Page 43 of The Wildest Ride

AJ smirked.

Lil’s eyes narrowed. “What?”

AJ said, “Now what kind of welcome is that?” He laid the Texas on thick, enjoying the way it brought a frown to Lil’s face. AJ felt an almost moral obligation to break her of her habit of taking everything too seriously.

Lil muttered, “Better than you deserve. What do you want?”

AJ wouldn’t have been surprised to hear a humph at the end. She reminded him of his grandmother—old, and cranky about it. So, just like he did with granny, he smiled sweetly. “Had a few questions about mustangs,” he said. Smiles always worked on his granny.

They worked on Lil, too. Her shoulders relaxed and she opened the door all the way, even if she didn’t stop frowning. “Don’t have much time, but sure.”

AJ waited a beat until it was clear Lil wasn’t going to invite him in. Then he said, “Any suggestions? Never dealt with wild horses.”

Lil thought for a moment. “Wear them out first and start with the ones that group together.”

AJ asked, “Wear them out?”

Lil turned her back to AJ while speaking. “Make noise, walk at them, get them running around. They’re prey animals, you’re not.” Then she turned around to finish. “That’s all I got. Sorry, I’ve got to get to my interview.” She turned around with a jacket in her hand and stepped out of the RV around AJ.

AJ nodded and backed down the steps. “Thanks.”

Lil sent him a quick nod in acknowledgment before locking her door and hustling off toward a black sedan that idled near the RVs. She slipped inside the car and was lost behind tinted glass.

AJ watched after them for a moment before heading back to his own RV. His car wasn’t due for another hour.

The top ten contestants were being featured in one-on-one videos that “told their story.” It wasn’t really their story, though. It was the reality TV version of their story—the parts that made good entertainment.

The videos would be aired as filler during broadcasts as well as go up on the Closed Circuit website and social media.

AJ planned to use every sound bite to spread the word about CityBoyz. The Old Man was going to need a full staff to coach all the new sign-ups after he was done. He hoped Lil had something in mind for hers, because if she didn’t give them a strong lead, the media was going to continue running her as ragged as a herd of wild horses.

The first challenge started at high noon.

Mounted in full gear and positioned beneath a hot and angry sun, AJ wondered if it was possible for a rodeo to go overboard with Western references. Based on the number of viewers that tuned in and the sold-out arenas, he didn’t think so.

Lil stood in the center of a large fenced ring, a miniature pillar of black in a cowboy hat with a rope coiled at her hip.

The five mustangs were scattered around the ring, each one standing alone.

The go sign was a bell, and when it rang, Lil took off. On foot, she ran in circles inside the ring, hazing the horses with whistles and claps. The horses panicked, bunching together as they ran along the fence and away from Lil. Lil kept the hullabaloo up for a full two minutes, while AJ watched her time tick away. She hadn’t even reached for her rope yet. Hadn’t even tried to catch a single horse.

After far too much time wasted, both Lil and the horses slowed. The horses were slick with sweat and breathing heavy. Lil hadn’t lost any energy, though, not even as she slowed. Instead, she reached for the rope at her side and advanced slowly on the horse closest to her. The horse’s ears flicked, signaling awareness, but the creature didn’t move.

AJ willed Lil to loose the rope quickly, before the horse bolted, but instead, she took another step closer. The horse shuffled uneasily, but his reflexes were poor after the hard run. Then Lil’s lasso flew out, catching the creature around the neck before it could spook.

She trotted the horse to the gate quickly, then grabbed the rest of the ropes before going back for the rest of the horses. She caught two more close together as they’d paired up, before rounding up the final two. Each one was easier than the last, with the final horse joining her without fuss.

All said and done, the five horses took her six-point-eight minutes to round up.

She had followed her own advice, which was a good sign.

Now it was AJ’s turn.

The crew cleared and raked the ring, and AJ walked to its center. The horses scattered away from him in four directions with one pairing amongst the lot of them.

Lucky him.

The bell rang, and AJ did what Lil had done, but, like always, he did it with the added support of superior musculature.