Page 9 of For the Love of the Bull Rider

Tim knew his crush on Matthew Collins was ridiculous and that he needed to find something else to focus on instead of the bull riding cowboy. The party sounded like just the ticket to help him maintain his sanity on two fronts—forgetting Matt and finally losing his virginity.

“It’s a swim party. We don’t have a pool, so I might go for a while to have some fun. It’s hot here, you know.” Tim slowly turned to head toward the front of the barn again.

Matt seemed about ready to protest, but then, Ryan ran out of the house yelling for the two of them. Ryan flew through the back doors of the barn, nearer where Matt and Tim were standing, and he jumped up, launching himself into his father’s arms with an excited look on his face.

“I called Gramma Jeri. She said we can come swimmin’ at her house tonight and stay over. She and Papa are goin’ to Front Royal for a party, but they’ll be back for the cookout on Monday. Can Tim come over?” The boy caught both men’s attention with his excited demeanor.

Matt chuckled as Aunt Katie walked into the barn with a smile on her face. She had the cordless in her hand, and she handed it to Matt. “It’s your momma.”

He walked away so Tim headed toward the horse trailer, waiting for the horse and the hunk. Just before he was out of the doorway, Aunt Katie stepped in front of him, clearly having something to say.

He stopped, checking to see if Cory was paying attention to mayhem. When he was sure the man was busy talking on his phone as he held the lead rope for the mare, Tim looked at his aunt, warning her off of the impending tirade he could see brewing on her face. “Don’t get mixed up in things of the gay variety. I’m not about to chase a straight man.” Tim walked past her without waiting for a response.

Cory stood at the back of the trailer with the door open, so Tim led the mare inside and tied her close so there wouldn’t be a problem hauling her back to the Stallings’ place. He patted her on the back as he walked out of the trailer and closed the back door.

“So, what’s the address? I’m not sure if I can get away, but it sounds like fun,” he told Cory as he leaned against the trailer.

“Can I have your number? It’ll be easier to text you the directions than to explain it to you, and I’d really like it if you’d come.”

Tim took the phone to enter his number. He returned it to Cory, who offered another wink before climbing into the white Dodge Ram flatbed hauling the fifth-wheel stainless trailer.

As the truck and trailer left the driveway, Tim felt a hand on his shoulder. When he turned his head, he came face to face with Matt Collins’ chest. The bull rider was quite tall to Tim’s five-nine, but he’d never seen a chest so attractive. Even through the T-shirt the man wore, Matt’s muscles wereright thereand enough to bone Tim up from zero to sixty.

After a sniff of the man, Tim swallowed the lump in his throat, finally able to speak without his voice cracking. “Can I help you?”

Matt’s laugh was deep, which sent a tingle down Tim’s spine. “Tell me you’re not goin’ to that party. From what I’ve heard ‘round town, they shuffle from one partner to another, and you know you’re better than that, Tim.”

For a sexual first timer, it was more than a little intimidating to think of more than one partner in one night, though Tim knew guys who loved a good orgy. If what Matt was saying was true, it wasn’t Tim’s scene at all.

Matt stared at Tim for a moment before speaking up again. “Why don’t ya come over to Mom and Dad’s place for swimmin’ and steaks. I think the three of us could have a good time gettin’ to know each other better.” Matt seemingly put Ryan in the picture so Tim didn’t mistake his intentions as anything more than friendship.

Tim laughed and shook his head. “So, my choices are attending a hedonistic bash with what I’m sure will be a lot of hot bodies in various stages of undress as we drink ourselves into beautiful oblivion, or I spend the evening getting to know your son better so he’ll feel comfortable with me when you gocatting around town to find some girl to fuck? Wow, imagine my dilemma.” Tim sarcastically moved his hands up and down like a set of scales.

Matt Collins laughed as he grabbed Tim’s arm and led him back into the barn and over to the tack room, out of sight of anyone watching from the windows of the house. “I’m not invitin’ ya so you’ll babysit Ryan while I go out sometime. I’m asking you not to go to that party, Tim. Come with Ryan and me. The parties at the Stallings’ place are notorious for turning into orgies, or so I’ve heard talk around town about ‘em. You’re a better guy than that, I can tell. You don’t want your aunt and uncle to hear rumors about you when they go shoppin’ or get pie at the diner, do ya?

“You know for a fact I’m not gonna be hookin’ up with a girl. You’ve peeked into my world, and I think we should talk about it. I’ll leave it up to you.” Matt walked away, leaving Tim a little breathless.

Chapter Five

“Is this really necessary?” Aunt Katie was rushing around as if there were a fire only she could put out.

Tim had told his aunt he was going to Matt’s parents’ home for a swim and dinner, not to the Stallings’ place for what would likely be a drunken carousing party. In the end, he determinedhaving sex for the first time with someone he didn’t know might be a letdown—a really big letdown.

He wanted his first time with a man to be with someone he cared about and who cared about him, but he didn’t share that information with Aunt Katie. Upon hearing the news of Tim and Matt’s plans for the evening, she’d begun cooking while Tim went to the barn with Uncle Josh to feed and water the stock.

“Jeri will have left dinner in the fridge or the slow cooker, but I have some things to contribute. Those boys need a little TLC, Timothy. I know you and Matt are just friends, but he needs someone to confide in, and I think the two of you could be good for each other. Jeri and I’ve talked about it. She’s afraid he’s becoming so bitter about the way Roberta treated him that he’ll never consider another serious relationship. Just be his friend, please?”

Tim really wanted to pound his head against the brick fireplace in the living room, not stopping until he knocked himself out and hopefully suffered a fractured skull and brain damage to the point that he was no longer able to think about Matt Collins. What had he ever done to suffer in this way?

He was sure the handsome man would never come out of the closet, if indeed Matt played full- or part-time for Tim’s team. In the back of his mind, Tim believed it was curiosity that led the man to browse gay porn to the point of downloading a virus to his computer. Tim also knew ifhecontinued to allow his fantasies to feed the crush, it would only leave him a broken man when the bull rider started dating a woman in town.

Tim turned to his aunt, staring deeply into her eyes. “Aunt Katie, I can’t be his best friend because…” He hoped to explain what a bad idea it was to have any kind of relationship with Matt Collins just as the house phone rang.

Katie held up her hand as she walked to the old green phone on the wall, answering it before her face quickly developed aworried expression. “Hi, Matthew. Oh? Well, of course, we’d like to have Ryan spend the night. I’ll send Tim— Oh, sure. I’ll pick him up in an hour at your house. Sure. Okay, I’ll tell him. See you soon.” She hung up the phone.

“Well, change of plans. I’m to pick up Ryan at the ranch. Matthew has an unexpected buyer coming by to look at a bull, and he says he needs the sale. It’ll be easier with Ryan away so he can take the man to dinner. He said to apologize to you and ask for a rain check.”

Tim exhaled because he’d suspected something of the sort wouldpop up, but he knew, intellectually, how important sales were to the lifeblood of a ranching operation. He nodded. “I can go pick up Ryan.”

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