minutes ago.” Matthew sounded exhausted.
Chaz was happy to hear that. When he knew Matthew was out of the country, he
always had a bit of worry resting on his shoulders—he couldn’t help but want to protect his baby brother.
“I’m glad to hear that. Where are you headed?” He pushed to his feet, and, staggering
slightly, wandered to the bathroom.
“I’m going home. After I take a shower and get rid of several layers of sand, I’m going
to sleep for a couple of days. Hopefully my guy’s around. I wasn’t able to let him know when I’d be back. I plan on calling him when I’m done with you.” Matthew sighed. “When I wake
up, I’ll call Mom and the others.”
“Did you want me to call them? I have plenty of time. I don’t have to be at the arena
until two.” Chaz stretched, wincing as a spot between his shoulder blades twinged.
Matthew was silent for a moment while he was probably thinking. “Yeah. You probably
should. Let Mom know I’ll be calling in the next day or so.”
Chaz turned the shower on. “She understands how it works, Matty. I’ll do that as soon
as I get done with my shower.”
“Great. I’ve got to go, Chaz. Getting a ride to my place. I’ll talk to you again later next week.”
After hanging up, Chaz tossed his phone onto the bed, then took his time stepping into
the shower. Thank God he slept naked, or else he’d have had trouble getting undressed to
clean up.
He took his time, letting the hot water soak into his lower back, and it worked in
combination with the meds. Chaz was moving pretty well when he climbed out to dry off.
He dressed quickly, then called to check and see if Sam was ready. They agreed to meet in the lobby in ten minutes.
Chaz put his shoes on before he dialled his mother. He stood next to the window,
looking outside while he waited for her to answer.
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“Charles, this is a pleasant surprise.” Her voice was full of happiness.
He frowned at her statement. “Why a surprise? I usually call you when I can.”
“You haven’t called me in over a month, honey. Maybe two. I think you were finishing
up in Las Vegas and called to tell me you wouldn’t be coming home for the break.”
Wincing, he gave himself a mental slap on the forehead. How could he have forgotten
to check in with his mom? And he must have ignored several of her voicemails as well, since she would’ve called to make sure he was okay.
“Sorry,” was all he could think of to say. He couldn’t explain what the problem was.
She’d demand he retire and come home, and since he wasn’t ready for that, he stayed silent.
“If I hadn’t talked to Matthew a few times while you were quiet, I would’ve panicked,
but he told me you were okay. Just taking time off from everyone.”
The tone of her voice said she didn’t understand why he’d want to take time off from
his family, but she was willing to let it go as long as she had word about him.
“Speaking of Matthew, I called to tell you he’s back in the States. He just landed a few
hours ago, but he’s heading home to take a shower before hitting his bed for some
uninterrupted sleep.”
Chaz kind of hoped Matthew’s guy would keep Matthew from sleeping for a little
while at least, but he wasn’t going to mention that to his mother.
She sighed in relief. “Thank God. I hate when he’s out of touch, though he does manage
to call once in a while. So we watched you on TV last night. You and Sam did a good job, but you seemed a little stiff. Are you doing all right?”
He loved his mother. “Yes, Mom. I’m doing fine. It was just I hadn’t warmed up
enough after not doing the job for a couple months.”
She hummed like she wasn’t completely convinced he was telling the truth, but she let
it slide. “Good. Now are you and Sam off to have some breakfast?”
Chuckling, Chaz said, “Yes. You know our routine, though we might pick up some
stragglers along the way.”
“All right. Have a good event, honey, and I’ll talk to you in the next day or two.”
“Bye, Mom.”
Chaz hung up, then tucked his phone away. He grabbed his wallet and sunglasses as he
walked out of his room. After making his way down to the lobby, he looked around for Sam.
He found his partner standing near the front entrance chatting with Cody Harwood.
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LEAVING HOME T.A. Chase 112
“Cody, I thought you weren’t going to be riding anymore,” Chaz said as he
approached.
Cody and Sam turned to face him, and Cody smiled.
“I’m retiring after this event. I got an exemption, but I still can’t ride. I don’t have
enough strength in my riding hand to grip the rope.” Cody flexed his right hand.
“That sucks, man. Sorry to hear that.” Chaz slapped Cody on the shoulder. “You want
to join us for some breakfast?”
“Sure. I need to be over to the arena an hour before the round starts to help with the
bulls, but I could definitely eat.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
Chaz led the way out of the hotel, and they climbed into his truck. There was an IHOP
down the road that he and Sam ate in every time they came to Tulsa. He drove there,
listening to Cody and Sam talk about guys they all knew.
After they were seated, Sam excused himself, leaving Cody and Chaz to look over the
menu.
“How’s Peter doing?” Cody’s question seemed innocent, but Chaz didn’t think Cody
meant it as ‘butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth’ as it seemed.
