Page 53 of Buck This
Chapter Fifteen
Buck lifted her by the waist out of the passenger’s seat of his truck and grabbed her hand like it was the most natural thing in the world.
The media had seen his truck coming into the athlete parking lot and they were swarming them. He didn’t react, didn’t respond, other than to pull her behind him protectively and barrel through the crowd.
Torrey felt claustrophobic with the push of bodies, but just as she felt the panic clawing up the back of her throat, Buck This barked out, “Back up. Please. We’re due inside in five minutes.”
Quickdraw appeared out of nowhere, parting the reporters, and then there was Dead, and Train Wreck, and Tuff Enough helping to make a path for Buck and Torrey. Two Shots Down and the mates were hanging by the entrance with a duffel bag. He handed Buck a couple of shaker bottles, and Buck released her hand to take them.
“Have you eaten?” Quickdraw asked from behind him.
“No,” Buck said somberly.
“Take both then. Protein shake and pre-workout. I need you to move. You’re supposed to be on the dirt right now.”
Buck chugged the protein shake as they walked, and then handed the empty to Quickdraw, then downed the pre-workout, and tossed a look over his shoulder, locked eyes on Torrey and reached his hand back like it was the most natural thing in the world. She trotted closer and slipped her hand into his.
She could hear her voice on the jumbotron from here. Her interview was being played for the audience. Holy moly, this was overwhelming.
Raven was there, brushing the back of Torrey’s hair. She slipped a cowboy hat over Torrey’s head, and smoothed out the hem of her tank top. She straightened her necklace, did a once over as she walked backward in front of Torrey, then gave the nod of approval. “Give ‘em hell,” she murmured. “Come straight to the box after he’s loaded.
She squeezed Raven’s hand and mouthed,Thank you.
Raven gripped her shoulders quickly and nodded, and Torrey could see the emotion there. She was happy Torrey had found him and brought him back around. Buck couldn’t go out on what Cobalt had done. Not like this.
“Why is he so calm?” she heard Dead ask Train Wreck behind them. “Should we get him riled up?”
“He’s good,” Torrey said confidently.
Buck This squeezed her hand, and she could tell he’d heard the exchange.
Her voice was getting louder from the media interview she’d done on camera earlier today. Raven had done her hair quickly and did a speed-job on her make-up, but she’d still been wearing the shirt Buck had given her to sleep in last night, all tied at the button of her Wrangler shorts. She hadn’t cared about any of it. She’d only wanted to get the real story out—the one she’d found in the official court documents, when Buck had been released from jail because it had been proven that he hadn’t been driving. Both had been thrown from the truck and Buck had gone crazy afterward in his grief. He’d spent a few weeks in jail, but the charges had been dropped when the investigators had time to sift through what had really happened.
The news stations were having to air apologies for not looking more deeply into the allegations, fake paperwork, and lack of research on Quickdraw’s threats to sue them for defamation. Cobalt and some of the other riders had fed them astory and two stations had run with it. The rest had been wise enough to look deeper. Those two had done damage though.
She’d taken the power away and called it all out. Including Cobalt.
Her voice was getting louder as they reached the edge of the arena. She could see herself on the jumbotron now.
“…He’s going to be great because he has to be. He’s not doing this for him, or for fame, or for money. He’s doing this for his brother. He’s doing this because for that eight seconds, he feels like he’s doing something right. He’s doing this for those who have lost and suffered, who can’t get the bad out of their heads. He will be great because he’s got his brother’s voice telling him to push the hurt to his toes and buck strong. You’re wrong to exploit his pain. His story isn’t for mass consumption. Not yet. You rushed it.” Her lip trembled in the interview before she finished with the line, “He isn’t done yet.”
The jumbotron cut to a cowboy explaining that they would not be cutting Buck This Storme from the event, and that his name was back in the hat.
Quickdraw and the others stayed at the gate as Torrey’s boots hit arena dirt, and in front of her, still holding her hand, Buck This lifted his free hand, palm up, a few times, encouraging the crowd to cheer. The stands went wild.
Torrey’s stomach was full of nerves as they walked to the center of the arena and up onto a stage they had set up. As soon as they hit the stairs to the stage, lines of fire lit up in the arena dirt behind them, and the overhead lights dimmed. The jumbotron showed a man talking about the legacy both riders and bull shifters were making for the next generation, and the tradition behind these events.
Buck This walked Torrey to where the other significant others were and left her standing right by Reece. He leaned in and kissed her lips right there in front of everyone and thenturned and settled at the end of the row of bucking bull shifters. He was looking at something to his left. Just…staring.
Torrey rocked forward on her toes to see around the announcers. Cobalt stood there, hands clasped in front of him, looking down at the stage.
The riders were pulling chips out of a hat that had the bulls’ names written onto them. When it came to Cobalt to draw a name, Buck stepped forward. “I want Cobalt Blue.”
The announcer paused, the hat in his hand. Cobalt was rushing to reach in there, like he hadn’t heard Buck, but the announcer pulled it away at the last second.
“We have a call-out,” he said. “Now if you’re new to our events, you might not know the rules on drawing bulls. A call-out is allowed only if the rider and bull are contenders for a possible first place finish, and this call-out is from the bull, Buck This Storme, to the rider Cobalt Blue. My scorekeepers are tallying it up right now to tell me if this is a fair call out. Can Buck This Storme finish first tonight?”
There was a guy at the end of the stage with an iPad, and he looked up and nodded once. “The call-out is good if both agree to it.”
