Ridin' Dirty: An Outlaw Author Anthology (OAMC Book 1)

by Blue Remy

  “Did you fall in the toilet? You’ve been gone awhile.” Pudge chuckled and handed me my favorite drink, a Mai Tai. I took a few sips, letting the sweetness coat my lips, and ignoring her question when a guy walked up.

  “Hey, pretty lady, would you like to dance?” the guy asked Pudge from the side of the bar where we were standing. She took his hand and he led her to the dance floor so I stayed where I was. I watched over the crowd of people drinking until someone caught my eye. It was the man from the bathroom. He was sitting at the opposite side of the bar, his eyes were searching for someone. I could only hope that it was me so I took a chance going over to him. As I did, the redhead stormed out of the bathroom and out of the bar.

  All that night we sat, we talked a little, we laughed, and we danced. I’ve never had so much fun, and his eyes weren’t searching anymore. Low and behold, the same man from the bathroom, the same man I sat with all night long, was none other than Cody Sterling, the bull rider. The man that made me see how bull riding was a sport, the same man that made it look easy and beautiful. Cody Sterling made my pulse pound, made my blood pump, and made my heart beat wildly.

  ***

  Popping my eyes open, a smile tugs at my lips with my excitement. I can’t hold it in, so like a teenager I throw my body around crazily on the bed. My hair flies everywhere, my arms and legs hit my sheet covered mattress over and over. I pick up a pillow to cover my scream. Today I am a normal girl that met a boy. A boy that she likes! Today I pick out a white summer dress with black cowboy boots and decide to wear my hair up in a ponytail to go meet the boy. As I go through my routine of getting ready, the smile stays on my face. Today I am happy.

  I pull into Pudge’s apartment complex and leave my car running as I send a text, letting her know I’m outside. When she comes skipping down toward my car, she is dressed almost exactly like I am. Her blonde hair is pulled back, pink summer dress with a jean jacket over it, and white cowboy boots.

  “Oh, my God! How much fun was last night? Are you ready for today? I don’t know if I am. Jake is so hot! Did you see him? No, probably not because you were all about Cody. Oh my God, you are going on a date with Cody Sterling today! I can’t believe Ever text last night telling you to take today off too.” Shutting the door, she looks at me, smile in place and quick intakes of air.

  “Jesus, Pudge, slow down. It’s gonna be fine and I’m not so sure this is a date. I’m nervous, but Jake seemed to like you, so calm down. Ever’s great. She probably thought I would have a hangover so she was giving me time to recover. The store’s closed tomorrow too. I haven’t had a whole weekend off in so long, but I love working for her. I couldn’t ask for a better boss.” Pudge has a habit of rambling when she gets nervous and I just try keeping up with what she’s saying.

  “I’m sorry. I’m just so excited.”

  “I know, me too.” We both giggle as she turns the music up and we head towards the fairgrounds.

  The parking lot is so much different today than it was last night. Today it barely has any cars in it, whereas last night it was packed. Turning my car off, I grab my phone out of my purse and send Cody a text, letting him know we are here. Almost immediately, my phone dings. Looking over at Pudge and ask, “Are you ready? He said they’re over at the stables.”

  “Let’s do this shit!” This is Pudge’s way of working herself up to whatever she is about to do. With our hands gripping onto the door handles, we take a couple of deep breaths. Opening the doors, we get out and start walking to the stables.

  We have to walk all the way on the other side of the fairgrounds, where they are holding the animals. They have horses for the barrel racing, pigs and cows to show off for bidding in the auction. They have chickens and ducks in metal cages for you to look at and the judges will pick a winner. Then they have the goats for the kids to go around petting.

  Inside the stables, men are tending to the bulls, running around feeding and cleaning up the pens. We continue walking through, the smell of shit is strong and really fucking terrible, but then we see them and everything else evaporates. “Do you see them, Sonya? Oh my, they’re sexy.”