“He’s doing really good. I talked to him last night, and I’m planning on seeing him this
week in between Tulsa and Nashville.” Chaz smiled at Cody, appreciating the fact that the man had waited until Sam had left before he’d asked about Peter.
“Not many people on the tour know about you, do they?” Cody asked.
The waiter came back and took their drink order. Chaz ordered for both him and Sam,
since he knew exactly what Sam would want. After the waiter had left, Cody glanced at
Chaz.
“So how serious is it between you and Peter?”
Chaz shot him a glance. “Are you his parent? Do you get to find out what my intentions
towards him are?”
“No, but I am his friend, and trust me, you will be facing a lot of flack from the rest of the guys at the ranch when you meet them.” Cody fidgeted with his silverware. “I’m simply curious because I know what kind of problems you have, Chaz, and I don’t think you should bring them to Peter’s door. The man has enough issues. He doesn’t need to deal with an
addict.”
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“An addict?” Chaz ground his teeth together. “I’m not addicted to anything. People
take aspirin for aches and pains all the time.”
Cody raised his eyebrows at Chaz’s comment. “Seriously? You aren’t taking simple
aspirin for your back, Chaz. You’re taking some heavy-duty stuff. I mean, it’s the meds they gave me when I had my last back injury. I know the temptation to dull the edges of the pain all the time, but you’ve got to kick that habit or something else could go wrong.”
Chaz spotted Sam coming across the restaurant, so he said, “I don’t want to discuss thi
s
with you again, Cody. Thank you for your concern, but I’m fine.”
“Fine, but if you end up hurting Peter because of this, you’ll find out just how Les and
the others take care of their friends,” Cody warned before Sam rejoined them.
They spent their breakfast talking about the rankings, the riders and the bulls. Chaz
steered the conversation to make sure they didn’t bring up anyone’s injuries. He didn’t want to have to deal with any more questions about his back.
He paid the bill while Sam left the tip. After dropping Cody off at his truck, Chaz
parked before going in to get his gear kit from his room. He met up with Sam again at the vehicle, and they drove to the arena.
When he was done changing, he went out into the arena and began jogging around the
dirt. He warmed up slowly, trying not to misstep or trip. He didn’t need anything to fuck up his body again. Sam and Brian, the other bullfighter, joined him. Chaz joked with them as they ran and stretched.
He greeted the riders who were slowly arriving for the pre-event meet and greets. Chaz
was glad he didn’t have to do that at this event. Usually his sponsors made him do several throughout the season, and most of the time he enjoyed them. But this time he just wanted to get the rounds over with so he could head out of town. Talking to Cody had ruined his entire day.
“Ready to go, Chaz?” Sam yelled at him as the crowd started screaming and the music
started playing.
“Hell, yeah,” he shouted, doing a fist bump with Sam, then Brian. “Let’s do this thing.
Make it a good night, guys. No one goes to the hospital.”
“Fucking A!” Brian bounced on his toes, grinning like a wild man.
Chaz wished he was young again, excited about every minute of the day and confident
nothing bad was going to happen to him. He knew the truth now, and he had to be careful,
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because he wasn’t as young as he used to be. He didn’t bounce back from injuries like he had before.
He got the nod from the gate guys, and he smiled. Time to save some cowboys.
* * * *
It had been a good night so far. No major wrecks and no injuries leading to
hospitalisation. They were in the middle of the Championship round, and the rankest bulls of the night were about to come out. Chaz was tired, and his back protested every bend and flex he did, but he was going to make it until the end.
He heard the announcer say, “Next up is Paolo Marker. He’s in the hunt for Rookie of
the Year, and running neck and neck with Neil Radick for World Champion. He’ll be riding
Halo, but let me tell you folks, there’s nothing angelic about this bull.”
Cringing, Chaz waved to Sam and Brian, bringing them close to him. “All right, boys.
We know the score on Halo. He’s probably the rankest bull out tonight, and we have to make sure he doesn’t try hooking Marker when the man gets off. Remember at New York, first
event of the year, he caught Arnold on the ground and laid the man up for six months.”
Sam and Brian took their spots, and Chaz grinned. He watched as Marker nodded, and
the gate swung open. Halo busted out of the chute like a thousand-pound bomb, exploding
into action the minute his feet hit the dirt. Chaz swore he felt the earth shake each time Halo landed.
He kept an eye on Marker, enjoying how the man broke at the hips with each leap Halo
made. Marker was poetry in motion while riding a bull. The kid was on his way to being a
legend in the sport in Chaz’s opinion, and Chaz had seen a lot of riders come and go.
But he didn’t get so caught up in the ride that he lost track of what his job was
supposed to be. When the buzzer rang, Chaz circled in to get Halo’s attention. The point was to get the bull to straighten out, giving Marker the best possible place to get off.
There was going to be trouble. Chaz could see the way Marker was tugging at the tail of
his rope. The man’s hand wasn’t coming free, and he was going to get hung up. Chaz
gestured for Sam to distract Halo while he jumped in to try to help Marker.
