Page 55 of Buck This
Chapter Sixteen
The buzzer sounded harshly signifying the end of the eight seconds, but the rider had been on the ground since two-seconds in. He was scrambling for the fences while the bullfighters were trying desperately to keep Buck This’s attention on them. There were five of them, working as a team to draw his attention.
The event had brought in even more pickup men, gatemen, and bullfighters for tonight’s final event. She was fairly sure that was because of Buck This and his aggression issues, but she could be wrong.
The box was going crazy cheering for him, but for Torrey, she couldn’t feel a second of relief until two men on horseback got a rope around Buck This’s neck and dragged him through the exit gate. Quickdraw and the boys would meet him the second they had him back there.
She clapped and hugged Raven, and they jumped up and down together cheering when they announced the score for his ride. Ninety, and the commentator was explaining the score had been lower for Buck This Storme tonight because he’d bucked the rider off so early. “Too easy,” Raven said over the noise from the crowd. Her proud smile probably mirrored Torrey’s right now. “Go meet your man,” she said. “I’ll text you the second they announce the final results. There are five more bulls to buck before we know who is taking this thing.”
“Okay! I have my phone turned up,” she said, clicking the volume on the side of her phone before she shoved it back into her pocket. “Do you think it’s enough? Is ninety enough?”
Raven tried to stifle a smile. “We aren’t jinxing anything.” The wink she gave Torrey said she was hopeful though.
Torrey bolted out of the box and down past Gary Wade.
“He did good!” Gary Wade called.
“So freaking good!” she cheered as she kept running.
“He’s already Changed and in the recovery room,” Quickdraw said as she made it to him.
He angled his body in front of the media and made room for her to get past them.
The second she rounded the corner into the recovery room, Buck This stood up and caught her up in his hug.
“Ninety,” she said breathlessly, hugging him so tight.
“Is it enough?”
“We don’t know yet. I wish they had a tv in here!”
“They have one in the rider’s locker room, but no one is supposed to be hanging out in here for long. It’s just to dress quick after a Change.”
“Well, we’re going to stay in here as long as we want,” she murmured, searching on her phone for footage of the event.
He pulled a T-shirt over his head and pulled his cowboy hat on and then grabbed her by the hips and eased her down onto his lap, then leaned against the wall. He pulled her hand up to his chest, and she felt the fast pounding of his heart.
When she looked back up to his face, he was smiling.
“You had fun, didn’t you?”
“First time in two years.”
“You feel lighter?”
He nodded.
Torrey leaned in and kissed him, and his arms tightened around her. God, she’d never felt so safe with another person.
“That may have been the end,” he murmured. “But thank you.”
Torrey frowned, confused. “Why are you thanking me?”
“For doing that interview. For explaining. For giving people a chance to understand. For giving me a shot at tonight.”
She smiled and kissed him again, softly this time. When she eased back, she told him, “I’d do it again just to see you smiling like this.”
“You were supposed to run,” he murmured softly.
