Page 15 of Buck This (Battle of the Bulls #6)

“Get back!” Quickdraw yelled out his open window.

It wasn’t Torrey he was directing this time though, like when they’d loaded up Buck This Storme into a huge livestock trailer. This time, his direction was for the men scurrying around the alleyways where Quickdraw had just backed the trailer.

“Who is this one?” one of the guys yelled.

“Buck This Storme,” Dead of Winter barked as he stood with Torrey and Raven to the side of the trailer, guiding Quickdraw to ease the trailer back to an open gate.

“Shit. He’s Changed? We’ll get more help,” the guy said as he started to jog off.

“We’re his handlers today,” Quickdraw called out, eyes on Dead’s hands in the sideview mirror.

He stopped the trailer the second Dead yelled, “Yep!”

“We can’t do that,” the cowboy said. “You haven’t signed insurance waivers.”

Quickdraw hopped out of his truck, his eyes burning with intensity. “I’ll have my mate send you a sign-off.”

“It’s too late for that—”

“Buddy Harris, I’ve known you for how long?” Quickdraw gritted out.

“Uh, probably around ten years by now.”

“And in those ten years, have you ever seen me sue anyone for the dumb decisions I myself have made?”

The cowboy looked back at the gathering group of handlers, then to Quickdraw. “No.”

“Sweet. Fight me or get out of my way. Buck This Storme is with my herd tonight.”

The older cowboy clenched his jaw, then frowned at the handlers. “Back up. Everyone stay away from the chutes until he’s loaded.”

“Who drew him?” Two Shots down asked.

“Rawling Cummings.”

“That’s what we needed,” Tuff Enough said as his dad and Dead of Winter exchanged a smirk.

“What does that mean?” Torrey asked Raven softly.

“He’s good. Real good. He’s an up-and-coming star and has been killing it this year. If Buck This would’ve drawn a shitty rider who didn’t stand a chance at riding him, he couldn’t put on a show. He needed a good draw tonight.”

“He got it!” the cowboy chirped as he passed them by. “Good luck not getting someone killed tonight.”

Quickdraw was already at the back of the trailer, preparing to unfasten the door. A huge boom echoed, and Torrey startled hard. Buck This had just kicked the shit out of the trailer, and there was a huge dent protruding from the side of it. A bellow sounded from inside.

“If you want to be useful, reinforce any weak panels,” Quickdraw called to the handlers that were dispersing. “Dead, Two, grab a couple of Hot-Shots.”

“You’re going to piss him off,” Dead pointed out.

“Good,” Quickdraw said without hesitation.

“What are Hot-Shots?” Torrey asked, worried.

“Cattle prods with an electric pulse at the end. It’ll shock the hell out of whatever they press it to.”

“Will it hurt him?” Torrey asked, wringing her hands.

“Girl, that bull ain’t feelin’ anything but adrenaline right now. Trust Quickdraw.”

Torrey nodded but gave another worried look at the trailer as Buck This Storme slammed his hoof against the inside of it again. There were two outward facing dents in it now.

“Let’s unload him before he destroys this trailer,” Tuff enough said.

“Can I do anything?” Torrey asked.

“Just be near him but out of the way,” Quickdraw said. “You’re doing just fine.”

Quickdraw’s mate, Annabelle called out to the handlers as she typed away on her phone, “The insurance waivers are sent!”

Torrey had just met Quickdraw’s mate when they’d loaded Buck This Storme at the old arena, and Torrey already liked her. She was a woman who just commanded control and knew exactly what to do, and when to do it.

The more time she spent with these people, the more she remained in awe of them.

“You have five minutes,” the old cowboy called. “They’re loading the next line up now. He’ll be in chute ten.”

“Plenty of time,” Quickdraw assured the man who was now saying something into a walkie talkie.

“Yeah right,” Two Shots Down muttered as he passed them with a long red pole in his hand. “It’ll be a miracle if we can keep him from jumping the panels.”

“He’ll be fine,” Torrey said, crossing her arms. God, she wished she felt as confident as she sounded. “You’re going to do this. Do you hear me, Buck This Storme?” she yelled as Raven pulled her by the hand toward the arena. “You’re going to do this! It’s your time!”

The answering bellow that followed them filled the entire loading area.

“This way,” Raven said, kicking up their pace to a jog. “Move!” she said, shooing people out of their way.

