May 22, 2015
Souix Falls, North Dakota
"Laina. Wake up baby." I feel a hand gently wiping the hair out of my face. I groan and smack it, making a loud crack when I make contact with their skin. I hear them let out a deep chuckle not long after.
"You better get up or I will smack that pretty little ass of yours." He means every word of it. I open my eyes to see the cocky grin on Ryan's face.
I sit up with a scowl and swing my legs over the side of the gurney.
"The scores are up if you wanna see." I nod with a yawn and he takes my hand.
I follow him to the charts to see our score totals so far.
Scanning the board I see that I end up with a total of 181.1 and Ryan has 178.3. I am in first and Ryan is in second for the time being.
Not many of the guys say anything to me. They hate when I get better scores than them, it hurts their pride I suppose. I've even gotten into a few fist fights with some of them over it. More like me hitting them for their smart ass mouths. I cannot take the sexist comments they sometimes spit out.
One thing is for sure though, tomorrow, I will have to ride like my life depends on it if I want to beat Ryan.
"Lane, you going to the bar tonight?" Andrew asks me putting his arm over my shoulders as we walk to our vehicles. I could feel Ryan giving him the death glare but Andrew is too oblivious to even notice it. Or he just doesn't care. I'm thinking the latter.
"I don't think so. I'm not feeling up for it tonight." I state with a dreadful sigh.
"Come on they are having some line dancing and karaoke." He begs me like that will really change my mind.
"Well in that case, definitely not." I laugh, shaking my head.
"Fine party pooper." He pouts and walks off.
"That man is to annoying for his own good." Ryan grumbles, wrapping an arm around my waist. Typical jealousy.
"Annoying as he may be, he was there for me. Through everything." I felt him flinch at my words.
"When did you meet him?" He asks curiously.
"A month after Paisley passed away." I reply. He didn't say anything else after that.
[*]
Here we are standing in front of a bar called Legends. You can hear the country music blaring over the speakers before you even walk in the doors. It sounds like one hell of a party is going on inside. Why do I let Andrew talk me into this crap? He begged me for an hour until I said I would go. I just couldn't take it anymore. He was driving me insane.
Such an annoying butthole. And I am the stupid idiot that always gives in to him.
Then there was Ryan. He wasn't going to let me go without him being right by my side like the obsessive man he was.
"Let's get this over with." I grumble as Ryan opens the door like a gentlemen, allowing me to make my way inside first.
This bar is way bigger than the one we were at last night. It's almost as big as a night club.
The smell of cigarette smoke and alcohol hits my nose as Ryan, Andrew, and I walk through into the huge crowd. Andrew is gone in the blink of an eye. Only took him fifteen seconds this time.
Ryan holds onto my hand tightly leading me through all the drunken individuals. He finally stops when we get to two other men and he starts talking to them.
"Laina, you remember these two, right?" Ryan asks and I take a harder look. My eyes widen in realization.
"Steve and Josh?! Oh my gosh! How have you guys been?" I give them both tight hugs. They both give me a warm smile.
"We're great, Alaina. It's been a long time. I just want to say we are grateful Ryan found you again. He hasn't stopped talking about you for years." I gape at Steve. That cannot be true.
"It's true." Josh comments as if he reads my mind.
"Glad I could help." I reply with a small smile.
"Shut up you two!" Ryan growls at both Josh and Steve, who are cracking up at Ryan's expense. "I was not that bad!" Ryan says giving them both a shove, taking his hat off and running his hands through his hair.
"Oh, yes you were!!!" They both say in unison. I bust up laughing. We all had some fun times together a few years ago when Ryan and I started dating. The two of them always telling me embarrassing stories about him.
"Do you want something to drink? Coors Light?" Ryan asks with small smile trying to get away from the knit picking. I can't believe he still remembered.
"Yes please." I reply. He heads towards the bar and Steve is the only one around. I don't know where Josh went.
"He really did miss you, Alaina." Steve states, taking a large gulp of his beer.
"Then why did he leave in the first place?" I ask almost in a rude tone.
"That's not my place to tell you." He says giving me a sad smile along with Josh who had just returned with a full beer in his hand.
Oh good grief!
"Is it as bad as I think?" I ask them. I don't really even know what I think. Or why I even think he left.
Before one of them can answer, Ryan is back with his arm possessively wrapped around my waist. He hands me my beer and I take a huge sip. Oh that's good!
Ryan, Steve, and Josh begin talking about odds and ends for a while. After an hour or so of listening, I block them all out and check out the scenery. I notice they have a mechanical bull, one of those punching bag games, and a huge dance floor along with a large stage. There seems to be a bit of everything here.
