Page 60 of Burned & Bound

“C’mon now.” I gave him a reassuring pat. “We got this.”

Despite my hold on the reins, I let Thunder Jack take the lead. I was at his mercy as he slowly wandered around the corral. I kept up a quiet stream of praises while he did, doing my best to keep him at ease.

As his steps grew steadier, I took over in slow increments—a pull of the reins here, a nudge on his side there. I gauged his responsiveness. Surprisingly, he let me take over.

“That’s a good boy,” I murmured while I turned him around toward the gate and the open field that waited for us. “Should we see what you can do?”

CHAPTER 44

jackson

Amy Porter, my agent,was single-handedly the most irritating person in my life—and that was fucking saying something. While the woman was partially responsible for my fame and name as a bull rider, she was also the one who’d cultivated the image of me when I refused to pretend I wasn’t gay just because a bunch of men weren’t comfortable with me. But the older I got, the more fucking angry I got about the whole damn thing.

She also had this habit of endless phone calls and text messages. Considering everything else going on in my life, I was ignoring the woman.Was it smart to ignore my agent as the season approached?Probably not but it kept me sane.

Until she fucking started emailing. I stared at one of her many emails as I sat bored on my horse in the field.

Jackson,

Since you won’t answer any of my phone calls, I’m stuck with sending this email instead. You know how I hate emails. It’s an impossible way to communicate when dealing with time-sensitive matters.

Lexington Farms would like to have a conversation with you when the season starts. I’ve secured them as your sponsor. They are looking forward to the upcoming season with you.

No arguing!

Call me.

Amy

The fuck? Lexington Farms was a major competitor of Double Arrow. The downfall of my ranch was giving them a fuck ton of business—something Rex Lexington had been overly nice and sympathetic about in a way that sat wrong with me. This felt underhanded.

I typed out a quick message because fuck that.

No.

The answer is no.

Not a fucking chance.

And if I have to spell this shit out for you: I’m not taking a handout from the people benefiting from my business failing.

I didn’t bother signing it before sending it. She knew who I was.

My scowl was practically permanent at this point when dealing with Amy. The mood carried over as I pressed a button on my radio.

“How we looking out there, boys?” I asked, doing a random check-in. I needed something to do and micromanaging them was as good a task as any.

“It ain’t too—” Peter’s response was cut off with static.

“Fuck,” I grumbled. Overall, the radios were a good idea, but sometimes, they were just a pain in the ass depending on cloud coverage.I was too grumpy for all this crap.I pressed the button again. “Peter?”

The sound of whooping and laughter mixed with the static.

“What the fuck is going on over there?” I demanded.

“Ooh-wee! Look at ‘em go!”

“Who?” I snapped.What the fuck were they doing over there?I didn’t like not knowing what was going on with my ranch.

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