“She needs to get to the panels now,” Annabelle said from where she was trotting behind them.

“We can get there through here,” Raven assured her.

Raven’s grip tightened on Torrey’s hand as she shoved her through a door and into a busy walkway that was hidden from the general public.

There was chaos and yelling outside in the direction Buck This had been.

“Shhit. Can you hear that?” Annabelle said frantically.

“Yep. Ten seconds!” Raven pushed Torrey into a sprint and then they burst through another door and into an aisleway beside the loading pens.

What she saw dragged a gasp from Torrey’s lungs.

Buck This wasn’t where he was supposed to be, clearly.

He was in a big open space, and there was chaos as Quickdraw, Dead, Tuff, and Two Shots Down were yelling and trying to herd him into a panel another guy was opening to get him back in the aisle way.

“Torrey, here!” Quickdraw barked out.

She bolted for where he pointed and felt the exact moment Buck This locked onto her.

His huge head swung right for her, and his ears went erect.

He kicked up into a trot and she ran right past the guy holding open the gate on Quickdraw’s instructions.

She could see it so clearly. She knew what to do.

She climbed the panel as fast as she could and jumped down into the aisleway he was supposed to be in, and then he was here, right behind her—not charging, but staying with her.

“Chute ten, chute ten,” a man was yelling from where he stood out of the way on the fence.

Another man was pointing toward the right, and then Tuff Enough was there, holding open another gate. “We’re with you, you’re fine,” he called as she sprinted past him. “He’s good. He’s following you, not chasing you. Just lead him through the open gates!”

Her heart was going to explode from her chest. Torrey dared a glance back, but while Buck This Storme was trotting behind her, his attention was on everything but her.

He swung his head left and right at anyone who moved near them.

He stopped and rammed his head against a panel, and a cowboy went flying from where he’d been perched at the top of it.

“Everyone get back!” Quickdraw roared. He sounded pissed.

Up ahead, she could see the aisleway closing in, getting tighter, and at the end of it was a chute that was open from the back side. Shit, she was going to be trapped!

“Hook your arm!” Raven yelled from where she appeared on the opposite side of that chute. “I’ve got you. Don’t slow down!”

Freaking C-Team track runner. Her legs were on fire, her lungs hated her, and she was going to be trampled to death by the shifter she was growing a crush on and worst of all?

She could see herself up on the jumbotron in the opening above the chutes.

Boots that made no sense here, boobs bouncing in her tank top, booty shorts showing every dimple on her legs as she ran for her life, a look of terror in her eyes, and the monster himself, Buck This Storme, following right behind her.

At least she’d gotten a good fuck in before she died.

That was her final thought as she squared up to the chute and hooked her arm in Raven’s.

She went flying over the chute and landed in the arena dirt on the other side softly as all hell broke loose in the chute.

Buck This Storme reared up and roared, Quickdraw and the guys were yelling and cussing as they tried to get the gate closed on the other side.

She could hear the exact moment that gate clicked closed.

Raven cleared her throat, and when Torrey looked over at her, she was staring at a camera with a smile plastered onto her face. “And now smile,” she told Torrey softly.

Torrey’s immediate smile probably looked more like a grimace.

“And wave,” Raven instructed.

Torrey did so.

“And now take a bow.”

And as she bent at the waist and bowed, the roaring in her ears eased and she could hear it.

The crowd was cheering.

Torrey turned slowly, in shock. Everyone was on their feet, and the commentators were chattering excitedly over the sound system.

“—bad boy of the circuit…”

“First time we’ve ever seen a bull loaded like that…”

“Let’s go!” That last one was said by Annabelle, who was waving them to the box on the other side of the arena fence.

Raven ushered Torrey to the rail and scrambled up it alongside her. There was no climbing this fence gracefully in booty shorts, so she just did her best.

“I think I just died and came back to life like four times,” Torrey said excitedly.

“Welcome to the Battle of the Bulls,” Annabelle told her with a grin.

“Come on, Buck,” Torrey murmured, clasping her hands as she stood at the rail of the box they’d sat in last night. “Come on!” she cheered louder. “You’ve got this! Buck like this is the last time you’ll ever do it! This is your time!”

They were having trouble getting Rawling settled onto his back, because Buck This was wild in the chute, and the commentators were eating it up, building up the crowd’s excitement as they explained it was always a show when Buck This Storme bucked.

