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His brows pulled in tight. “I meant, leaving without even saying goodbye to her.”
“Who?” I asked, knowing damn well he meant Kaylee.
He shook his head. “She hasn’t been herself since you went to New York.”
I started the truck. “I’m sure she’s fine. She’s got Channing.”
“Ty—” Brock started, but I cut him off.
“Take care of Mom and Dad, and don’t fuck up the ranch. Mitchell Williams is interested in Might Fine. He’s ready for the fourteen-pound dummy when he goes out for his next bucking session.”
Brock nodded, but I knew the last thing he wanted to talk about was the bull I’d been training to buck. It had been my idea to get into bucking-bull breeding, and Brock and Tanner were on board with it. I couldn’t help but feel guilty at the idea of leaving all that behind.
Brock finally smiled, then gave me a pat on the back. “I’ve got it covered here. Knock ’em dead, big brother.”
I should have been nervous, but I wasn’t. My adrenaline was pumping as I let the sights and sounds of everything sink in. Dressed in jeans, boots, a button-down shirt, and a brand-new cowboy hat, I walked into the CBS control room.
Rich stood, reached his hand out, and then pulled me in for a bro hug. “Holy shit, Shaw. It’s damn good to see you again, man.”
Rich had been a professional bull rider before me and had retired not long after I’d won my world champion title.
“Rich, it’s good to see you.”
He shook his head and took a good look at me. “How in the hell did they talk you into this?”
“It’s just a test run, that’s all.”
“Test run, my ass. Once you get back into this world, you’re not going to want to leave. Unless . . .” He raised a brow. “You ever settle down, get married?”
“Nah.”
“No girlfriend waiting at home for you?”
An image of Kaylee smiling popped into my head, but I quickly pushed it away. “No.”
“Then this job is for you.”
Laughing, I took a seat and looked at all the monitors. “What about you? I heard you got married and your wife has already popped out one kid.”
“Yep, another on the way. I want to start taking some time off, hence them coming to you. We’ll have three of us some weekends, two on the weeks I want to be home with my family.”
“You fly back each week, right?”
“Yeah, but it’s getting to me, all the traveling. Sometimes it’s just easier going from city to city and not doing all the trips home.”
I nodded.
“Bill heads home once a month. Of course, I’m pretty sure he and his wife are on the road to divorce, so he’s not in a rush to get home.”
“Oh, man, I’m sorry to hear that.”
Rich laughed. “Dude, don’t be. Bill has been . . . celebrating, if you will.”
I nodded, understanding that he meant Bill had been sleeping around to celebrate his upcoming divorce. “How’s Kim?”
“Doing good. She’s also pregnant.”
“No shit?”
He smiled. “Yeah, there’s another reporter who’s been shadowing her. Just do me a favor, pretty boy—keep your dick in your pants with this one. She’s hot, and I’m pretty sure half the guys on the camera crew have tried to get into her pants since January. I’m thinking one or two have been successful. She’s not as conservative as Kim, but Kim sees something in her.”
I held up my hands. “Not a problem for me.”
He let out a gruff laugh. “You say that now; wait until you see her. You think Kim is pretty—this girl is drop-dead beautiful . . . and I’m happily married.”
“Just because you’re married doesn’t mean you don’t notice a pretty woman,” Bill said as he walked into the room and slapped me on the back, hard. “Fucking Ty Shaw. The buckle bunnies are going to lose their damn minds. Not to mention the Monster drink girls.”
I rolled my eyes and shook Bill’s hand.
“So, they’re spinning me as a guest commentator?”
“That’s the plan. Tell me you’ve kept up with all this. You know who’s in first? How many points behind, all that good stuff?”
I shot Rich a look of disbelief. “Seriously, you’re going to ask me if I’m prepared?”
“Hell yeah, I am. I need to know if your ass needs cue cards.”
Bill and I both laughed. “Fuck you. I know the stats on pretty much all the riders and the bulls. What I didn’t know, I read over last night to get up to speed, and it wasn’t much.”
“That’s my man,” Bill said, putting his headphones on. “You ready to become a star, my friend?”
I put on my own headphones and let Melissa, one of the camera-crew techs, put on my mic.
“I was born ready,” I replied, giving Melissa a wink when she looked up and smiled at me. We’d met earlier, and I couldn’t help but notice the fuck-me eyes she’d been tossing my way ever since.
