Page 76 of Ride Me Cowboy

I roll my eyes. “It’s completely different.”

“You know what your social media folks would really go for?” he asks, holding the horse right beside me.

“What’s that?”

“Me, on the back of a bull.”

“You’re right, they would love that, but I’m not going to wade into that battle with your brother for you.”

“Aww, don’t tell me you’re scared of the big bad Cole?”

I shake my head a little. “But it’s your battle to fight.”

“I’m not talking about joining the rodeo. I’m talking about riding a bull here; a bull I know, that knows me.”

“Is it still going to try to buck you hard to the ground?”

“A bull does what a bull does,” he shrugs nonchalantly. But there is something in his eyes, an excitement, a sense of exhilaration, that speaks of a deep yearning to do this.

“What about a horse,” I say, thoughtfully, wondering how I know this when rodeos are completely outside of my area of interest. “Isn’t that a thing?”

“A bronc?”

“Sure. If that’s a horse.”

“Yeah, you can get a bucking horse. That could work.”

“Is it less dangerous than a bull?”

“Sure. I mean, a bull’s a fair bit heftier, less predictable, too. Most bulls I’ve met are just born mean.”

“Okay, you’re not really selling me here.”

“You want this thing to work, right?” he waves toward my phone.

I bite into my lip.

“Let’s give the people the cowboy fantasy. Bull riding’s a part of that.”

“Your brother will never go for it.”

“Last I checked, I’m a grown man. Don’t need his permission for nothing.”

“Hmm, but I sort of do.”

He arches a brow.

“He’s my boss, right?”

He grins. “I guess he’s got you there. But he’d never fire you for this, Beth. He’d know it was all my stupid idea.”

Except, he’d know I’d gone along with it, and after he’d told me what it had been like, to see Beau so badly hurt.

“I’ll think about it,” I lie. “For now, this is perfect.”

“You know, whether you film it or not, I’m getting back on a bull. I gave it up for the old man, out of respect for him. It was never what I wanted.”

I open my mouth to say something, but draw a blank. How can I tell him what to do? How can I tell him how worried it would make Cole?