Page 1 of A Montana Rodeo Star

CHAPTER ONE

This was it.

His whole life was spent leading up to this moment and he was going to make it count.

Brent had been in a couple rodeo events over the years but nothing too difficult. He’d tried out barrel racing before he realized that it was usually a woman’s sport. Then he’d tried reining competitions but realized he didn’t have a knack for controlling his horse like that and training for the events at home would have raised several red flags. He was good at the tie-down roping, but he didn’t get the kick of adrenaline that he did when he merely thought about getting on a bucking bronco.

The courage it took to get on an unpredictable animal in the first place was daunting. His heart pounded hard in his chest as he placed a boot on the rail of a fence and watched Tate Dennison stay bareback on a horse that definitely didn’t want him there. Guys like Tate and his brother Jason were naturals. They were well on their way to becoming stars like Jacob Hines. That man was a legend.

This was only practice but there was nothing like getting in the arena and showing what he was worth. One day he was going to be good enough to garner the attention of a sponsor. That was the dream anyway. As long as his parents didn’t stand in his way.

His forearms rested on the metal bars, and he heaved a sigh. Judd and Heather Gilley might live on the ranch with their whole extended family, but his folks didn’t seem to fit. His mother had grown up on a ranch. Her sister, Brent’s aunt Jennifer, helped run Sagebrush Ranch with his uncle Eli. And those two were country folk through and through. They knew how to roll up their sleeves and do what it took to run a ranch with livestock and farmland.

Not for the first time did Judd wonder why his parents had agreed to move to Sagebrush. To be closer to family, sure. But his parents didn’t have much of a hand in working the property. Instead, they let their sons do the work any ranch hand could.

Brent wanted more. He wanted the whole lifestyle.

His eyes followed Tate as the man was finally flung free from the horse he’d been working with. He landed with a grunt and scrambled toward the fence before the horse could get to him. He sported the widest and quite possibly wildest smile known to man.

That.

That right there was why Brent wanted this. He wanted to live, to take chances, to get messy. He’d spent far too much of his twenty-five years playing the obedient son. What did he have to show for it? He wasn’t married. He didn’t have kids. Heck, he didn’t even have a career he liked. Sure, he enjoyed working at the family’s ranch, but there was something missing.

Brent saw in real time how his older brother had changed once he found the right career path. Now the guy was working to be a horse dentist. Who in their right mind wanted to be a dentist let alone one that worked on horses?

He shook his head and chuckled to himself then pulled away from the fence as Tate came closer.

“Hey man! What’s up?” Tate looked identical to his brother. They were both tall, broad, and fit. They had brown hair and dark eyes. A smile could light up their faces, but if you got on their bad side… Well, it was best to run the other way.

Brent pulled him in for a guy hug. “That was awesome. You competing tonight?”

Tate ran a hand through his sweat-dampened hair and glanced over to where his brother was preparing for his turn. “Nah. Tonight’s more for the rookies.”

Nodding, Brent fell into step beside him. “Right. So that’s why I’m here.”

Tate stopped and turned toward him. “Brent…” That tone. The single word paired with an arch of his brow said it all. He knew all about the rules in the Gilley household. “Do you think that’s good idea?”

“I’m an adult. I can do what I want.”

“You’re an adult who still lives with his folks,” Tate pointed out.

“Yeah, well, I’m not married and it’s nice to live at the ranch when that’s where I work.”

Tate chuckled. “And what about that fight you had with your parents? I heard it got bad.”

Brent waved a dismissive hand. “I’ve competed before.”

“But tonight’s show is all about the riding events. You’ve steered clear of those so far.”

“And I’m done doing that,” Brent insisted. “That was always the plan, remember? I’m not getting any younger.”

Tate shook his head. “And you haven’t trained enough to make it worth it, either.”

“So, train me.”

They stared at each other. The topic of training had come up a couple times, but mostly when they’d been joking around late into the night. Brent had never been serious about it. This desire to make something of himself had only started to burn brighter as he’d witnessed his cousins moving on and starting families.

“Come on, Tate. You’re one of the best I know.”