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“I used to feel that way,” he said. “Until I started picturing myself on the stretcher. Or worse, you.”
LeAnn dipped a fry in a pool of cheese. “Ever since Johnny died?”
“Yeah, and now with what happened to Mick, it feels like I’m pressing my luck.”
“Was that really my bull?” she asked.
“Yeah, Kingmaker. I saw his stats. He’s never reacted like that out of the gate before. In fact, Muriel rode him back in Oklahoma.”
“She beat everyone that day,” LeAnn said and then chewed thoughtfully on her fry. “The bull I rode today was tough, but in a different way than Kingmaker. Did anyone do anything to Kingmaker in the chute? Maybe jab him with a cattle prod?”
“I wasn’t there, but no one said they saw anything like that.” And it would have come out if someone had been playing a prank.
“I don’t want to say, ‘I told you so,’ but this just proves my point. Bull riding is dangerous no matter who is riding the bull. Kingmaker was better than Templar today.”
“Better isn’t the right word,” Dylan said, his head still throbbing.
“You picked Kingmaker for me, didn’t you?”
“No. I picked Kingmaker as a bull that was suited for the women’s league and not for the men’s league.”
“Why?”
“Disposition. Past performances. I don’t know where I went wrong.” He held his head in his hands.
“That’s what I’m trying to say. You didn’t do anything wrong. At this level, we can all ride the same bulls and we can all either wreck or go eight seconds.”
He let out a shaky breath. “It’s going to take me a while to come to terms with that.”
“Is this going to be a problem for us?” she asked, her eyes beseeching him.
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly.
When his phone rang, he saw that it was an unknown number. Dylan answered it anyway, glad for the distraction.
“Where are you, Mr. Porter?”
“Who’s this?”
“Jackson Blevins. I need to speak with you.”
He raised his eyebrows at LeAnn and stood up. “Give me a second to get somewhere quiet.”
“This won’t take long. I have some unfortunate news for you.”
Dylan tossed a few crumpled bills on the table and rose from his seat. “It’s about Mick, isn’t it?”
LeAnn counted the bills and added some more money before following him outside.
“Indirectly. The WPRC has terminated their relationship with Hickory Livestock.”
Dylan stopped dead in his tracks and LeAnn, who had been looking at her phone, bumped into him. “Why?”
“He is being investigated for tampering with Kingmaker.”
“Why would he run the risk of hurting his animal?” Dylan asked.
“It’s come to our attention that he had placed a rather large bet against LeAnn Keller. If she had lost today, he would have made a substantial amount of money.”