The mechanical bull has a huge crowd around it. I want to check it out and immediately wander off the minute Ryan lets go of my waist.
When I reach the crowd, I watch as all kinds of people try and ride the contraption. It is quite entertaining. The more they've had to drink the funnier the ride. I don't watch long and next, I find myself at the punching bag game.
Men are throwing punches at it as hard as they can. In my opinion, all they want is to either impress a lady, or have bragging rights.
Another typical pissing contest. I don't get to watch for long when I hear a scuffle behind me and the sound of chairs falling over, along with breaking glass.
I turn to see Andrew fighting with another man.
The man is way bigger than Andrew, and surely has a good fifty pounds on him. He looks like a biker of some sort, in a black leather vest and a red bandanna on his head. He has tattoos along his arms and his ears are pierced. By the looks of it, Andrew is already drunk as a skunk, and struggling against him.
There is a woman in all black, with blond hair and heavy make-up, watching the scene unfold in front of her, smirking. She is enjoying this and no doubt the reason for the fighting taking place.
"Fuck!" I hiss running over trying to break up the fight. I swear, every place we go he does this shit. I manage to get between the two of them before any severe punches can be thrown.
"That is enough!" I shout. They both seem taken aback by my sudden intrusion. "What the fuck is going on here?" I demand looking between the two of them for an answer.
"That fucker over there kissed my wife!" The biker man snarls pointing his finger at Andrew. I snap my head over to Andrew.
"Is that true?" I ask giving him the meanest face I can manage.
"She didn't say she was married. And the fact she kissed me back tells me her marriage isn't so great." He said calmly, a slight slur hindering certain words. The biker guy tries to move me but I won't budge. I am struggling with everything I have to not move from my spot.
"I said that's enough!" I demand again at the biker guy, giving him the evil eye. He looks at me and stops.
Phew! I don't think I could have held him back for much longer.
"Andrew, you're done! Get your sorry ass to my truck right now!" I order pointing towards the door.
"Fuck you, Lane! Thinking you are always so much better than me? You are a fucking bitch!" He spits.
Oh, so this is how it's going to be. It never fails. He always says all these mean things to me and the next day never remembers. Whiskey always makes him mean. I can't help but wonder if he really means everything he says. They say the truth comes out when your drunk. If that's really true I don't think we would be friends anymore.
"Have it your way, Andrew." I say before I grab him and throw him over my shoulder. I don't know how I manage. Usually someone else I know is around to help me. Maybe it's the adrenaline pumping.
He is so drunk he is hardly coordinated enough to fight back and just dangles there like a sack of potatoes. He is very heavy tonight.
How many times must I do this?
I turn to the biker man. "I apologize for my friends idiocy, sir. I will be taking him home." He looks at me wide eyed and nods.
"Oh and sir," I say before walking away, "you need to talk to your wife." I state pointing over to her. She is already kissing another man. He is gone before I blink.
Everyone is staring at me as I carry the, now passed out, 225 lb. cowboy over my shoulder. He is freaking heavy and my legs are beginning to struggle under his weight.
"Laina, what the hell? Where did you go? I've been looking everywhere for you! What the hell happened to him?" Ryan hurries over towards me asking me twenty questions.
"Alcohol happened. I need to get him back to the hotel." I state. I did not see my night going like this.
"Here." He some how manages to take Andrew from me and helps me carry him to my truck. Setting him in the cab, Andrew is sawing logs. I can't help but giggle.
"Does he do this often?" Ryan asks amused.
"Everywhere we go." I say shrugging, like it's no big deal.
"I don't know how you put up with him." He mumbles rubbing his hands over his face.
"He is an acquired taste." I chuckle. Ryan snaps his head towards me giving me a glare. "Not that I've had a taste!" I quickly say, putting my hands up in the air.
"Good. Are you ready to go?" He asks. I nod and open my driver's side door, getting ready to get in. I feel a sting on my butt and yelp in surprise.
"You're not driving." He states trying to hide his smile.
"It's my truck! I thought you were staying!" He narrows his eyes at my words.
"You don't want me to come with you?" He says sadly. Oh great I see what he is going to do.
"I didn't say that, Ryan. I just assumed. Do you want to?" I ask shyly.
"Yes." He replies instantly and picks me up, putting me in the truck and sliding me to the passenger side.
This night just got more interesting. I can feel the butterflies starting in my stomach already. The anticipation of what may happen making them soar.
God help me. I think I'm going to need another drink.