Page 25 of Right in Front of You

“Want to make a bet how long I’ll last?” I felt so cocky, there was no stopping me now.

“No longer than a minute.” She grinned, crossing her arms over her chest.

One minute?Ha! I could do it with my eyes closed.

“Thou hast no faith in me.” I scanned over the instructions at the side, wishing I’d bought a pair of chaps before I came here. Maybe a cowboy hat and a lasso as well. Then I could throw the rope around Molly and tow her in toward the action: me.

By now, a small crowd had gathered around the cushioned perimeter. A guy whistled and a woman clapped. I overheard someone whisper the word dangerous at the side and felt a twinge in the gut from my conscience, which of course I immediately dismissed.

“If I last longer than a minute, you have to agree to a proper date with me. I’m talking dinner and movies and whatever else dates entail these days.”

She laughed, then stopped. She thought about it for a moment, examining the mechanical bull and the concerned-looking crowd at the same time.

“Deal!”

I’m going on a date with Molly!

She shook her head as if my level of cockiness were clearly evident on my face, which it probably was.

“Wait, what if I win?” she asked.

“That’s not going to happen. I’m going to ride that bull like no one has ridden it before.”

That didn’t sound as good out loud as it did in my head. I got on the machine and gripped the front handle, securing myself on the slippery back.

“Yee-haw!” I yelled out before the inevitable click of the “ON” button sounded, and an instant clock turned on in my head as I started counting the most painful and excruciating sixty seconds I’d ever experienced. It started off slow, gaining an unexpected momentum that for a moment caused me to lose my balance. By the time the tenth second passed, I was swinging from left to right and back, cutting diagonally and following the motion when the bull reversed. Sweat dripped down my forehead. My grip tightened on the handle as my body was whipped in unforeseen directions.

By the fifteenth second I wanted the torture to be over. My insides were being thrown against my inner walls, the membranes of my brain tested as my head thrashed before my neck and the rest of my body could catch up. Still, I wouldn’t let go.

That was the. Longest. Minute. Of my life.

At thirty seconds I almost jumped off, but then I saw Molly and her gorgeous doe eyes, and so I tightened my grip and locked my jaw, determined to last even longer than we’d bet on. When I counted those last seconds in my head, my body felt limp. I was pretty sure that someone stopped the bull before the required time, for which I was momentarily grateful, but then I saw Molly looking at me from above as my body rested on the cushioned mat. She was spinning, her smile fading and mouth moving, though I couldn’t quite hear her. My ears buzzed with cheers and the residual sound of the mechanical bull engine, which I saw at a standstill to my right.

“Are you okay?” she asked, kneeling beside me.

“Yeah, I think so. I could have kept going. I had to win that bet.”

“Carter, you almost passed out. You could have been hurt.”

“Nah, I could have… could have… Jesus, move!”

But she didn’t. I rolled to the side, felt a squeeze in my stomach, and threw up right in Molly’s lap. Apparently, I had forgotten the Don’t eat before riding part of instructions because my stomach swirled and emptied all the partially digested chicken wing meat right onto her awaiting thighs.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, wiping the vomit-infused spit on my sleeve.

“It’s okay, Carter. How are you feeling?”

“Dizzy?”

She giggled. Even with the insides of my stomach decorating her lap, she looked like the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. “Did I win?”

“Win?”

“Yeah, a date with you.”

“Yeah, you did win.” She smiled. It was only later that I realized there was a counter on the wall above the bar displaying my measly thirty-eight seconds I’d lasted on the bull.

One of the waitresses had a spare pair of leggings which she lent to Molly. I cleaned up as well and came out of the bathroom to meet her.

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