Marker hung off the side of the one-ton bull, bouncing like a ragdoll being tossed about
by a child. Chaz threw himself onto Halo’s back, snatching at the rope. He managed to grab
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it before giving it a yank. Right at that moment, Halo swung his head around, nailing Chaz in the lower back.
“Fuck!” he shouted as pain tore through his back.
His limbs went numb, and he dropped to the dirt, but he’d got Marker’s hand free, so
the cowboy scrambled off to the railing. Chaz lay on the ground, trying desperately to crawl out of the middle of the arena. It would be very easy for Halo to step on him or gore him while he was defenceless.
Halo swung around, spotting Chaz in what the bull thought of as his territory, and
started charging towards him. Chaz curled up with his arms up over his head. It was all he could do because his legs still weren’t working. He imagined he could almost feel the hot moist breath of the bull bathing the back of his neck.
Nothing happened. He peered under his arm to see Sam and Brian working with the
pick-up man to herd Halo to the main gate, where the bull would go back into the bull pens.
Once Halo was out of the arena, Chaz rolled over on his back and breathed. He flexed his
feet, and rotated his ankles.
Pain was everywhere, even through the pills he’d taken before the round, but Chaz
knew he had to get up. He didn’t want to be taken out of the arena on a stretcher and with a neck brace. He would finish the round unless he couldn’t move.
Sam came over to him and held out his hand. “Come on, man. Let’s get you up and
moving. We have four more riders to go.”
Chaz took his friend’s hand, and allowed Sam to help him to his feet. He jogged in
place, and while the pain was excruciating, Chaz blocked it out. He’d deal with the pain
later. He waved to the crowd, which cheered with wild abandon.
“They love you, bro,” Brian yelled right before the next rider nodded, and the chute
gate flew open.
The four remaining riders and bulls were an experiment in mind control for Chaz. Each
step almost caused him to black out, or nausea to roil in his stomach. He was glad to be
working so hard because it gave him an excuse for the sweat to be pouring down his face,
soaking his shirt.
When the last bull went calmly back into the pens, Chaz motioned to Sam.
“Can you get a ride back to the hotel? I’m going to head out right now.”
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Sam studied him with a narrow-eyed gaze for a moment, then he nodded. “Yeah, I can.
Are you going to need help later?”
Chaz clenched his hands, but shook his head. “No. I’ll be fine. Do you want to grab
breakfast tomorrow morning before we leave?”
“Sounds good to me, Chaz.” Sam punched him in the arm instead of slapping him on
the back. “You know how to get a hold of me if you need me. Hey, don’t worry about your
kit. I’ll bring it with me when I come back.”
“Thanks.”
He walked to the gate leading towards the changing areas. Ignoring the cowboys
calling out to him, he got to where he’d stowed his stuff. He stared at it, wondering how he was supposed to bend over to dig his keys out.
“Here. I’ll get that for you.” Cody appeared next to him.
“I just
need my keys and wallet from the front pocket of the bag,” he told the bull rider.
“Are you sure you should drive? That was a pretty nasty hit you took.” Cody held
Chaz’s keys up in the air.
Chaz wasn’t in the mood for having a discussion about how he felt. He wanted to get
back to the hotel, soak in some really hot water, and take a few pills to get rid of the pain.
“I’ll be fine, Cody. Just give me the damn keys. I’ve driven myself places after worse
injuries.” He snatched the keys out of Cody’s grip before turning to walk out to the parking lot.
Cody walked with him, but wisely kept his mouth shut. When Chaz tried to climb into
his truck, his back locked up and he grunted as he almost fell into the cab. Cody caught him before he hit the pavement.
“Get in. I’ll drive you back to the hotel.”
Chaz leaned on Cody, allowing the man to cart him around to the passenger side. He
almost had to crawl to get inside. Once Chaz was sitting on the seat, and had his seatbelt buckled, Cody went and got behind the wheel.
Leaning his head back on the seat, Chaz closed his eyes, willing the pain away. Christ!
When he got to the hotel, he was going to take a bunch of pills. He simply wanted to get
away from it, to find the empty peace of no aches or troubles. Chaz wanted to float for a while, thinking of nothing.
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He lost track of time, so when Cody stopped the truck, then patted his arm, he jolted
straight up and groaned.
“Sorry. I should’ve warned you. We’re here. Let’s get you inside and soaking in some
hot water. That should help loosen up some of those muscles. You’re going to be pretty
bruised tomorrow.”
Chaz didn’t want to talk, so he gritted his teeth and climbed out of the truck. They got
through the lobby and up to Chaz’s room without seeing or talking to anyone. He took his
keys and wallet from Cody.
“I can get it from here,” he told Cody. “Thanks for helping me.”
Cody didn’t look convinced, but he also didn’t seem to want to force himself into
Chaz’s room. “All right. Here’s your phone. I put my number in it. Call me if you need help during the night. I know what it’s like.”