Page 16 of Buck This
Someone was waving to her, and she saw Reece standing in the hallway with her new friends.
Forcing a smile, Torrey made her way toward them. At least someone saw her. She could try to get to know Reece’s new friends and have fun the rest of the night.
She looked behind her one last time, but Buck This really wasn’t there.
Torrey felt so lame. It was as if she’d been rejected, but that wasn’t fair.
They were strangers.
No more, no less.
Chapter Three
Buck This had never been back to the stables before. This must’ve been where the barrel racers kept their horses.
Quickdraw Slow Burn paced away from him and back.
Quickdraw Slow Burn.
Quickdraw.
Slow. Burn.
Buck This didn’t know what to say in the presence of a legend.
“I have waited,” Quickdraw said. He parted his lips to say more and then paced away again.
Confused, Buck This lowered his duffle bag to a bale of shavings and sat down on it, feeling like he was in trouble. “Waited for what?”
“For you to fucking figure it out! You know you have to buck a perfect ride the next two nights in a row to win this competition now? Did you hear how many points they docked you for that false start? You gave Cobalt Blue another freaking shot. Why?”
“Why did I give him another shot?”
“Why did you freeze in the chute?” he yelled.
“That, you would have to tackle with my bull,” he gritted out, “As I don’t have any fucking control.”
“You’re how old now?”
“It doesn’t have to do with age.”
“You’re a mature bull now.”
“My bull doesn’t care! He doesn’t care if I win! He cares if he gets to destroy something.”
“What is the problem, man? Every single ride you have ten things go sideways. Do you know everyone in this arena knowsit’s going to be a mess when you buck? They hired three extra bullfighters for this event, can you guess why?”
“Because of me?” Buck guessed, feeling like shit.
“And you know what?” Quickdraw said low. He sank down on a block of shavings across the aisle from him.
“What?” Buck asked tiredly.
“I love that fire.”
He’d been staring down at his clenched fists, but at the honesty in Quickdraw’s voice, Buck lifted his attention to him. “You what?”
“I love it. I love that your bull is a handful. I love that he wants to kill in the arena. I love that he wants to wreck everything every single time he explodes out of that chute. You just have to find balance.”
