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She gave me a brave little nod, fumbling for the door handle and opening the door. I jumped down and rounded the truck, waiting as Brady pulled his truck in next to mine, so we could unload the four-wheelers. We’d brought two, that way two people could ride at a time.
Brendan and I lowered the ramp, then hopped up to ride the four-wheelers down.
“You’re riding bitch,” Brendan joked with Brady, who scowled at him.
“You’ll ride behind me out to the site, then I’ll show you the ropes and let you take off, okay?” I said to Victoria, who was standing next to me, eyeing the ATVs warily.
She climbed on behind me, securing her arms snuggly around me and hiding her head in my back. I choked back a chuckle, then took off toward our regular site. It wasn’t far, just a ten-minute ride.
I looked around as we rode up. There had been quite a bit of rain, so there was plenty of mud in sight. As well as some pretty wicked-looking puddles. The rush hit me as we drove in, and I couldn’t stop the wild grin that I knew had overtaken my face.
A day mudding with my brothers and a beautiful woman … I loved this shit!
We pulled to a stop and I climbed off the ATV, indicating that Victoria should scoot up and take the lead. I laughed as Brady jumped off the back of the other machine like his ass was on fire, and Brendan took off immediately for the closest mud puddle.
Victoria watched, her face alight with horror, as Brendan’s tires hit and the mud and water went flying everywhere. His shouts of glee almost drowned out her sharp intake of breath, but I was close enough to hear it. I wrapped my arms around her, leaning her a little off the bike so she could feel my presence.
“All I ask is that you give it a try,” I bent down to implore.
I felt her body go rigid, and I knew she was preparing to hate it, but she gave me a look of determination and a swift nod.
My brave girl.
I went over the simple instructions of how to work the ATV. Turn it on, peddle placement, maneuvering, etc. … It really was simple as hell, so it only took a few moments before I told her to give it a try.
“Just take a circle around the lot here. Get a feel for it.”
I was watching intently, looking for signs of distress or loss of control, so I saw Victoria’s lips go from tight, to tremulous, to full-on, mega-watt smiling. By the time she got back to me, she was much more relaxed, and I could tell she was going to be just fine.
Still, I asked, “You good?”
“Yes,” she replied, her cheeks rosy.
“Alright, then, go after Brendan.”
At my words she looked over in the distance to where my brother was riding hard and fast through mud, ditches, and puddles. Her face lost some of its confidence, but she gave me a quick nod, and took off toward the mud. At the first spray of mud, Victoria flinched visibly and quickly closed her mouth, learning one of the most important lessons of mudding right away … Keep your mouth shut, or it will be full of mud. But instead of turning around at the first splatter, she kept going, heading straight for a large puddle in the center of the lot.
Brady walked over to me, chuckling as he watched Victoria’s progression.
“Twenty bucks says she screams and starts crying when she hits that water,” he challenged.
“You’re on,” I replied, absently slapping his hand in agreement.
I saw Brendan pause as he watched Victoria barreling toward him. He was covered head to toe in mud, as was his four-wheeler.
We all watched as Victoria, not slowing down a bit, splashed through the puddle, water spewing up both sides in waves, coating her hair and face completely. I could hear sound coming from her direction, and strained to figure out what her reaction was.
Brady was smiling at me, certain that he’d won, when the unmistakable sound of laughter drifted toward us. Victoria stopped on the other side of the puddle, bent over the front of the ATV with laughter. I was grinning in triumph when her head came up and turned to find me. She raised her arm, giving me a big thumbs up, as she yelled, “Woo hoo!”
Victoria took off then, following the route that Brendan had, as she rode toward him. I watched her drive away. My uptight, perfectly groomed and manicured girl, plastered with mud, shouting gleefully to my brother, but too far away for me to understand her words, and something inside me shifted.
“You got it bad, bro,” Brady said as he shoved a twenty in my hand.
Yeah, I thought, watching my girl race toward my brother, I’m totally fucked.
Chapter 16 ~ Victoria
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