Page 5 of Buck This
Raven puckered her lips and canted her head, staring at the tables of famous bull-shifters. “He’s working tonight.” She pointed to the table with Dead of Winter’s sign beside it.
“Holy shit!” Torrey said way too loud. The approaching girls startled, and she hunched her shoulders and mouthed,Sorry. “Holy shit,” she said softer. “That Dead of Winter guy is your husband? There’s like a hundred people in his line.”
Raven giggled and gave a nod, then greeted the cowgirls.
“Can you sign our hats?” One of them asked as she offered Raven a pen.
“I sure can. How are you ladies doing tonight?” she asked as she signed the brim of one of the cream-colored hats.
“What is happening?” Torrey murmured. She studied the signature.Hagan’s Lace.
Chills rippled up her forearms. She’d heard of that name before, and she didn’t even know that much about the shifter rodeo circuits.
Hagan’s Lace was a world class bucker in her prime. One of the only females to do it.
Torrey stood there with her mouth hanging open until the cowgirls left.
“Let me see your ticket,” Raven, aka Hagan’s freaking Lace, said.
“My ticket?” Torrey repeated dumbly.
“Your ticket to the event tonight.”
“Uuuuh, okay.” She pulled up the ticket on her phone.
“General admission. It’s probably too late to get a good seat. Those are first come first serve.”
“It’s okay. I got a margarita from a famous person. Pretty sure I’m not going to care if I have to sit in the nosebleeds.”
“Here,” Raven said, handing her a folded piece of paper. “There are extra seats in our box, and I don’t know if the boys will even get to watch if the autograph lines don’t die down. You may have it to yourself.”
“You want me to have your box. To sit in.”
“Yep. Keep the assholes out of there, will you. If anyone tries to sneak into those seats, tell them you are running security for Hagan’s Lace. They won’t fuck with you.”
Torrey blinked hard. Maybe she was still asleep, and this was all a dream.
Raven pointed toward the exit. “Take a left and follow the rails all the way to a small aisleway with an old man wearing a this-is-my-beer-drinking shirt. His name is Gary Wade. He’ll check your ticket and take you to your seat. Our box is right by the chutes.”
“Should I bring him a beer?” Torrey asked dumbly. “Since he’s wearing his beer drinking T-shirt.”
“Absolutely. He’s a Coors Banquet guy.”
When Torrey turned to the bar, the bartender was already popping the top on a Coors Banquet bottle and lifted it up for her.
“How…”
“Shifter hearing.”
“Are you…are you going to make this the greatest night of my life?” Torrey asked Raven.
Raven belted out a laugh. “You’re fun, Torrey. Tonight, just let go of that bad day. There’s just one catch.”
“I would literally give you my soul right now, what do you want?”
Raven laughed so easily, and Torrey loved it.
“You have to cheer on the bulls tonight. The arena will be divided. Half cheer on the riders, half cheer for the bull shifters.”
