Back in the Saddle

Not-So-Happy Accidents

Karl's POV:

Cinnamon gallops down the path, Nick on her back, a look of exhilaration plastered on his face. He whoops and hollers as she jumps another fence, and another stack of hay, and continues to race around the arena. Clay and Spirit ride up beside him, and before I really have time to process what's happening, a race is taking place and they're both going as fast as they can.

At first it looks like it's going to be a tie, but at the very last second, Nick pulls ahead and beats Clay by less than a foot. The ravenette cheers triumphantly, hopping off Cinnamon and jogging over to me with a happy grin. He takes his hat off my head and puts it back on his own, looking back as Clay comes up to us.

"Karl, did you see that?" he asks. "He's gotta be cheating, right? I don't know what he's feeding Cinnamon but she is insanely fast."

"I don't know. Looks to me like you lost fair and square 'cuz you're just not as good," I reply in a light-hearted and joking tone.

"Oh, I see how it is. Suddenly you start dating and you're no longer cool enough to bully Nick with me because you're a simp. You don't see me taking George's side on everything just because he's my boyfriend."

"That is a lie: you did that before you two even started dating," Nick laughs.

"I am not a simp. You better take it back," I say.

"What're you gonna do if I don't?"

"Tell Kristen that you're bullying me. Or better yet, I'll tell Wilbur. We'll see how they feel about you dating George after that."

Though I'm obviously joking, his eyes widen and he shakes his head several times, saying, "Oh god, I can't go through that again, please don't. I take it back, I take it back. You're not a simp. If anyone here is a simp, I think we can all agree it's Nick. Just don't say that to them because they might actually believe you."

"Hey, you don't have to go attacking me-" Nick complains.

"That's better. Now, don't you guys have a competition to practice for?"

"Not me. Just Nick, seeing as he's the only person crazy enough to ride that bull."

Nick rolls his eyes and doesn't say anything. He goes off to get Cinnamon and take her back to the stall without a word, which worries me a little. Clay begins to do the same with Spirit, grabbing her reins and leading her towards the barn. I jog to catch up with him, curiosity forcing me to ask the question that I probably don't want the answer to, but I have to know.

"What do you mean he's crazy to ride that bull?" I ask nervously.

"I mean that that bull has sent four different riders to the hospital, and even more handlers. It's literally insane. I don't think that there's a person in the world that could stay on that thing for the whole eight seconds. Nick may be good, but there's no way he's that good, and I think he's nuts to try."

I slow my pace considerably, letting him get further away from me while I process this. Nick could really hurt himself. Nick could potentially kill himself. I can't let that happen. I can't go through that again. I can't lose him; it would kill me.

One thing is for sure. I have to stop Nick from doing this competition without telling him about Dallas, and I have to do it fast.

===

Nick's POV:

Karl keeps telling me that he needs to ask me something, but we haven't had time to be alone in a little while since me and Clay have been so busy training. I said that he could just ask me then, but he said it would be a little bit longer of a talk that he would prefer to have in private.

Not gonna lie, that scared me a little, but he doesn't seem mad or anything, so I figure it should be okay. However, I am very curious as to what he wants to talk about. I've racked my brain, trying to think of what he could possibly want to talk about that would take longer than a few minutes and that he would rather not say in front of our friends. I came up with nothing.

Alex is currently helping me get set up with the bull Sam brought in for practice, and I can feel Karl's eyes digging into my back. I'm not sure why he's so focused on me and practice, seeing as it's never interested him this much before. He started acting weird after Clay said... Oh. He doesn't really believe that, right? I really hope he isn't worried about the competition on Saturday, because he will be worrying for nothing. I'm going to crush it.

I mount the bull, hoping it doesn't throw me off before we've even started. As soon as he sees that I'm straddled on, Alex opens the gate and the bull bursts out in the arena, instantly beginning to buck its hips in order to get me off. I squeeze my thighs and grip on tight to the handle, using all of my strength to stay on. I don't know what got this bull so angry, but this is not fun.

The ten seconds that I'm supposed to stay on for adequate practice seems to last a lifetime. I hear the shouts of Clay and Alex, urging me to stay on and saying that I suck if I can't do it, which obviously contributes to my determination.

But something catches my eye: the look of pure terror in Karl's eye. It catches me off guard and my grip falters. The bull senses this and seems to put all its energy into getting me off at this last second, when I'm not ready for it. With merely two seconds to spare, the bull takes one final lurch, and sends me flying off its back.

I go skidding across the dirt, using my arms to break the fall as much as possible. I can already feel the burns on them from it, but I'm lucky it wasn't my head. I shakily get up, dusting off my jeans and examining the damage to my forearms.

Clay comes running up to me, asking if I'm okay while looking me up and down to see if I'm hurt anywhere. I brush him off and start to limp over to the fence, where Karl is staring terror-stricken, as pale as though he's just seen a ghost. His mouth is dropped open and his fingers are gripping the fence so tightly that his knuckles are white. I set my hand on his, stroking it softly so that he'll loosen his grip.

This seems to get him out of his daze, because he raises his free hand to my face and immediately begins to do exactly what Clay did, scanning me over to see where exactly I'm injured.

"Are you okay," he asks in a low, concerned voice.

"Mhm," I respond, turning my head and kissing the palm of his hand. "Would you like to have that talk now?"

Word Count- 1188

a/n- lmao saps an idiot and now karls mad. this storys coming to a close here soon! i really really hope youve liked it so far