Chasin' Eight (Rough Riders 11)

“What the hell? Why isn’t he riding?”

As if they’d heard her question, the camera zoomed to the younger announcer. “After being off tour for two months, Chase McKay made a comeback with a vengeance the last two nights. So it’s a pity he won’t be riding in the final round this afternoon.”

“What!” Ava yelled at the TV.

“That is surprising, since he’s seated first,” the other announcer said. “Is his withdrawal due to a recurrence of his previous injury?”

“No. My understanding is he returned home for a family emergency. And we wish him, and his family, all the best.”

Ava gasped. If that was true, why hadn’t he called? She fast-forwarded through the entire program but there wasn’t any other news.

Sick with worry, she paced. She should just call Chase. Find out. She scrolled to his name and clicked. One ring. Two rings. Come on, cowboy, pick up. Six rings. Then it dumped her over to voicemail.

Maybe Chase was too busy dealing with family stuff to answer. Maybe he was dodging her calls. Dammit. She needed to talk to somebody who knew something.

Ginger? No. Just in case the family emergency only affected Chase’s branch of the McKays.

But Ava also knew Chase’s entire family watched the PBR, and if they weren’t aware there was a problem with Chase’s family, they’d know now.

Maybe the PBR had kicked Chase off for his diatribe and used his family as an excuse—they’d done it before with his injury story. Because really. Would Chase McKay give up his big comeback, his chance to win an event, especially riding in first place…to deal with family issues in Wyoming?

The former bad boy Chase McKay might have blown off his family for eight seconds of glory, but the Chase McKay she knew had changed.

That was it. She had to find out. She scrolled through her contact list. God, she needed to weed out about three quarters of these names. Bingo. She had saved his number. She hit Dial and returned to pacing until he answered. “It’s Ava.”

Chase woke completely disoriented. He didn’t feel like warmed-over dog crap, so he hadn’t been drinking last night. He sat up and looked around. Right. He’d crashed in Ben’s spare bedroom.

He squinted at the sun streaming through the window. Was it really late afternoon? He fumbled for his cell phone on the nightstand, only to remember he’d left it at his parents’ house. He stumbled into the kitchen.

“Glad you could join me at the crack of five in the afternoon,” Ben said slyly.

“Cut me some slack. I slept about two hours out of the forty-eight before I went comatose.”

“You’re in time to leave for supper at Mom and Dad’s with Gavin. Guess he’s leaving early in the morning.”

Chase scratched his head. His hair needed a damn trim. He’d gotten so used to wearing it short, he wondered if he’d ever go back to longer hair. Especially remembering how good Ava’s hands felt on his scalp.

Ava.

He needed her. He loved her. He had to make this right with her. But he couldn’t do it from here.

Naturally when he found his cell phone it was completely dead.

Supper was strained. Adam and Amelia made mealtime entertaining, until they both started shrieking and Quinn and Libby took them home.

Saying goodbye to Gavin was awkward amidst half-assed promises of staying in touch, would any of them ever see him again?

Ben sighed as they sat in his pickup in front of his house. “Look, don’t think I’m an ass**le, but something came up and I’m gonna need you to stay somewhere else tonight.”

That f**king blew. He’d looked forward to hanging with Ben. Playing pool. Picking his brain about how to handle the situation with Ava once he reached LA. “It’s more a douchebag move than an ass**le move, kicking me to the curb at eight o’clock on a Sunday night.”

“I’d hope you’d do the same for me if a good woman was involved.”

“Probably. It’s for the best anyway. I’d planned on driving to Denver in the morning to catch a flight to LA, but if I leave now, I’ll get an earlier one.”

“You’re still dragging ass, Chase. Why don’t you head over to Kane’s old trailer, get some rest in the peace and quiet? You know you ain’t gonna get that at Quinn and Libby’s place. Without bein’ a dick, Mom and Dad don’t need you hanging around tonight.”

Kane’s place. How hard would it be to stay where he’d met Ava and she wasn’t there? But it wasn’t like he had another choice. “Will you at least let me plug my phone in for five minutes so I can check my messages?”

“Sure.”

Chase had quite a few missed calls, including one from Ava last night. No voice message. Dammit. He stopped at the call from HeadGame, a sports safety equipment manufacturer. They’d only called thirty minutes ago. Intrigued, he kept his phone plugged in as he called the number, expecting to get a recording. But a live person answered. “This is Chase McKay. I received a message from this number tonight.” He listened. “Yes, sir. That sounds fine. Actually, I’d planned to be in California tomorrow. Sure. I’ll call you in the next couple days after I figure out my schedule. The event in Salinas starts Friday. After blasting my opinion across VERSUS airwaves…I ain’t sure they’ll let me compete.” Chase laughed. “No idea. I’m putting off returning phone calls to my PBR rep until tomorrow. Good enough. Thanks. Talk to you soon.”

“What the devil was that about?” Ben asked.

Chase unplugged the charger. “A company that specializes in sports helmets wants to meet with me about possibly becoming a spokesman. Which would be cool, since I’ve been thinking about putting my…celebrity, for lack of a better term, to good use. Advocate safety in bull ridin’. Some of the older riders ain’t ever gonna change. But if I can connect with the younger kids, the ones in high school, or even elementary kids who dream of ridin’ bulls, about the need for proper safety equipment, maybe I can save some kids lives. Save some parents from what Jackie Ackerman is going through.”

“That’s ambitious. And it’s great to see you—”

“Acting like a grown up?” Chase supplied with a grin.

“No, smartass. It’s great to see you believe in a cause enough to actually do something about it.”

“Thanks. I better scoot so your mysterious lady friend can come over under the cover of darkness.”