AllFreeNovel
Share Us
*
Dylan had been on wild bulls before. He’d ridden roller coasters. He had even jumped out of a plane once. But as soon as Fever Dream launched himself out of the chute, Dylan knew he was in trouble. It was like sitting on the back of a rocket. This bull was airborne and doing spins before his back hooves cleared the chute. Fever Dream did not like having a rider and seemed to feed on the frenzy of the crowd by whipping, bucking, and rolling. Dylan’s neck nearly came off his shoulders. His hand almost came down and touched the bull—which would have disqualified him—but he managed to resist. He was about to come out of the saddle and go flying when he heard the eight-second buzzer. Holy shit, he’d done it.
Then he was airborne…only he wasn’t far enough away from the bull. Fever Dream’s hooves kicked him in the chest, and he felt the impact hard through his padded vest. The force pushed him back and he rolled a few feet. The ground shook as the bull leaped and twisted toward him, landing scant inches from his head.
“Move your ass,” the bullfighter said, grabbing the bull’s horn and twisting its head away from Dylan. Staggering to his feet, Dylan collapsed to his knees before pushing himself up again. Two bullfighters half carried, half dragged him to safety.
“Helluva ride,” one of them said.
“You all right?” the other said. “Do you want a doctor?”
“I don’t know yet,” Dylan said, attempting to straighten away from them once the bull had returned to the corral. He waved to the roaring crowd. Both he and the bull had given them a good show. He should win this. And if he did, Lola was safe. He could afford to board her for a few months with this event’s purse.
He spit blood onto the arena floor.
That wasn’t good.
But when he looked up at the scoreboard, it made it all worthwhile. He was number one on the leaderboard with 175 points. The other riders would have to score over ninety points to catch up to him. Not impossible, but not likely either.
Grimacing at the taste of blood in his mouth, he moved away from the bucking chutes toward the backstage area. He saw Dolly tottering over to him with a microphone and camera crew. But seeing the two people behind her was what made him stop dead in his tracks.
What the heck?
His mother stared at him with horrified eyes and his father scowled at him.
Great. Just what he needed in front of a live feed.
“Dylan, you did it. You rode the unrideable bull. What have you got to say to your fans?” Dolly shoved the microphone into his face.
“I hope I gave them a good show.” It was second nature to want to push by them and go back into the locker room area so he could take off his gear and grab something to drink. But he forced himself to stay put. Dolly must have had a reason for ambushing him like this.
“Oh you certainly did. That was one hell of a kick you took as well.”
“It was just a graze,” he lied.
“Now, you and this bull have a history, don’t you?” Dolly said, coming alongside of him. The cameraman stepped to follow. In a few seconds, his parents would be in the shot. Oh hell no. He would have moved, but Dolly gripped his arm like a vice and shot him a warning look.
“You could say that,” Dylan gritted out. “My uncle owns Fever Dream.”
“He’s thrown you and every other rider in the past. Why was today so different?”
“It was just his time.”
“Maybe it was your time too. Could it have been because your parents were in the audience?”
The cameraman swung to catch his parents in the shot.
“I didn’t know they’d be here today,” Dylan said in what he hoped was a mild tone.
“Lou told us you were riding Fever Dream today,” his mother said.
“We were going to try and talk you out of it, but we were too late,” his father said.
Suddenly, Dylan felt a lot like LeAnn. “I’m glad you were.” He was a professional, damn it. He knew the dangers and his limits.
“We’re glad you weren’t hurt.” Then, his mother launched herself at him and squeezed him hard.
His ribs protested and his knees buckled, but he managed to keep his gasp of pain inside and straightened up. Oh holy hell, that hurt. He was going to pay for this later, but he smiled for the camera, and patted his mother’s back awkwardly.
