BUCKED Box Set: A Bull Rider Western Romance (2 page)

“Yeah, but
that’s not what I’m calling about.”

“What? You
fell and I missed it?” She sounded genuinely disappointed.

“No, I
didn’t fall on stage.”

“Well,
spit it out.”

“You don’t
waste any time, do you?”
“Laci!” The impatience echoed through the phone.

“Okay,
okay,” I paused for dramatic effect. “I got a movie!”

“What? You
bought a DVD? Why the hell are you calling me about that?” She can be so dense
sometimes. She’s lucky I love her.

“Em, think
about it. I
got
a movie.”

“Wait. Oh
my
God, you’re kidding! Holy hell!” She
shrieked with glee, not unlike my mom had done. It was just the response I was
looking for. “Like, a real movie?”

“Yes!” I
laughed. “I’m actually signed to be in a
real
movie! Remember the one I auditioned for a couple of months back?”

“The one
with that guy who directed the
Twilight
movie?”

“Yeah.
That’s the one! Dad’s trying to work it out so we start filming after
graduation.”

“Oh my
God, I’m coming over so we can celebrate. Be there in five.”

Five
minutes later, she was on my doorstep. In classic Emily fashion, she high-fived
my dad when she strolled into the living room and then dragged me to her car.
We drove to the store and managed to buy every possible sundae topping we could
get our hands on. From there, the night consisted of watching Disney movies and
belting songs at the top of our lungs until we eventually fell asleep on the
couch with ice cream bowls strewn across the coffee table.

***

Two weeks
later, Dad texted me while I was bored out of my skull in my AP Calculus class.

Got the producer 2 hold off, told u
i
could do it. :P

I guess I
wouldn’t be switching to online school, after all. Mr. Crayton never cared if
we texted in his class, not that it would have stopped us if he did. Either
way, I responded.

First of all, you’re ridiculous with that text
lingo. Second, I guess this means I don’t get to leave the nest just yet.
Bummer.

Yeah. Bummer, ur mom and
me
were looking forward 2 turning ur room into
a home theater. lol

If I come home and there’s a popcorn machine
on my dresser, I’m gonna be ticked.

When it
came down to it, I kind of liked school, so a little part of me was secretly
relieved I didn’t have to leave just yet. Granted, on a movie set, I wouldn’t
have to sit and listen to (ignore) a middle-aged Russian man drone on about
derivatives, but I also wouldn’t ever get the last few months with my friends
back, either.

***

Luckily,
there was no popcorn machine on my dresser when I got home—just the ballerina
jewelry box Dad gave me for my fourth birthday, some makeup I was too lazy to
put away, and my favorite bottle of perfume. I peeled off my clothes, tossed
them into the hamper, and yanked on my favorite pajama pants and an old
t-shirt. To complete my homeless look, I threw my hair in a messy bun and
washed off my makeup, revealing the all-too-present reminder under my eyes that
I really needed more sleep.

After I
went through my daily after school routine of snacks, practicing piano,
homework, an awesome dinner, going for a short run, and then a quick shower, I
fell into bed for the night with my head swirling. I still could hardly believe
it.
This could actually work,
I
thought. For all I knew, this could be the start of something big. My first
film could lead to another film, and maybe another.

Life is good.

Chapter Two - Noah

There’s no
better feeling in the world than sitting on the back of a bull, the chute about
to open, your heart pounding with the rush…except maybe the applause that comes
when you’ve held on for eight seconds and the crowd goes wild.

There’s
also no better feeling than sitting on the back of a horse, something I’ve done
as long as I can remember. Why should the night before my twenty-second
birthday be any different? To be fair, I ride horses every day, but I don’t get
to slow down and just enjoy it too often. There’s always training or
competition. As a professional bull rider, and a damn good one, the quiet
moments are few and far between.

So, I’m
thankful for the times when I can saddle up Ella and set her off at a canter.
About a mile away from the barn, I slowed her to a walk and just admired the
night. The good thing about being in the middle of nowhere is that you can look
up and see the stars—really see them. That’s not something that can’t be said
for a lot of places. I tilted my head back and breathed in a lungful of the
fresh air. God, that felt good.

I stopped
Ella, and she dropped her head down to graze. I leaned back on my girl—the only
girl I’d ever truly need—to focus on the stars. I’ve always been a bit of a
closet astronomy nerd. The Big Dipper and Leo are the most obvious
constellations in April, so I laid there, staring at good old Ursa Major and
letting my mind wander. Just as I began to think about the next day, what I
wanted to do for my birthday—maybe drink a few beers after I win my circuit, no
big deal—the soft
clops
of another horse
approached. Not wanting to sit up just yet, I turned my head to see who was
coming up from behind. A little grin spread across my lips.

Jamie.

