Page 12 of For the Love of the Bull Rider

Tim hated to acknowledge it, but he was becoming more attached to the boy every time the two of them were together. “Well, he does tend to grow on ya.”

Without responding, Uncle Josh opened two more beers, handing one to Tim—who didn’t miss the serious look on his uncle’s face. “Katie told me about Matt’s company. Lanny Whitehead was his travelin’ buddy when they were both on the circuit. He’s bad news anyway you play it, Tim.

“While Ryan was with his momma, Lanny came to visit Matt a couple times. I noticed a black eye and busted lip on Matt a time or two when he came over to shoe horses for us, but when I mentioned it to him, Matt just laughed it off and blamed it on a wild calf. That was before he got Ryan back. Far as I know, Lanny hasn’t been around since the boy came home, so I’m worried about why Matt wanted Ryan gone.” Uncle Josh’s face showed the concern he’d just voiced.

Tim wasn’t an aggressive guy by any stretch of the imagination, but he’d learned how to take care of himself, out of necessity because of the beatings his father had given him. He’d stewed over those self-defense lessons he’d taken after he’d coaxed his roommate and blow job buddy, Kenny, into teaching him how to defend himself during an attack. He might not be the first line of defense, but he’d fight until he drew his last breath for anyone he cared about.

“Okay, maybe I should take a ride over to the ranch by myself to check on things?” Tim thought it was the best idea he’d ever had.

Uncle Josh gave him a drunken smile. “You know, I think you’re about one of the coolest guys I know. You’re good lookin’, and you have a protectiveness about you when it comes to someone important in your life. You’re like your momma with your tender heart, but Timmy, you’re not really a fighter, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to go over to Matt’s place. He can take care of himself. He rode buckin’ bulls for a livin’, but I appreciate the fact you’re worried.”

Tim laughed a little, feeling his cheeks flush at his uncle’s kind words. “My roommate at Penn was a really sweet guy. Unfortunately for him, I was gay and out. I was living the life of a gay kid at college, which brought a lot of grief for Kenny from his soccer buddies. One night, they decided they were gonna teach me a lesson for not being embarrassed about being myself.

“They got Kenny to bring me to the soccer field under the pretense we were all gonna party together. I knew Ken was straight, though we’d had some pretty innocent fun together, but for him to want to take it outside didn’t make sense. I knew I was being led into a trap, so I was prepared, or so I thought.”

Uncle Josh sat forward. “I don’t like the way this is goin’, son. Why didn’t you call me?”

Tim appreciated Uncle Josh’s protective nature. “Hang on a minute. There were four of them who stuck around after I kicked the goalie in the balls. They had plans to tape me doing something to Kenny that I’d done before, just not for an audience. They attempted to hold Kenny and me down, but he got away from them and beat the crap out of a few of his teammates for trying to humiliate the two of us.

“Kenny taught me a few defensive moves after that in case I got cornered by another group, but they manipulated some of the pictures to make it look like something it wasn’t and put them on the internet. It ruined our friendship, and after that, Ididn’t trust anybody. That’s why I don’t have any friends from college.”

The pain in his chest was just as fresh as the day he walked into a computer lab to find the slideshow on a loop on all of the monitors showing images that had been manipulated to show him blowing Kenny. The laughter from his fellow students rang in his ears for a long time after.

Josh pulled him into a hug and whispered, “I love ya, Tim. I know you’ve gone through hell, son, but I hope to fuck we can change it since you’re home. Your aunt and me, well, we’ve missed ya.”

Tim swallowed down a lump in his throat and whispered back, “I’m so damn grateful to the two of you. You rescued me from something much worse than hell. You don’t have to do anything else.” By then, both men had tears leaking from their eyes, which Tim was blaming on his level of intoxication.

Of course, Uncle Josh just laughed as he wiped his eyes with the end of the towel on which he was sitting. “Now, that’s not the truth, and you know it. After Shane was killed, your aunt needed someone to fuss over, and when you came to us, well, it was a godsend. Before we get down in the weeds, we need to take a little ride, I reckon,” Josh suggested as he grabbed Tim’s hand to lead him inside.

“Go change. I’ll take care of the outside stuff, and I’ll meet you here in five minutes,” Josh ordered. Tim quickly thought about the scene that had just played out and wondered how prudent it would be for either of them to drive anywhere, so he decided to change the subject.

“Yeah, okay, but can I ask you something? What did you think of Harold Moran when you met him?”

The look on Josh’s face had Tim cringing for even bringing it up, but it was enough to start a conversation as the two men took a seat at the kitchen table. After Josh told Tim what a no-good-piece-of-shit his father was, not that the younger man didn’t know it, the idea of going anywhere was long gone.

After talking about the dead man for an hour—and two more beers—they agreed to go to bed. If Matt was spending time with an old lover, it wasn’t Tim’s place to bust it up… regardless of how much his heart wanted him to.

Chapter Six

Tim rolled over in his queen-size bed, feeling a little body nearby. When he opened his eyes to see Ryan Collins in bed with him, he was a little surprised.

Tim’s mind raced, and he remembered the boy had been in the hallway when Uncle Josh and he decided to turn in for the night. Ryan was coming out of the bathroom, still half asleep.

After a quick shower to rinse off and a pair of sleep pants, Tim slid into his bed to find Ryan sound asleep, having gone into the wrong room. Tim was too tired—and too drunk—to move the boy, so he dozed off and left him there.

Tim slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom to take care of his morning business. After a quick piss, he shaved, and brushed his teeth. His head was suffering from a next-level hangover, and his hair was all over the place, making it impossible to leave the house. He stepped into the shower and gingerly washed his pounding head.

In all honesty, Tim wasn’t used to drinking so much beer, but he didn’t really regret the headache after he remembered the discussions from the night before. Having Uncle Josh be frank with him regarding his feelings about Tim’s parents and even the loss of Shane was more than Tim ever thought he’d hear. It gave him more insight into his family than he’d been able to gain before, and it left him feeling a lot closer to his aunt and uncle.

When he heard the toilet flush, he peeked out of the shower curtain to see Ryan standing at the sink to wash his hands. Apparently, Aunt Katie had a little stool available for him, and Tim thought it was cute.

“Morning, Ryan. You need a shower?” he asked as he rinsed the shampoo and soap from his body, thankful his morning wood hadn’t made an appearance due to the drumbeat in his head.

“Miss Katie made me take a bath last night, but I’d rather take a shower when I gotta. I take ‘em with Dad in the morning before we start our day, but he says when school starts, I gotta take ‘em at night ‘cause there won’t be time in the mornin’. I getta ride the bus to school, and I think that’s gonna be cool. You ever ride the bus?” The boy’s questions came in rapid fire fashion as Tim turned off the water.

Tim reached out to grab a towel off the rack before he stepped out of the shower. After securing it around his waist, he picked up another to dry his hair. “We lived near my school, so I walked, but I always wanted to ride the bus.” Tim ignored the feelings brought on by the memories of back in the day. No good would come from rehashing any of it in the bright light of day.

“My best friend, Tommy Morrow, lives down the road. He’s a year older than me, and he rides the bus, so I asked Daddy if I could ride the bus. He said Miss Terri could take me to school with her little girl, Beth. She’s in kinneygarden, and I don’t wanna show up with a baby. Beth is really little, and if the other guys see me with her, they’ll think she’s my sister.” Ryan sounded exasperated at the thought as Tim pulled on boxer briefs under the towel.

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