Page 4 of Buckin' Around

Double-checking my helmet is secured tight, I give the nod.

“Give him hell, Spence!” Brady yells from chute three, where he’s perched, watching.

The chute gate flies open, and the bull leaps forward before settling into a spin to the right. Just as Levi said.

I spur him round with my left leg, hand held high. The arena spins around us fast.

One Mississippi.

Spur . . . spin.

Two Mississippi.

Spur . . . spin.

Three—

The bull dives forward.

I lurch after him, chest slamming into his hump.

Stars invade my peripherals.

Gasping for air, I force myself back upright as the empty space in my lungs burns.

Make the eight, Spencer.

Come on.

This is where I push myself. This is where I prove to the world I’m not the polished, privileged rich boy they all perceive me to be.

Steeling myself against the bull’s now erratic tossing and turning, I spur him left again. He dips his head and hauls ass to the right.

That’s right, fucker.

I run this show tonight.

The buzzer blares, and I loose my hand the instant I can before leaping to the ground.

Montgomery and his crew are between me and the bull as I stagger for the rails on jelly legs.

They have the bull back to the return chute as my score of 88.15 flashes over the screen in green.

Fuck yeah!

“Yeah baby!” I unclip my helmet and send it into the air.

The small crowd that showed up for the first event of the season cheers.

I give them a wave before heading back to the chutes. My silver chaps, complete with tassels, flap against my legs, and I don’t even care that Brades and Hadley bought them for me last fall as a joke. I’ll wear them every single time.

Move over, boys, Cowboy Ken is back on the circuit.

“Woohoo!” Maggie whistles, giving me a grin.

Brady pushes a fist bump my way from the chute he’s standing over. Levi’s hand meets my back. “Now that’s how you ride down your first bull of the season, Lockwood. Damn, bud.”

“Thanks, Levi.”