I should
have known if anyone would find me in the middle of nowhere, it would be her.
I’ve known Jamie for as long as I’ve been on the circuit. It was hard not to
get to know her. She’s gorgeous, and she happens to serve as our manager and
gate man. Quite the feat considering her
size.
She isn’t very tall. Actually, she’s the opposite. Standing probably five feet
and three inches off the ground, her waist-length blonde hair sort of
overpowers her thin physique, but she’s a bombshell. From time to time, we’ve
messed around, but never anything serious and never out in the open. If anyone
else knew about it, we would’ve caught a special kind of hell.

Jamie’s
hair flowed in the moonlight as
her
and
Smackers, her horse, trotted toward me. Smackers whinnied when he saw Ella.
I’ve got a theory that he’s got the hots for her. Of course, nobody can tell
for sure, but it’s a guy thing. He wants her.

Jamie
stopped him right next to Ella and mimicked me by lying back on him for a
better view of the sky the same way I laid on Ella.

“So,
Almost Birthday Boy, what’re you doing out here?”

“Well, I
wanted some
alone
time, but I guess
that’s not gonna happen, huh?” I joked.

“Excuse
me,
” she added as she sat up with a
shit-eating grin. “I guess Smackers and I’ll just leave you be.” With a nudge
into his sides, she took off.

“Hey! I
didn’t say that!” I shouted, sitting up and urging Ella to move. When Jamie
noticed we were almost caught up, she sped up so Smackers was essentially in a
full-out gallop. Being the naturally competitive guy that I am, I couldn’t let
her beat me, so I gave Ella the command and broke out into a sprint. We caught
up and overtook them. Since I was too busy glancing
backward
, I almost got slammed by a tree branch until Ella came
skidding to a halt, throwing her head and giving me a few pissed-off grunts.

Jamie was
laughing much too hard for my taste when she came to a stop nearby. “Good job,
Mister Professional Bull Rider, you almost got bucked off a mare on a leisurely
nighttime stroll. Proud of ya.”

I groaned
as I dismounted, then looked over Ella’s legs and hooves to make sure she
hadn’t hurt them in her hasty attempt to stop. Once satisfied, I tied the reins
to a branch nearby and leaned against the tree, looking at Jamie.

“So,
Not
Almost Birthday Girl, what’re
you
doing out here?” I asked. She slid
off the back of her horse and tied his reins to another branch before stepping
up to me and grabbing me by the shirt. She fixed those mesmerizing green eyes
of hers on me and then pressed her lips to mine. They tasted sweet— like that
damn cake batter Chapstick she always had in her pocket— and my mind went
totally blank. I couldn’t help it. Beautiful girls have always had a way of
turning my brain to mush temporarily, but then again, most men probably have
that problem. I folded my arms tightly around her waist and lifted her up so I
didn’t have to bend over double to reach her lips. Wrapping her legs around me,
she moved her hands up to interlace her fingers behind the back of my neck.

Exactly
how long we stood there kissing, I couldn’t tell you, but when we finally broke
apart and I put her down, my mind was spinning. Apparently, my expression
matched how I
felt
because she laughed
and waved her hand in front of my face.

“Earth to
Noah!”

I snapped
out of my haze and focused on her. “S−sorry,” I stammered, absentmindedly
pushing my hand through my hair.

Jamie
cocked her head to the side and asked, “You alright?”

“Yeah, I’m
fine.”

“Normally
after a make-out session, you don’t look like someone just killed your dog.”

Truth be
known, I didn’t actually know what the problem was. A few minutes ago, my mind
was blissfully empty, and now…well, now it was troubled for reasons I couldn’t
quite put my finger on. She stepped close to me again and stood on her tiptoes
to run her hands through my hair. After they had
explored
my hair, her palms settled on either side of my face as
she stared into my eyes. The sudden upswing in intimacy made me uncomfortable
for some strange reason—it never had before—and I stepped back, turning around
to untie Ella’s reins.

“I’m
sorry, Jamie. I have to go.” And just like that, I hopped into the saddle. I
didn’t even bother to look over my shoulder as I left.

Maybe it
was awful of me to leave like that, but I had to get away from the situation. I
didn’t know
why,
I just knew that I had to.
I headed back to the barn, put Ella in a stall for the night, and went to bed.
As I laid there, staring at the ceiling, the hollow space in the middle of my
head finally filled up.

You see, I
don’t have the slightest intention of being with Jamie in anything long term. I
can’t afford to have a distraction like her.
Truth
is,
Jamie’s great. She’s sweet, we have a lot in common, and she’s
easily accessible. But she’s far too gorgeous to keep out of my head when it
counts.

Don’t ask
why it suddenly mattered to me. I couldn’t have told you if I wanted to. We’d
been
involved
for quite some time.
It’d never crossed my mind before, but something snapped inside of me standing
there under that tree and I suddenly felt like an ass for leading her on. Maybe
it was the way she cupped her hands around my face, I don’t know, but I got the
feeling she was falling for me and I couldn’t let it go any farther. My Mama
raised me better than that. I glanced at the clock—twenty minutes ‘til
midnight—and fell into a restless sleep thinking about the talk I knew I was
going to have to have with Jamie before I headed home for the summer.

