Extreme Bull

little play with the beer bottle out of the corner of his eye, and figured he had his answer. Jeff was blowing him off.
    Which was fine although considering that he had started this whole thing, Clay thought it would have been better manners to let him be the one to end it.
    “Nothing to end,” he told himself. “Nothing at all.
    Nothing got started.” He turned up the radio, found a country-western station, and started to sing along. Badly.

    JEFF successfully avoided Clay by staying away from the arena in Grand Forks when it wasn’t his turn to ride, scoping out the feed hall before going in, and keeping far away from his trailer. It was working perfectly, except that all that caution kept Clay on his mind all the time.
    By the second day, he was starting to calm down, and it showed in the ring. He was mounted on a nasty spinner named Tea Party. Jeff acknowledged the owner’s sense of humor, because it hadn’t been one, but the up side was he’d come away with the high score of the day, beating Clay for the top spot and earning the winner’s purse. It made him Extreme Bull | Catt Ford
    40

    gloat just a bit, but when BJ urged him to come down to the bar in town to buy him a drink by way of celebration, Jeff refused.
    “I got something better to do than get drunk and chase skirts.”
    “What’s better than that?” BJ asked, with an amazed stare.
    “Gotta get some rest before we get on the road tomorrow,” Jeff said. “I need to stay in the money if I’m going to stay with the tour.”
    “Clay’ll be at the bar,” BJ said slyly, watching to see how Jeff took it.
    “All the more—if he gets good and plastered, all the better for me when we hit Virginia,” Jeff said. “Besides, aren’t you taking a chance driving and drinking?”
    “Okay, maybe you got a point, but you’re missing half the fun of the tour.” BJ shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
    “I’ll do that.” Jeff watched him walk away in relief, and he wasn’t that close with most of the other riders so he got off scot free once he ducked BJ.
    He turned into the narrow alleyway that led between the barns and where the trailers were parked, a convenient shortcut he’d discovered to reach his trailer without passing by Clay’s. As he rounded the corner of the barn, he stopped Extreme Bull | Catt Ford
    41

    short, just in time to avoid colliding with Clay, who seemed to have had a similar idea.
    “Hi,” Clay said.
    “Oh, hi.”
    “Congratulations on your ride,” Clay said.
    “That was no tea party.”
    Jeff laughed nervously as they said the same thing at the same time. “Thanks, I guess.” Clay nodded and walked past Jeff, circling as widely as he could in the narrow space. “See ya.”
    “Sure thing.” Jeff was aware that his heart was pounding, and he felt sweat collect under the brim of his hat.
    He wanted to turn around and watch the easy roll of Clay’s hips as he walked away, but he forced himself to stay where he was. This thing between them had gotten too dangerous, and the last thing he wanted was to see Clay looking back at him. He wasn’t sure what he might do if Clay had that soft look of longing in his eyes again.
    He gasped as he was slammed against the wood of the barn, and Clay’s mouth was on his, hot and seeking. His wrists were pinned above his head, and Jeff moaned into the kiss, humping his hips like a bull in heat.

    Extreme Bull | Catt Ford
    42

    Clay held him captive there, kissing him deeply as he ground against him.
    Jeff wrenched his mouth away. “What the hell—”
    “Sorry,” Clay muttered. He pushed himself away reluctantly and released Jeff’s wrists. He picked up his hat and slapped it against his jeans before hurrying away.
    Jeff stood there in a daze, his wrists still over his head, until he came to himself and realized how ridiculous he must look. He bent to pick up his hat. That Clay! Who did he think he was, coming at him that way? Completely ignoring the fact that he was the one who had started to make things difficult between them by doing the exact same thing, Jeff lunged after Clay. He needed a good, swift ass kicking, and Jeff was just the one to give it to him.
    When he headed right toward it, Jeff was appalled to realize he knew exactly where Clay had parked his trailer but justified it by telling himself that if you were going to avoid someone, you had to know where they hung out in order to do it.
    When he arrived at the empty spot, he stood clenching his fists