  “Yes. Yes I do. And yes they are!” We stand there for a minute, taking in the sexiness of Cody and Jake. Both in cowboy boots, tight Wranglers showcasing nice tight asses, and both have on backwards baseball caps. Jake has on a white beater, making his tan skin look even darker with bulging muscles. Cody has an old shirt with the sleeves cut off, with big muscular arms on display that I didn’t get to see last night. Don’t get me wrong, Jake is a good looking guy, but he doesn’t have shit on Cody, that’s for sure. “What are you guys doing?” Both turn around at the sound of my voice. Jake walks over to Pudge and puts his arm around her.

  “Why you still standin’ there? Come here.” I strut over to Cody and when I’m close enough, his arm goes around my shoulders. He kisses me on the top of my head and says, “Hey, beautiful.” He gives me a gorgeous smile with straight white teeth showing.

  I wrap my arms around his waist. “Hey.” With my simple reply, I lift my eyes and meet those crystal clear blues. Cody’s bright smile matches my own. Brownish-blonde hair peeks out from the backwards cap, also something I didn’t get to see last night. “What are you doing?” I ask while looking at the rope he dropped when I spoke. Turning my head, I glance over my shoulder, realizing Jake has already taken Pudge away.

  “I was gettin’ my handle and rope ready for tonight.”

  “You have to get it ready? How do you do that?” I mean really, it’s a rope. Who’d of thought it would need prepping?

  His brow arches. “You really wanna know?”

  “I asked didn’t I?” My own brow lifts and my free hand goes to my hip that’s now cocked out.

  Under his breath he says, “Such a sassy lil’ thing.” Cody chuckles and then adds,” Here, I’ll show you.” He picks up the rope and a brush like you would use for a BBQ grill. “Alright, so first you have to take this brush and use it to get all the dirt and grime off the rope and handle. It needs to be clean before you apply the rosin.” I watch as he cleans the rope and handle, rubbing the bristles against it just like he explained, and making his biceps flex in the process.

  After a few minutes, Cody sets the brush down on a shelf and then picks up a bar of soap. “Now that the rope is clean, you take this soap and run it over all the parts that you cleaned.” He looks over at me with a half grin. “You see where the two pieces of tape are here?” I nod my head, seeing the two white pieces of tape. “You want to stay within the lines of the tape. There’s no need for you to do the whole rope.”

  “Can I do it?” My voice is quieter than normal. I don’t know what it is about this man, but he makes a shy side of me come out that I didn’t even know I had. It’s hard to be shy when you spend your free time with a bunch of rowdy bikers.

  “Yeah, come stand in front of me.” I do as he tells me, his fingertips dance down my shoulder all the way until our fingers are laced together. With one hand on top of mine, his other hand places the soap in my palm and I grip it with our fingers. Cody guides my hand over and under the rope and handle until it’s slick. I feel his breath hit the side of my neck where he brushes his lips across my bare skin. Goosebumps surface and I feel his hard erection pressing into my ass. Clearing his throat, Cody backs away, takes the soap and lays it back on the shelf next to the brush.

  He then grabs a thick glove and a chunk of something black. Standing next to me once again, he says, “This is the rosin. You take it and run it over everywhere you soaped up.” He does just as he told me and I’m back to watching his muscles flex. I don’t know how he recovered so quickly because I’m still feeling something deep within me. “Now, you see how it’s stickin’?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good. The rosin will help you keep a tight hold when you’re ridin’ the bull.” Cody finishes up with the rosin and sits the glove back down with everything else. “You ready to get our date started?” he asks while handing m
e a clean white towel so we can wipe off our hands.

  “Is this a date?”

  “You bet your ass it is, beautiful. I gotta make up for how we met in the true gentlemanly way.” We both laugh as he places his hand on my lower back, leading me out of the stables, back across the fairgrounds and to the rides. “You ever been to the fair for a date?”

  “I’ve been to the fair plenty of times, just not on a date.” I avoid telling him I’ve never even been on a date. We continue walking until we get into the line for tickets.

