Holy shit! What the hell is Ty doing in the arena?
The bull hesitated, staring Ty down, and then charged, but Ty slipped in the dirt. Man and beast collided as the bull plowed straight into Ty’s chest. Zac couldn’t see anything beyond the bull and Ty’s long legs stretched out motionless in the dirt.
Fuck! He’s not moving!
Zac struggled to his feet as the pick-up man cast his lasso, roping the animal’s horns. The bull snorted and shook its head, still fighting as horse and rider dragged it back toward the chutes. The audience watched in silence until the gate slammed shut with a resonating rattle of metal. With the bull out of the way, everyone turned their attention back to Ty.
A medic appeared with a stretcher just as Ty stirred back to life and spat a mouthful of dirt. He was still struggling for breath as the medic began poking his ribs. “What the hell happened? Did I black out?”
“Don’t talk,” the medic ordered, pressing a stethoscope to Ty’s chest. “Lung sounds are clear. No gurgling,” he said. “Can you move? How’s the pain?”
“How ‘my s’posed to answer when you told me not to talk?” Ty took a wincing breath and then struggled to sit up. “Ain’t nothing I can’t handle.”
“You really dodged a bullet this time, cowboy,” the medic said.
“Maybe the bullet but not the bull.” Ty grimaced and waved the stretcher away. “Give me a hand, will you, Zac?”
Zac reached down to help Ty to his feet. “I owe you, Ty.”
“You don’t owe me nothin’,” Ty replied. “We may have fallen out for a while, but I’ll always have your back.”
Ty’s remark brought home how much he’d missed his best friend. Zac swallowed hard to dislodge the lump from his throat. Holding his ribs with one hand, Ty reached down with the other to retrieve his hat.
The moment Ty set it back on his head, the crowd went wild. Ty turned toward the chutes with a wide grin stretching his mouth. With a tip of his hat, he limped off to rejoin Monica in the stands.
Zac turned to find his brother, Kade, standing beside him, brushing off the arena dirt that covered him head to foot. “What the hell happened to you?” Zac asked.
“Catapulted by your damned bull.”
“You okay?” Kade was one of the best bullfighters on the pro tour, but Zac still couldn’t suppress his protective instincts toward his little brother.
“I’m fine. If I’ve learned one thing since I’ve been doing this, it’s how to take a fall,” Kade laughed. “Eighty-eight, in case you’re wondering.”
“’Scuse me?”
“Your ride. Thought you might not have caught the score with all the commotion. Damn good for a left-hand ride, let alone for a right.”
“Eighty-eight?” Zac repeated in amazement. It was his highest score in months. He might not be bowing out of the game with a championship title, but at least he was ending his career respectably.
At the end of the night, Alvaro finished with the championship, as expected, but to everyone’s surprise, Zac McDaniel’s was the highpoint ride, even with his hang-up.
After the bull riding, Kade and Zac returned to the hotel in full celebration mode. “The drinks are on me,” Zac called out to the bartender. “Ty saved my ass tonight.”
“I saw it all on the television,” Gabby said. “I can’t believe you did that, Ty. That bull could have killed you.”
“It didn’t,” Ty replied with a shrug. “I’ll have a beer.”
Zac ordered a whiskey, downed it in a swallow, and then called for another round.
The bar was quickly filling with fans from the bull riding. Within minutes, the three cowboys found themselves surrounded by a half dozen buckle bunnies. As the hero of the hour, Ty drew particular notice from a blonde name Josie, who was flaunting her double Ds in a low-cut tee. Rather than enjoying the attention, Ty looked about as edgy as a bull calf entering the chute for the first time. It didn’t take long before he said something and gave a nod in Monica’s direction. Josie replied with a toss of her blond head and moved on down the bar to wrap her arms around Kade, who pulled her full onto his lap.
Zac paid the women little heed, which, to his annoyance, only seemed to make them try harder, but even a whispered proposal for a threesome failed to get him excited anymore. He was too old for that kinda shit and had wearied of women with more notches on their belts than he had. Where was the challenge?
Ty had moved a few stools down to join Monica. He watched them exchange some heated words, no doubt over Josie, but the showdown ended with Monica wrapping her arms around Ty’s neck. He’d thought his buddy had won the round until Monica got up and left the bar alone.