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The gate clanked. A big orange bull burst out with a grunt. Snot flew, right in Jorge's direction, and I recognized this bull. This was the same one that had put Ty in the dirt last weekend, knocking him out cold. Pumpkin Spice, I thought his name was.
And that beast could buck. Its hocks snapped as the bull kicked out at the sky. Worse, this thing kept its head up the whole time, planning its route. These were the kinds of rides that were hard to stay on, and Austin was not the best of the best.
The man rocked back onto his pockets, getting out of position. The next buck pushed his shoulders forward. I watched as his feet came up, but it was his face I was hoping for. Austin was one of those idiots who refused to wear a helmet. His hat was jammed down on his head hard enough to keep it from flying off, but it wouldn't do a damned thing against that bull's horns.
I shifted, keeping my placing with the bull's body. Beside me, my partners were doing the same as Pumpkin Spice made his way deeper into the arena. Big, plunging bucks were getting Austin real sloppy up there, but the clock was still ticking. I could see the movement from the edge of my vision.
Then the bull settled in for his spin. Left, turning out of Austin's hand, and it was more than the dumbass could take. With his legs out of position, the power of this beast forced him out to the side. Two more bucks and it was all over 'cept for the crying.
Austin slammed into the dirt hard, sending his hat bouncing off to the side. In my mind, I started the count, but Pumpkin Spice didn't care about that. The annoyance on his back was right in the beast's sights, so he went for it.
None of us moved.
Pumpkin Spice charged, dropping his head, and rolled Austin through the dirt before I'd even thought "one." Damn. Seventeen hundred pounds of bovine hurt a lot when it ran over a man.
At "Miss -" the feet came down, tagging Austin's leg. "-i-" was enough time for the back feet to reach the man's body, and "-ssipp-" was another thrash with the horns. The final "-i" syllable came with a hoof to the side of Austin's chest.
A single second. That was how long we'd waited. "One Mississippi" was a good way to time it, and as soon as I reached the end, all three of us moved like we were sharing a mind.
I rushed forward not because I gave a shit about Austin, but because I was a damned good bullfighter. Didn't matter if this fucker deserved to feel the pain or not. One second was all we needed to prove our point.
"Ho!" Isaac called, rushing straight for the head of the bull since it was pointed right at him.
"Let's go!" I added, flapping my arms as I closed the distance.
Jorge was spinning around to the side, his eyes on Austin. Now that we were moving, our goal was to get this animal off the rider. In the stands, the crowd was moaning and groaning loudly. The sound of it made it clear they loved the disaster, even if they weren't sure if they should look.
"Get his hips over!" I called to Jorge.
"He's locked on," Jorge yelled back.
And sure enough, Pumpkin Spice was trying to come back for seconds. He had no intention of letting his target get away. Well, too bad for him, we were good at our jobs.
The bull swung his ass around, kicking out at Isaac. Still that made a gap, so I shot it, jumping between those horns and the man groaning on the ground. When my hand slid across the slick nose of the animal, he forgot all about the guy lying there, vulnerable.
"Come get me," I breathed as I turned back, intending to do it again if I had to - but Pumpkin Spice was on me.
The bull charged. I ran, taking him with me in the direction of the open gate.
"Watch it!" Isaac called out.
I pushed to the side, twisting like a football player avoiding a tackle, and could feel the rush of air as Pumpkin Spice charged past. Still, it was enough. We weren't in his face and the open gate was. Without slowing down, that orange hunk of muscle barreled out of the arena and into his waiting catch pen.
"Whoa," Jorge said as he moved in to slap my shoulder. "Talk about making it close, Tanner."
I laughed, but was headed back to make sure Austin could get up. "Yeah, that's the bull that got Ty last week."
"Thought he looked familiar." Jorge glanced back at the chutes. "And your girl is watching."
"Yep," I agreed, feeling a little smile on my lips.
But Austin saw it. The man was climbing to his knees, and my amusement was more than he could take. Storming forward, he rushed right into my face, a hand hitting each of my shoulders to push me back.
"What the fuck was that?!" he demanded. "You're supposed to do your damned job!"
Oh, that was the wrong fucking thing to say. Rage took over and I pushed right back into his face. "Yeah? In case you missed it, I did!"
"After I got run over!"
