Page 6 of Wild For You

The thought brings a smile to my face. The first in months.

I plop down on the sofa with a cuss word lodged in my throat.

Fuck, it’s been months and my leg’s still hurting like a bitch.

Right after the fall I lost consciousness and can’t remember anything. But I’ve watched the video over and over again. What that bull did to me wasn’t a pretty sight. I still cringe whenever I watch his horns lift me up and toss me through the air like a rag doll, a moment before people rush to distract the bull.

I boot up my laptop and replay the video for the umpteenth time. My face is in full view, bruised and bloodied; my body is motionless, the leg bent at an unnatural angle. If it wasn’t me in the video, I’d think the guy was dead.

It’s frightening to see, and that’s not a feeling I’m accustomed to, which is what’s kept me angry ever since I made it out of the hospital and Kellan let me watch my last performance.

He shouldn’t have…because scrutinizing myself over and over again is pretty much all I can do all day long, if only to torture myself for the stupid mistake I made.

Even a rookie would have known better than to spend the previous night with some meaningless chick rather than get the sleep that would have turned me into the bull riding world champ I should be.

If I had stayed in my hotel room like Kellan and Ryder instructed, I wouldn’t have lost focus. I would be back in Las Vegas or NYC or Chicago, back in business, back doing what I’m known for.

Manage my famous Club 69 empire and earn big bucks.

The knowledge stings, but what stings even more is the reproach and worry I keep seeing in my family’s eyes.

“Cash Boyd, the family’s screw-up,” I mumble and close the video, ready to get back to work, if only to forget my father’s words for a few hours.

But words aren’t forgotten easily. And so they keep lingering at the back of my mind as I go through the rows of numbers on the spreadsheets, matching up expenses and profits.

I may be a screw-up, but at least I’m the kind who knows how to turn it into serious money.

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