  “Well ma’am, I’m glad I’ll be your first.” Cody calling me ma’am makes me giggle. Something tells me he’s going to be a lot of firsts for me, he just doesn’t know it yet. “Really though, if I knew my way around this place of yours, I would take you somewhere better.”

  “This is perfect. You have a strong southern accent. Where are you from?” He pays for the tickets and we turn to walk away. Once we’re out of the line, Cody slides his fingertips down my forearm, entwining our fingers. I look down at our hands, feeling my heart rate pick up and my pulse start to pound. I’ve never held hands before.

  “I’m from a small town in North Carolina called Cherokee.” That’s like a thousand miles from here!

  “How long are you here?” My heart drops into my stomach, because after today I know I’m not going to want him to leave. What will happen when he does?

  “Tomorrow.” Fuck, that soon? I bite the corner of my bottom lip, drop my head and give him a nod. “Hey, what you wanna ride first?” I’m thankful for the subject change because I don’t want to think about him leaving anymore.

  Looking around at all the rides, I find my favorite and gripping his hand tighter in mine, I start running that way. We get in line for the Sizzler behind a few other people. “This is my favorite ride. Do you like it?”

  “Honestly, I usually don’t ride the rides. I’ve never been on a date at the fair either.” Now Cody’s own cheeks are blushing from his admission. I reach my free hand up, laying my palm against his cheek and he leans into my touch, closing his eyes for a brief second.

  “Well sir, I’m glad I’ll be your first too.” We both laugh again and hand our tickets to the carny that’s controlling the ride.

  Cody sits on the inside, with me on the outside, since he weighs more than I do. After the carny goes around making sure everyone’s bar is locked in place, the ride starts. Starting off slow, we go to one side of the gate, then picking up some speed, the rides takes us to the opposite side. The ride goes faster and I start sliding toward Cody. His arm goes around my shoulders and we zoom full speed to each of the four points of the ride. I’m pressed tightly against him and my head flies back with my laughter. As the ride comes to a stop, I look over at Cody to see him watching me with a smile.

  We hop off and walk to the gate. I start pulling him to the next ride. Same as before, we stand in line behind a few people. “Okay, now this is my second favorite. I hope you don’t get sick easily.” I give him a devilish smile while wagging my brows, making him laugh and shake his head.

  “I think I’ll manage.” He gives me a wink that makes me wanna fall at his feet. Cody is so handsome, sexy and perfect. Once we hand over our tickets, I rush to get the Jesse James seat on the Tilt O’ Whirl. We pull the bar down over us as the carny comes around checking everyone. The ride starts moving. When we get to the part I love, I scream, “Spin!” We both lean my way, taking the bar with us. We’re spinning in circles so fast, our heads are pinned to the back of the seat and our laughter rings out. I thought last night was great, but it has nothing on today. I feel like a little kid again. I feel free and I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun. I know for a fact I’ve never had this much fun with a guy before.

  Next, we find the Ferris Wheel and repeat; stand in line, hand over tickets, take our seat. We get to the top and the ride stops. We both look out of the bucket seat. You can see all of the fairgrounds from up here. “Sonya, thanks for meeting me today. It’s been awesome. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun.” Cody lays his hand on my thigh and I lay mine on his as well.

  Our eyes connect and I tell him, honestly, “Me either.” Trying to break the intense feeling growing between us, I question, “Are you ready for tonight?”

  “As long as you’ll be there, I’m ready. I want you close. I wanna look in the stands and see you there.”

  “I’ll be there, cheering you on from front row. What bull are you riding?”

  “I won’t know until later. We pick from a bowl so it’s luck of the draw.” My eyes are drawn to his. Cody makes me feel so comfortable around him, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t break the connection I feel towards him. The Ferris Wheel starts moving again and we finally make it to the bottom.

  I swear Cody is going to lean in to kiss me, but I turn my head so he doesn’t have the chance. “So those are the only three rides I like. Wanna ride them again?” We end up riding each ride five more times. After the last ride, my eyes are huge as I take in what is left of our tickets. “I think you over did it with all these tickets, Cody. What are we gonna do with the rest of them?” My hands, along with his, are filled with unused tickets. He looks around for a second.

