Extreme Bull

himself thrilling over the image of Clay reaching out to touch his face, his eyes kind of soft in a way Jeff had never seen them before.
    His body’s betrayal made him mad, and when his turn to ride came, he punished himself by forcing himself to stay with the bull for the full eight seconds of the bone-jarring ride even though he wasn’t in synch with the animal at all.
    He was jolted up and down without grace or mercy until he was pitched off and landed in the dust.
    He ran for the fence and vaulted it easily, landing on his feet and slapping the dust from his clothing with his gloves.
    He didn’t even wait to hear his score; he knew he wasn’t going to make the short go of the final ten, but at least he stayed on till the horn blew.

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    SAVE a Horse was packed that night as the tour was moving on to North Dakota the next day, and Jeff found a full bar of eager women to pick from. All he had to do was swing a loop and drop it over one of them. It was just that none of them seemed to strike that spark in him. And the fact that Clay had walked away from the ring with the winner’s purse didn’t make him any happier.
    The last night in town was typically one where he scored big because he didn’t have to worry about riding the next day, but tonight he just walked around with a bottle of beer in his hand, unable to decide.
    He saw Clay push open the swinging doors and step inside, searching the room with pained anxiety on his face that lightened when he caught sight of Jeff. Some kind of feeling welled up inside him, but Jeff kept his face impassive.
    He was glad of it when the light in Clay’s eyes shut down and the other man turned away abruptly, heading for BJ, who was sitting at a table with three girls.
    “Hey, cowboy, want a ride tonight?” The sultry voice drew Jeff’s attention to a pretty girl with black hair and blue eyes standing to his right. He cleared his throat and plastered on a smile. “I’m always up for a ride, miss. Can I buy you a drink?”

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    “I can buy my own if I want one. I’d rather….” She winked and leaned closer to whisper seductively in his ear.
    He nodded and offered her his arm. “Let’s go.” She took his beer and emptied the bottle, watching him eye her as she slid the neck of the bottle between her lips and swallowed in long draughts. “Practice makes perfect,” she said.
    “I need a lot of practice.”
    “You fell into the right hands, cowboy.” JEFF didn’t bother to wash her lipstick off his mouth when he left her hotel room at first light. He never did ask her name, but this was one walk of shame he hoped devoutly someone would witness.
    It didn’t matter who.
    When she had first come onto him, his first thought was that if Clay came knocking on his trailer door that night, he would get no answer. He knew, in fact, that if Clay had come, he didn’t have to open the door, but he didn’t trust himself not to. If he was securely someplace else, it would put a stop to the nonsense once and for all.

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    He had been unable to sleep next to the girl even though she was beautiful and skilled, and the sex had been completely satisfying. Completely satisfying! He repeated that to himself just to be sure.
    He stopped by the grub hall at the center to grab a cup of coffee, pleased to see a few cowboys up and about, knowing that they would notice his disheveled state and draw the proper conclusions. Not that it mattered; it was hardly news when a cowboy nailed a girl in town.
    A little deflated, he went to his trailer. It was empty; there was no love note slid under the door and no boot marks in the dust. No sign at all that Clay had even tried to get ahold of him.
    “Fuck it all to hell,” he muttered, and he went inside to shower.

    CLAY climbed into the driver’s seat of his trailer and turned on the GPS, punching in the name of the arena in Grand Forks. Thank heaven Charlie, his sister, had given the thing to him for his birthday two years ago, although with her usual procrastination he’d only had actual physical possession of it for three months. The finances of a rodeo rider didn’t always allow for such luxuries, and it was nice Extreme Bull | Catt Ford
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    when you didn’t know a city. Made it easier to find your way and cut down on gas.
    He hit the road, resolved not to think about Jeff at all.
    Clay had seen the dark-haired girl come on to Jeff, watched the