Extreme Bull

older, but he was in great shape. His stomach was still flat, and he was a handsome man. And Extreme Bull | Catt Ford
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    Jamie, he was almost as beautiful as a girl, but in a tough masculine way that saved him from looking like one. But Jeff felt nothing more than a friendly desire to get to know them better. Because they were like him.
    One-man men. Which kinda sucked if the one man was skittish as a bull with a split hoof. Which made him even more pissed off at Clay for keeping on with these hissy fits.
    He wasn’t sure he had the patience to take Clay back again and then get kicked in the teeth for his trouble. If he wanted that, all he had to do was ride careless in the ring.
    No matter how much he wanted to, if Clay came around all hang-dog like last time, Jeff was just going to tell him to put his apologies where the sun don’t shine.
    Which was a noble sentiment, except he never got the chance. Clay avoided him as hard as he was avoiding Clay.
    All his time went into getting ready to ride, riding, and then getting rested for the next day. Alone.
    Yeehaw , Jeff thought sourly.

    CLAY stalked through the center practically daring anyone to accost him. The grim look on his face lightened some as he caught sight of Doug Morgan and Jamie Denson. Jamie waved at him and took off, but Doug came up to greet him.

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    “Hey, Clay. How’re you doing? That was some ride last night.”
    Clay shook the older man’s hand, reluctantly admitting,
    “Jeff Stratton took me in points.”
    “It’ll even out. Sam was telling me you two been rivals for quite some time,” Doug said.
    “Yeah.” Clay almost snapped his answer, only his respect for Doug stopping him on this side of polite.
    “You remind me of me in some ways.”
    “Really?” Clay started to thaw. After all, being compared to one of the great riders was a compliment, especially coming from the man himself.
    “Yeah, I was an idiot just like you.” Doug chuckled quietly as Clay snarled. “Don’t throw it away.”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “Yes, you do. Listen, son, love is a rare thing in life.
    Grab onto it when you find it, no matter how it’s wrapped.” Clay wanted to deny that he knew what Doug was talking about, but he needed to spill it to someone. “I fucked up again.”
    “I fucked up a million times, but Jamie never gave up on me,” Doug said. “Think about it.” Extreme Bull | Catt Ford
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    “How did you—”
    “Don’t worry, nobody else is looking at you and seeing a big red F branded on your forehead,” Doug said dryly.
    “Besides, I couldn’t tell. Jamie had to tell me.” Clay laughed. “More like it’s branded on my butt anyway.”
    “Go get your boy before you lose him.” Doug gave Clay a clout on the shoulder that made him stagger.
    Nothing effeminate about him , Clay thought, rotating his shoulder. And then he felt all warm inside at the thought of Jeff being his boy. All he hoped was that maybe Jeff could forgive him again. Even though it made him shudder over what this could mean for the rest of his life.

    “JEFF, can I talk to you?”
    Jeff froze in place, looking up from hammering his gloves on, making sure each finger was shoved on all the way. “Not now, Clay.”
    “But I need to—”
    “I need to concentrate on my ride, Clay. Not now.” Jeff brushed by him, his gut twisting at the crushed look on Clay’s face, but he just couldn’t deal with him right now. He Extreme Bull | Catt Ford
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    couldn’t have his heart torn out of his chest and stomped into the dust whenever Clay got cold feet.
    He regretted his decision before he’d walked too far and turned around, but Clay had already disappeared. Jeff sighed, but he had a feeling that the war in the ring was going to be enough for him to handle, and he just had to hold off dealing with the war inside him for a while longer.
    It killed him to think that maybe there was nothing left to salvage between them. But maybe it was better this way.
    All he had to do was keep out of Clay’s way for the rest of his entire life. Eventually even Clay would catch on that there was nothing left to talk about.

    “WHAT’S biting you?”
    “Nothing!”
    “Yeah, you’re always real calm like that when nothing’s bugging you.”
    “Sorry, BJ, it’s just….” Jeff shrugged. “On the road, away from home, wanting to win—”
    “Yeah, I got you. Sometimes I wonder how much longer I’m going to do