Page 39 of Eight Steps to Alpha

Chapter 12

There wasone thing she knew for certain—and that was when she asked Elliot to ride the mechanical bull, she hadn’t expected him to agree so easily.

But he had. Not only agreed, but seemed almost eager to do it.

“Sure,” he said with a shrug.

She leaned forward, confident she’d misheard him. “What?”

“Sure, why not?” He lifted his shoulders. “All I have to do is stay on, right?”

“Yes.” She nodded slowly, wondering who’d taken her best friend and replaced him with…this.

He grabbed another burger, continued to eat as though nothing strange had just transpired between them. But it had. He was different, and she wasn’t even sure if she recognized him any longer.

Twenty minutes later, stuffed with so much food she almost felt drunk, they stood in the line for the bull ride. For a second, when the tenth person was bucked wildly from the steed, she thought he might back out. He turned to face her, his eyes wide and brows pinched together so tight, it appeared almost painful. “Do you see what I see?” he asked her.

She glanced over to the arena, finding a woman pulling herself to stand to the soft padded landing. “Staying on the bull isn’t as easy as you thought?” she asked.

He shook his head and met her eyes. “They’re all chicks.” He raked his hands through his hair.

She almost laughed, because the statement was ridiculous.

“So?” she asked, almost daring him to be that chauvinistic.

He clenched his jaw and turned to face her. “I’m the only dude here, don’t you see a problem with this?” he whispered.

She laughed. “No. Why is that a problem?”

He raked his hands through his hair, lifted one boot up to the wrung of the fence, and frowned.

She couldn’t help but watch him, hope that he’d chicken out, and that she’d be free from the rest of the evening—but he didn’t.

Of course, he didn’t.

As they got closer, she focused on the mechanics of the bull to distract herself. It was fascinating. These weird traditions human’s gravitated toward. Fake or not, she couldn’t help but smile as she watched another woman climb on the back of the steely animal. Though if this were a real steed, there would be no rhyme or reason to its movements. It would buck and kick, giving into instincts and environment alone…but this…this hunk of leather covered metal, was a machine. A program, a computer, which meant there was a pattern to it… She squinted her eyes, let her mind go numb, and tried to figure it out.

After a good minute, or ten, when they were halfway through the line, she began to see the rhythm. Slowly at first, but eventually it became clear. She turned back to Elliot unable to hide her grin. Like the time she discovered where her parents hid their candy stash.

“Elliot.” She placed one hand on his arm and looked into his eyes. “You can back out, you know? No hard feelings.”

He flexed his jaw, then shook his head with determination “No.”

Fe bit her inner cheek, and proceeded to watch the bull. As the line moved forward, she took in the movements of the rider, the way the bull pulled their bodies in each and every direction. By the time the woman came around to greet them, she was confident she’d cracked the code. It was easy. Simple really. The woman handed her the release form, and she quickly filled it out for Elliot, handing it over for him to sign. But from that moment on, everything else became a blur.

They were ushered into the arena, where The DJ nodded to the woman with the clip board, and let them both in through the gate. “It’s ladies’ night brother, are you two riding together or what?” he shouted to Elliot—but she could barely hear him over the roaring of the crowd that had begun the second their feet hit the padded floor.

What the heck was going on?

Sure she was surviving on adrenalin alone, she shook her head, and turned to the DJ. “Sorry, there’s been some kind of a mistake, I’m not—” but Elliot’s voice cut her off.

“Yes, sir,” he stated. “We’ll go together.”

She turned around to face Elliot, to ask him what the hell had gotten into him, when the DJ lifted her off of her feet, and hoisted her up to the back of the bull.

“No. What?” She spun around, looking for a way out of this mess, but then Elliot hoisted himself behind her, and she felt his legs brush the back of her thighs.

Holy hell he had muscular legs. “What are you doing?” she asked through clenched teeth. “What’s happening?”

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