Page 88 of Rough
Renee’s giggles keep me going, and I roll over to my stomach and get up to my knees, gasping for air as I watch her bowled over in a fit through the tears streaming down my face.
The guys are a mix between shocked and laughing, David still filming with shaking arms as he tries to control his own laughter. I suck in air and fight through the sounds exploding from my chest. “That… that takes… the cake! A-A… whole new mean…meaning to…eat shit!”
Wilder tips his head back and finally lets his booming laughter accompany my own. and I fall over to my side.
“You all shut the fuck up!” Trina screeches through choked sobs. “I’ll fucking ruin—” Her voice cuts off on another deep, hacking gag, and she bends forward to throw up once more.
I crack my eyes open to look at her, but then dissolve again when I get a good look at her face. There’s a massive hunk of dark brown poop hanging from her chin, along with pieces caked in her hair and smears covering her cheeks.
“Tr-Trina… Ican’thandle… this!” I cry out, trying to calm myself down. Pushing myself to my feet, I stumble from lightheadedness, my blood pumping so hard I feel dizzy.God, I haven’t laughed that hard inyears!
Someone grabs my elbow to stop me from falling, and I look up through my tears to see Remy’s dancing eyes as he works to hold in his own chuckles. “D-Did youseethat? It was the best moment of my life!”
“Someone needs to—”
Another gag erupts from her, and I shake my head hard, whispering, “I can’t, Rustic! I can’t bear it another second.” I giggle manically as he swings me up into his arms and carries be back toward my other two men, both grinning from ear to ear.
“You gonna make it, Country?” Clyde asks when Remy passes my body over to him. I drop my head to his shoulder, snickering every time Renee giggles again. She has the most beautiful laugh, and I think maybe she needed this more than I did.
“Probably not,” I croak out. “But someone ought to help her out. There are some towels in the barn.”
Wilder runs off to grab them, then tosses them next to her when he returns a minute later. She starts scrubbing at her face, teeth bared at all of us. After spitting a dozen more times and rinsing her mouth with a bottle of water he thought to include, she raises to her feet and sneers at all of us.
“I’m going to ruin all of you for this! I’ll fucking crush your little piece of shit farms into dust!”
Remy looks ready to fight back, but David interrupts him by clearing his throat.
“Yeah, no you won’t, Trina.” Grinning from behind his camera, he winks at her. “I’ve got every second of this on film. You do any kind of smear campaign, I’ll drop this crap,”—I start giggling again at his use ofcrap—"so fast, you’ll never work in the industry again. Just the fact that you played with their money would be enough to turn everyone the other way. You disappear, find a ride to the airport in town, and I’ll keep this to myself.”
“Well, let’s discuss this, David,” I say, still wiping away my tears. “I will fire you on the spot if you don’t give me a copy. What else am I supposed to watch on my birthday?”
He winks at me this time, letting me know I’m absolutely going to get a copy. I pump my fist in celebration, then sigh happily against Clyde. “Someone really does need to get her outta here.”
“Remy, if you let me borrow your keys, I’ll take her into town since you’ve already got her bags loaded up.” David kneels down to put his camera into his bag after his kind offer.
I’m sure Remy is more than thankful because he’s digging his keys out immediately. “Can you drive stick?”
“Sure can. Come on, Trina. I’ll take you. I’m sure you’ll have no problems arranging for a ride to the airport. Maybe a store so you can pick up a change of clothes and wash up.”
It’s impressive that she’s able to put her shit smeared nose into the air that high, but she marches past like she’s better than all of us without another word. None of us watch as she climbs into the truck, enjoying Renee’s happy skips as she picks her way through the grass to pluck my broom from the ground.
She wrinkles her nose as she holds it between two fingers, away from her body. Apparently, it landed in Trina’s pile when I dropped it. “I’ll go hose this off. Maybe you should keep it in the barn now. I’ll pick up a new one when I go into town next.”Walking toward the hose, her shoulders continue to shake as she giggles.
Clyde lets my body slide down his, then plucks a strand of hair stuck to my face, wetted by my tears. “Don’t think I’ve heard you laugh that hard since Wild was bucked off one of the bulls he thought would be a good idea to ride, and your Pap swatted his ass like he was a toddler.”
That memory has me squeezing my eyes shut to fight off another round, but I lose it when Wilder mumbles, “Fuck off. I was freakin’ twelve years old! Old man humiliated me!”
“It was well deserved,” I tease him. Taking his hand, I pull him toward the house while he pouts. The other two follow close behind. “I think I need some breakfast! I’m starved.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Wilder
It’s been a few days since Trina took off, and none of us have heard a peep from her. I couldn’t be more thrilled that she’s no longer a thorn in our side, and we’ve been able to fall into an easy routine quickly.
As much as all three of us wanted to stay with Betsy permanently, she wasn’t having it. Told us she needed to get used to the idea and make some space around her place. So, here I sit on Renee’s front porch, munching on a piece of toast as I scroll through my phone.
There’s only one place I ever spend any time, and that’s Betsy’s social media. It’s blown up since David started working with her. Every day there’s a new video of her being the awesome, beautiful woman she is, while the three of us are working our asses off trying to impress her.