***

When I
woke up the next morning, I hadn’t even thought about it being my birthday. My
mind was already in the arena. That
is,
until I went with the crew out for a “show day” breakfast to a little
Mom-and-Pop diner down the road. After I had
ordered
,
I went to the bathroom to wash up. I came back to a stack of pancakes with
candles jammed into them and “Happy
BDay
Noah!” written in what appeared to be
chocolate
sauce. I sat down and everyone around me instantly burst into a rousing, and
very off-key, rendition of “Happy Birthday” before throwing birthday punches
and grinding noogies into my skull like I was five.

That was
the thing about being a bull rider at the tender age of twenty-two: everyone
who has been around a while treats you like you’re a kid. Even when you win.
Not a single old-timer (as I call them to get a rise out of them) I encountered
took me seriously my first year on the circuit. So naturally, I had to act like
a hard ass in order to earn any respect. Even now, while I’m sure they have the
best intentions and want me to do well,
I can
tell some of them aren’t so sure just yet I have it in me to be successful. Which
really blows sometimes, but other times, I couldn’t give a rat’s ass. When it
comes down to it, I can always show them they’re wrong.

Speaking of showing them they’re wrong, after breakfast that’s just what I
geared up to do. I got to the stables and started my usual pre-ride routine to
get myself in the zone—a few jumping jacks to get the blood flowing, stretches
to loosen up, and finally, I saddled up on Ella to go for a ride to clear my
head. The pre-ride ride with Ella is probably the most important part of any
pre-circuit preparation. Call it a psychological thing if you will, like they
do for basketball players and their lucky socks. My game just isn’t as strong
if I don’t go on my ride, even if it’s just around the arena before the crowd
starts to set in. I missed it once and my performance was so weak that I got
bucked off after four seconds. Everyone knows when they pull the gate, you’ve
got to make eight. That’s why my routine is important.

When I got back from my ride, I gave Ella an apple and a good nose rub for
luck and put her back in her stall. After a few more stretches, I changed into
my favorite chaps and put on my hat and boots. I was feeling good about this
one. I knew the arena like the back of my hand. That helps with the nerves. Though
I try to hide it, I still get nervous, even though I’ve been riding bulls since
I was twelve. I imagine I’ll get nervous right up until I ride my last bull.

Jamie functioning as our gateman helped a little, too. Some places don’t
let her because she’s a woman, but as far as I’m concerned, if she gets the job
done, that’s all that matters. And Jamie gets the job done and done well. I
can’t say that for every guy (or girl) who opens the gate to let the bull out
of the chute. If the gate man isn’t competent, things can go real bad, real
fast. Jamie’s both competent and quick. And a rider needs quick, because as
soon as the gate opens and the bull’s shoulder pass the end, the timer starts
and the judges start watching to score the rider and the bull. Most riders
average in the high seventies. Hitting a score of ninety means you’ve made a
name for yourself. And that was my intention, to make a name for myself.

An hour later, I got that chance.

It was finally my turn. The arena director shooed me towards the holding
pen and assured me that things were really heated up. I was the last rider of
the day, so I ought to “go out with a bang,” he said. Yeah. No pressure there.

I approached the gate as I shrugged on my protective vest and wiggled my
hand into my glove. The flank man tightened the flank strap, and just before I
got on, Jamie flashed me a wink and that pearly white smile. I felt my insides
squirm a little, but pushed the feeling down and scolded myself.
Damn it, Noah, keep it together. Don’t break
focus. Come on. The last thing you want is to be bucked off on your birthday.
I
shook my head to clear it and settled in. When I was ready, I gave the nod.
Jamie opened the gate, and my ride started.

This bastard’s gonna give me
a good score
was the only thought that ran through my head. When the buzzer sounded, it
was over and I dismounted—not so gracefully, but I landed on my feet. The
bullfighter leaped into the arena and started to distract the bull as I ran out
and leaped over the gate, jumping up next to Jamie.

She slugged me on the arm. “Now, that was a ride! You had to have broken
ninety. Easily.”

“Easy on the arm,” I joked, rubbing my arm. She always punched me when a
ride was good, and she never remembered to do it on the arm I didn’t just use
to grip a bucking bull. “Do you really think it was that good? I mean, that
sucker was all over the place, but it didn’t feel like the kind of ride that
would hit the top notch mark.”

“Definitely did,” she insisted.

The next thirty seconds felt like an hour, but it was worth the wait. The
announcer blasted a ninety-one for my score and the crowd erupted in applause.

Like I said, best feeling in the world.

My birthday plan was officially half-executed. I’d just broke ninety. It
was time for a few of those beers. Everyone hit the bar and drank to my
birthday and my big win. Now,
that’s
what I’m talking about. When the night was over, I fell into bed for the night
with my head swirling.

Life is good.