“He did a sobriety test and said I had failed which prompted him to do the breathalyzer which I failed too, so they booked me for a DWI,” he said bitterly. “I lost all my endorsements. Pictures of me partying going out with men and women circulated and they outed me as a bisexual man to the world.”
“Fuck,” I said, as my stomach churned.
“So, here I am, trying again because once I get enough money to float my rodeo bills and live on my own, I’m telling my father to fuck off,” he growled.
An uneasy feeling hit me. “I don’t mean to play devil's advocate, but have you ever thought your?—
“Father was behind the DWI?” he finished my sentence. “For months afterwards, that was all I could think about, but how the hell could I prove that and he had no way to know I was at that party. I was with friends.”
“Fuck, Nash. I’m so sorry,” I said, feeling bad for him. “No one should be outed like that.”
“You don’t need to apologize.” He shrugged, looking down at Iris. “I hate that it happened, but now I don’t have to hide.”
He put his hand over her forehead, looking satisfied when he took his hand off.
“Still shitty not coming out on your own terms,” I sighed.
He nodded, looking up at me. “I never meant to be an asshole to Iris.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“When we got married, I assumed she would go to the farm, continue doing what she was doing before and that would be that,” he said, running a hand over his face. “I did what my father asked of me, and she got what she needed. It was transactional. When I saw her at a rodeo in Monroe, it pissed me off that she went behind the scenes where all the riders were. I went off on her because I thought she was trying to sabotage me or worse, tell everyone we were married. She showed up with her wedding ring on her finger. We fought and one of the last things she told me was she thought my parents were going to be there and that no one was answering her phone calls.”
It was weird knowing both sides of the story.
“I didn’t realize at the time that Iris wasn’t at the farm, and that my family hadn’t let her back,” he sighed. “This entire situation is a shit show, and I know I’ve made it worse. It’s not right that she hasn’t been allowed back, for whatever reason, but my father needs something and well, maybe this is the way she gets back in.”
“Why are you telling me?” I already guessed the answer.
“I don’t want to hurt her. You guys are close and I want you to know that I’m not here to do anything malicious. I’m just… I came here for selfish reasons at first, but now I see maybe we should have been working together at least for what we both wanted,” he said, sounding sincere.
I didn’t want to believe or like him, but everything Nash had said tonight sounded genuine. He also didn’t need to stay or be a human pillow. There was affection in his gaze.
“It still sounds like you still need my help,” I said, as a last test.
“I mean, if you’re offering,” he smirked, making my stomach flutter. “But no, Iris and I will eventually sit down and talk when she is ready and if that means I have to come back in between rodeos, then so be it.”
“Won’t your father be mad?”
“Then maybe he shouldn’t have ignored her either,” he shrugged.
Goddamn, why did he have to give such a great answer? Ugh, I racked my brain for more things to hate about Nash, but nothing came up. He was being a decent human being and I felt like a shitty person for messing around with Iris.
“Well, I hope your father doesn’t do something stupid,” I said, when the silence stretched for too long.
“If he does, I’ll make sure he remembers she is my wife, and I will not make her do something she doesn’t want to do,” he said with conviction.
“I’m sure if you let her, she would tell him the same thing,” I said, grabbing our trash.
“The last thing Iris needs is to deal with my father,” he growled. “He’s a horrible man willing to do shitty things to get what he wants. So, the less she interacts with him the better.”
Iris coughed, and it turned into a coughing fit. Nash looked ready to take her to the hospital when she wouldn’t stop, but I assured him it was a good thing she was coughing. We traded places, so that he could use the restroom and we spent the rest of the night doing much of the same thing. Talking, sleeping and caring for Iris. I wasn’t supposed to like Nash, but he was making it so hard to hate him.
15
iris
The herd was moving steadilyas we moved it down south. I steered Snow White to the left to keep a few cows in with the herd as I looked ahead at Theo to see where we were going next. He usually called it out on the walkies, but I liked to keep an eye out on him. Colt and Theo lead the herd. Nash and I were on either side of the herd while Forest and Jude trailed.
