Extreme Bull

other parts… rise up in front of his eyes. He wondered how they looked together and what exactly they did. He wondered how he and Jeff looked together, wrapped in a similar craze of lust and arousal.
    “Clay, get your ass over here,” Jeff yelled, so loud that Clay glanced around to see if anyone was watching them.
    Clay moved closer. He put his hand out to Doug while Jeff said his full name as if Clay mightn’t know who he was.
    Doug’s hand was big and callused, warm and hard; and when their palms touched and their fingers wrapped together Clay had a sudden jolt of nerves as he wondered what Doug’s hands had touched as he explored Jamie’s body, roaming…. And then his hand was released, and Jamie was shaking it. After all, he had touched plenty of parts of Jeff; this wasn’t any different.

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    Except he wasn’t gay. Just giving it that name instead of the usual homo, queer, or faggot seemed to weight the whole issue gnawing at him with a kind of solemn gravity that he didn’t expect or want. It seemed to open the door to a whole new possibility that he might not be who he’d always thought he was.
    In the midst of worrying about wearing spangly scarves and adopting Terrence’s sequin-fringed chaps, Clay became aware that the conversation between Doug and Jeff had become purely technical, and he was missing a great opportunity to learn from one of the best.
    “…one of the sure tells,” Doug was saying. “Bulls are creatures of habit; they don’t like putting out any more effort than the rest of us.”
    “Couch potatoes if they get the chance,” Jamie put in.
    “Not like a feisty bucking bronc. They’ll buck till they get you off their back unless they’re off their feed.” Doug gave Jamie a smile that thrilled Clay, filled as it was with intimacy and knowledge. “Yeah, Jamie, we all know you’ll never give a bull a chance, but Jeff has a point.” Clay felt proud that his boyfriend—his friend —had managed to impress Doug Morgan, although he would have liked to hear whatever it was Jeff had said.
    “If a bull is giving you a sluggish ride, you got a choice,” Doug went on. “You can leave him be and ask for a reride at Extreme Bull | Catt Ford
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    the end. Or you can kick him up a notch. One of the sloppiest bulls I ever rode wasn’t giving me the time of day.
    So I asked myself what does this bull expect? And the answer was that I was going to stick to him like glue, so I started shifting around on his back all slippery-like. Well, sir, that unsettled him, and he started in to fight me in right earnest. Then I had my work cut out to stay on board.”
    “Especially as he took you by surprise,” Jamie put in.
    Clay stammered into speech for the first time. “He took you— you —”
    Doug laughed, his skin crinkling around his eyes as he flicked a glance over at his partner. “Not all surprises are bad ones, are they, Harris?”
    Clay stiffened, wondering if Doug was insinuating something. “No, sir, I guess not.”
    “Sam tells me you two are in a clinch for the finals,” Doug said.
    Clay felt a smile start up and hoped he didn’t look smug. “I wouldn’t say that, sir.” Jamie moved a bit closer to Doug and said, “Barring injuries or whatever. I hope you two have a good year.” Doug’s hand came up and rested on Jamie’s shoulder briefly. Clay looked away, feeling that the moment they were sharing was too private for his eyes. Everyone on the circuit, Extreme Bull | Catt Ford
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    not just the regular rodeo, knew about how Jamie had broken his neck and Doug had taken care of him. It was one of the kinds of mishaps that all cowboys dreaded, and yet Jamie had made it through and was still riding today, although not on bulls. And he’d been lucky, having someone like Doug to take him in and give him a place to heal.
    Clay wanted to turn and walk away, but Doug was the bull rider he hoped to be someday, minus the homo part, and it would be stupid to pass up a chance to learn from him when he could. Jeff was already shaking hands with both men and looking around to see what was keeping him standing there like a post.
    “Maybe we could catch dinner later,” Jamie suggested.
    “We’ll be there,” Clay said firmly.
    Jeff’s brows snapped together at Clay’s calm assumption that he could make plans for the both of them as if they were a couple when Clay had gone to great lengths to make clear to him that they