“You should do it, Mamas,” Gomez said to Valencia.
“Come on, Beau! Let's go!” Valencia got up, grabbing Beau as they made their way to the person taking names for the bull riding.
“They look way too excited,” Jude said, as they put their names down.
I laughed as Riggs and Gomez shook their heads at their girlfriend and it made me remember when Forest was riding that damn bull. He rode it with ease and my body flushed at the memory. I hated missing him.
Seeing people fall off the bull was just as entertaining as when we watched it the first time. Especially as people had more to drink, the sloppier people got. Valencia was the first one to ride the bull, lasting longer than I would have expected, but when Beau got on the bull, he was just as good as Forest, if not better. The second time he rode with flair, and he hyped the crowd up, rolling those hips sinfully.
“God, I’m worried he might start taking his clothes off,” Valencia said, as she took a picture for him.
“Fuck, I wouldn’t be mad at that,” Jude chuckled.
“You, me and half of the bar,” I said, as women started crowding around the bull, hootin’ and hollerin’.
I could have sworn I saw a twenty flying at him and I didn’t miss the lingering glances Iris kept giving him. They traded looks a few times, Nash Yarbrough seemed out of the picture for now.
“God, I feel like he’s gonna be wearing a cowboy hat in his next video,” Valencia laughed.
“Maybe you should too,” Riggs said, kissing her neck.
“Stop,” she said, slapping him away as she continued taking photos. “I’m working.”
“I still can’t believe Valencia and Beau have sex on camera,” Jude said in my ear.
I chuckled. I couldn't believe it either, but more power to them.
“I think it’s hilarious that Riggs and Gomez followed her,” I said, pulling him against me as we saw Beau flip from facing the front to the back flawlessly.
“What are the odds?” Jude took a sip of his beer. “I’d think I’d lose my shit if I found you fucking on camera.”
“Mmmm, I think I’d love to have a video of you and know I’m the only one who gets to watch it.’ I nipped at his ear playfully.
“Forest would probably?—”
He jerked like he forgot he wasn’t with us. We had been doing that lately, talking about him like he was still here.
“I’m sorry,” Jude said.
“Don’t apologize, it’s only been a few days. Forest isn’t someone we are going to forget about anytime soon,” I said, kissing his cheek. “I miss him too.”
“I hate that I miss him,” he grumbled. “I keep trying to look at the positive side, that I finally have you, bu?—”
“But it still feels weird without him.” I finished his sentence.
He nodded, leaning his forehead against my cheek, and I could have sworn I felt a stray tear. If I knew where Forest had gone, I’d go just to yell at him, drag him to apologize to Jude and tell him he was an idiot.
“Ok, lovebirds!” Beau pulled us apart grabbing Jude’s hand. “I’d bring you with me, but I remember you suck at dancing!”
I laughed as I saw Beau taking Jude to go dance as Gomez and Valencia followed. Hopefully this would be enough to get Jude to forget about his earlier flub. Sometimes he was too hard on himself.
“You ok?” Riggs sat next to me, so he had a better view.
I shrugged. I gave Gomez a condensed version of what had happened with Forest. I figured it would be easier if he relayed the gossip, plus I didn’t want to rehash everything with everyone.
“Well, sometimes we do stupid shit when we think we have no other choice,” Riggs said, sipping his beer. “I thought it would be easier if I pushed Val and Ro away because I didn’t know how to do relationships. They scared me and I thought it would be easier if we just went our separate ways, except being without them was worse than anything I had ever experienced.”
Hunter was somber as he watched Val and Gomez. I glanced at Jude who was dancing close to Beau, a small smile creeping on his face while he watched Beau get low.