  “Here, let me have ‘em.” Cody takes all of the tickets and starts walking behind me. I turn around to follow him, stopping in my tracks when I see him kneel before a little boy dressed as a cowboy. “Here, you can have these tickets.”

  The parents look down with smiles, and the mom says, “Thank you. Aren’t you Cody Sterling?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he replies with a smile.

  “I thought so. Braxton loves you. He’s always saying how he’s going to grow up and be just like you.”

  “Braxton, you wanna ride bulls one day?” Cody looks eye level with the boy who’s no older than six.

  “Yes!” The boy’s smile beams while he nods vigorously.

  “Do you have a pen, ma’am?” Cody asks the mom.

  “No, I’m sorry, I don’t.”

  “I do.” I step up, handing Cody the pen I pulled out of my purse. I watch in awe as he signs the boy’s hat and then pats him on the back.

  “Are you going to be there tonight, watching in the stands?” The boy nods happily while Cody hands his hat back. The woman mouths thank you as they walk away.

  Cody steps back, taking my hand once again. This time a feeling of him being way too good for me takes over. “You hungry?” Cody questions while handing me the pen.

  Shaking off the bad thoughts, I nod my head and we go in search of the food vendors. “That was really nice.”

  “What?” His brows furrow. He really doesn’t know what I’m talking about.

  “What you did for that boy, signing his hat and giving him our tickets.”

  “Oh.” His blush returns. “I like kids and it’s a good day in my world if I can make one happy,” Cody tells me before ordering our food.

  “You have many layers to you, but you’re a good man, Cody Sterling.” Smiling up at him, he pulls me close and lays a kiss on the top of my head. “Bull riding seems dangerous.” I state while taking a bite of my delicious funnel cake.

  “It is. In this sport, it’s only a matter of when you’re gonna get hurt. I wanna be number one in the world before that happens.” Cody snatches a piece of my cake with a smile. I don’t know how I feel about his response.

  “How do you get to be number one?”

  “Well, I’ll leave here tomorrow, rest up some, and then I have a couple of shows back home. If I do good in those, then in a couple of months, I’ll be in the championship in Las Vegas. If I win in Vegas, I’ll be number one in the world PBR.”

  “How do they score it?”

  “If my balance is off just a little, I lose points like I did last night. If I control the bull then I get style points.”

  “And what does the bull get out of it? The whole tightening a rope around his nuts seems kinda mean.”

  Cody laughs before say
ing, “The bull gets a score too. He gets bucking points, agility, and style. The rope just pisses him off. When they aren’t in those chutes they get treated better than most kids do. After their run is up, they’ll live a happy life in a field, well fed. They will never go to a butcher or a place to be slaughtered, unlike the cows ‘round here.” I guess he does have a point. “It’s time to go. So what’re you gonna do when I’m gone, Sonya? You ask me a lot of questions, but I have yet to know much about you.”

  “I work at a clothing store. I graduated college with a bachelor’s degree in business. Really, there isn’t much to tell. Your life seems much more exciting than mine.” God, if he only knew the truth.

  Throwing our trash away, he leads me over to the stadium where he talks to the head guy and gets Pudge and I seats in the front row. Cody helps me find my seat, then gives me a hug and kiss on the forehead. “I’ll see you after.”

  “Be careful.”

  “I’ll try,” Cody says, with a wink over his shoulder as he walks away. I pull my phone out of my purse and call Pudge, letting her know where I’m sitting.

  ***

  “How was your date?” Pudge hits my arm with her shoulder while we sit and wait for the show to start.

  “It was amazing! I had so much fun! We went on rides, ate, talked, and he gave our tickets to a little boy, then signed his hat. He’s something special, Pudge. How was yours?”

  “Perfect! I don’t want him to leave.” Her eyes get watery, which has me wrapping my arm around her jacket covered shoulders.