The cheering of the crowd was deafening, and for a few seconds, she looked around to take stock of the moment.

She saw some of the T-shirts she’d sold in the crowd.

Someone was holding a Buck This Storme banner, and she didn’t know why, but chills rose on her skin, and tears of pride filled her eyes.

“Come on, Buck,” she said under her breath. “Come on, you can do this.”

On his back, the rider nodded to the gatemen, and they pulled the rope attached to the chute.

There was no hesitation tonight. Buck This Storme exploded from that chute, bucking to the left.

Raven had explained the judges looked for bucking, kicks, spins, intensity, and level of difficulty when they scored a bull, and what Buck This was doing with his body was something she’d never seen before.

He switched directions three times, his back legs flying so high into the air, kicking at the top.

He twisted his body into every jump, and the arena dirt exploded under his hooves every time he landed.

Dust flew off his hide every time he landed.

She was counting in her head. Four seconds. Five.

Buck This landed and switched directions suddenly, slinging the rider off into the arena dirt.

He went after him immediately, and a bullfighter ran across his line of sight, touching him between the horns as he drew his attention from the downed rider.

Another bullfighter was dragging the rider toward the fence, and another had rolled an empty barrel toward Buck this, who charged it.

He slammed his head into it and the barrel went flying.

The crowd was eating it up, but Torrey couldn’t even breathe right now. He’d done it. He’d done it.

“It’s good,” Annabelle said, her eyes up on the big TV that hung above the stands.

“Come on,” Raven murmured, holding Torrey’s hand so tightly, her eyes trained on where the score would be posted.

Whoever beat the eight second mark—rider or bull shifter—was scored up there.

The crowd was getting quieter as two flankmen ushered Buck This to an open gate near the chutes.

Buck This turned suddenly and headed straight for their box, his wild eyes on Torrey.

“It’s good, it’s good, it’s good!” she called nonsensically, holding her hand out to try and deter him from jumping the fence. “I’ll come back there. Change back there and I’ll meet you!”

He skidded to a stop and ducked this way and that at the edge of the fence before the flankmen rode their horses toward him and herded him back toward the gate.

One of them had to throw a rope around his neck and rode his horse right through the gate, dragging Buck This Storme as best as he could.

Buck This Storme disappeared through it, bucking like he had a rider again.

The audience went insane, and she looked up to find his score had been posted. 94.

“What does that mean?” she asked breathlessly.

Beside her, Raven was cheering and let off a shrill whistle.

“Ninety-four of a hundred points. It’s a three-day event so the bull shifter with the score closest to three hundred at the end of tomorrow wins it all.

He got sixty-four with that penalty last night, so his combined score is 158.

He’s still in it!” Raven crowed. “We just need some riders to hang on for eight seconds on some of the top bulls and there’s a chance. ”

“A small chance. Almost microscopic,” Annabelle pointed out. “But it’s a chance!”

“I have to go find him,” Torrey told them breathlessly.

“You go, we’ll stay here and watch his competition,” Raven told her.

“Okay, bye.” She moved to sprint out of the box, but then turned around and grabbed Raven’s hands, squeezing them tightly. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know. Explaining everything and involving me. And for pulling me out of that chute when I thought I would die.”

She laughed and nodded once. “Anytime. This is the most excitement we’ve had in years.”

“Yeah,” Annabelle said, patting her on the shoulder. “Quickdraw has been wanting to sponsor bull shifters for a while. He just wanted to start on the right one.” She grinned. “He’s happy with what just happened. I could see him grinning from here.”

And Torrey realized that while she’d been watching Buck This Storme, Annabelle must’ve been watching Quickdraw behind the chutes. It didn’t matter that there was chaos and excitement in the arena. Annabelle had been paying attention to the smile on her mate’s face.

And that was what had been missing from her and Caleb. They’d never formed that bond. They’d never been destined to. But as Torrey walked down the stairs and nodded to Gary Wade, she realized something.

If it had been Buck behind the chutes watching a bull shifter he was sponsoring, Torrey would’ve been reveling in his smile too.

Earlier today, that revelation would’ve terrified her, but now? After Buck had opened up to her, touched her body, and followed her into that chute so trustingly?

Now the thought of caring deeply about him, and his success, and his story didn’t steal her breath away.

It felt exciting instead.