AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The bull's head came up. Mine went down. My feet were drifting back toward his hips, but I couldn't quit. Somehow, Cody had done this. Somehow, she'd made this look good, yet here I was getting slung around like a damned ragdoll strapped to this bull.
Just as I lost it, the buzzer went off, but dismounting was already out of my control. Speed Bump lunged forward. I didn't go with him, but I was still holding on. For a moment, my entire body was floating above the beast's back, face down, and my only connection to him being my grip on the rope, but the lights were flashing. That counted. That was eight seconds. That meant I'd made a full ride.
But I slammed back down, my chest crashing into the bull's spine. The air rushed from my lungs, yet I was scrambling to get my hand free. Somehow, mostly by pure luck, I found the tail of my rope and pulled. Everything unraveled, giving me the space to slide off the bull's side, but while my feet hit the dirt, we were moving too fast for me to stay balanced.
I staggered. Speed Bump kicked out. A pair of hoofs crashed into my very padded chest, sending me backwards, and I thumped down on my ass in the dirt. Worse, the bullfighters weren't even close! Shit!
Scrambling as fast as I could, I hurried away from this bull, managing to scoot, crawl, and then gain my feet while doing something about the speed of a run. And once I was going, I didn't dare stop until I reached the wall and jumped, climbing high enough to get myself well out of the bull's way.
A hand caught my protective vest. Another grabbed my belt. Two men in colors I was familiar with hauled me the rest of the way over, and for a moment, I just bent over and struggled to breathe. Purple shoes. Red ones.
"Fuck me," I panted.
The chuckle that replied was one I knew far too well. "Looks like you almost got your ass kicked, Ty," J.D. taunted.
I just nodded, daring to look up. Evidently, I'd come over the wall right where they were sitting. Lucky me. Offering up a weary smile, I forced myself to straighten so I could thank my real saviors. Tanner stood on my right. To my left was Jorge.
"Miss you guys down there," I told them.
"Get used to it," Isaac said from behind Jorge. "Sounds like we're getting a little unintentional vacation."
"Fucking PBR," I grumbled, turning back around to see how these new guys were handling this bull.
"And look at 'em," Jorge said. "It's like they can't figure out how to get the animals to work with them."
"Like they've never worked together?" I offered.
Tanner scoffed at that. "Pretty much. But hey, seems I'm so gay, we can't risk having us down there."
I glanced over, all too aware he'd said that out loud - and there were fans around us who could've heard. "Tanner?"
"Fuck the bullshit, Ty," he told me.
"You know that's not gonna go over well," I warned him.
"Don't care," he assured me. "Austin wants to make this a thing? Fine. Let's make it abigthing."
I just nodded. "Well, I've got your back in any way you need. Has nothing at all to do with Cody. You just deserve it."
"And me?" J.D. asked.
I leaned a bit so I could see him. "You're a crazy fucker, J.D. Kinda why I call you a friend."
"Good," he agreed. "Now go get your shit. Act like you're workin' or somethin'."
Shaking my head at him, I checked to make sure the bull was truly gone, then hopped back over the railing that made up this wall. When my feet hit the dirt, I wasn't shocked at all to see my rope still laying out there in the middle of the arena.
"Hey!" I yelled at the closest alternate. "You guys ever consider helping us out a bit and grabbing those? I mean, since you're right there when they come off."
"Shit," the man in white drawled. "Ain't we doing enough?"
So I marched right up to him. "No," I said. "You aren't. People are getting hurt because you three are scared. Sure, you're new. Maybe you're not used to this, but us? We'rerelyingon you, so figure it the fuck out, and don't you dare think you'll start getting respect until you start making the saves."
"Fuck you, cowboy," the man snapped.
"I'm just letting you know what's being said behind the chutes." Then I walked on, not stopping until I found my rope.
But the others were already closing in. "It's not our fault they're sidelined, you know," the man in green told me.
