Leaving Home by Chase, A. (life books to read .txt) 📗

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