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

His muscles looked really good in the T-shirt.

He had a bicep vein, and she was totally a vein-girl.

He wore a buckle on his belt and scuffed cowboy boots.

His chest and shoulders were broad, but his waist was tapered, and from what she’d seen in the dim lighting, he was rocking a perfect eight pack.

This was hands-down the finest man she had ever walked beside.

“Hey, remember when you grabbed me by the back of the neck earlier?” she asked.

“Oh, sorry about that. I don’t know how to touch humans. You seemed so stupid and fragile.”

She looked up at him to be offended, but he was grinning.

“Jerk.”

“Oh, I’m way worse than a jerk. Ask anyone here. You shouldn’t even be hanging out with me. You’ll figure it out though, City Slicker.”

“I won’t figure out shit,” she said. “I’m dense, ignore all red flags, and I’ll never see you again after tonight.”

“You’re done with the competition?”

“I mean, if there was a guarantee that Cobalt Blue would draw you every time and I could watch him go airborne, maybe.”

He laughed a deep, booming sound. “You do realize I nearly jumped the fence right near you, don’t you?”

“Oh yeah, I saw you do that. Some famous guy named Quickdraw Slow Burn saved my life. No one at work is going to believe any of my stories on Monday.”

“At the bank?”

“Don’t judge me. I have a 401K and health insurance. Do you?”

“Well…no.”

“Hmm.” She took another drink of beer. “Five sips.”

“You’re a menace.”

“You mispronounced delight.”

“Hey, nice buck tonight, dumbass,” some guy said from the rail, and a couple of his friends snickered.

The change in Buck This’s demeanor was instant. He went from smiling to releasing his rope and dropping his duffle bag in the dirt. He rounded on the guys, and the one who had spoken stepped forward.

“Predictable. Gonna get kicked out of the circuit again. Better than having to actually perform though, right? If you get kicked out for fighting, you can blame it on that. Not on being a shitty bucker.”

“Hey!” Torrey yelled, putting herself between them as Buck This charged at him. Her back to the guy, she pushed Buck This in the chest. “Stop! Stop, stop, stop!”

He was yelling at the guy over her head, and his body jerked as he lashed out, and she didn’t know what to do, so she yelled something that made no sense at all. “Quickdraw!” She screamed it, and something about the word drew both of the guys up short.

“What the fuck is going on here?” came a roar that curdled Torrey’s stomach.

Around the railing barreled the giant himself, and Quickdraw looked different from earlier. He looked bigger, and furious, and his face looked sharper.

He grabbed the guy who was popping off by the collar and shoved him backward into the fence and then pointed his finger at the autograph area and gave Buck This the meanest glare she had ever seen. “You buck tomorrow,” he gritted out. “Get inside and act like it.”

She’d never seen a more shocked look on anyone’s face as she witnessed on Buck This’s right now.

“Why did you summon me?” Quickdraw barked at Torrey.

“Because he’s your guy?” she guessed. She didn’t know. His name had just slipped out while she was panicking and knew she couldn’t stop two huge bull shifters from fighting.

“Because he’s my guy,” he repeated. Whoa he sounded really mad. Quickdraw let off a long breath and dragged his focus to the three guys on the rail. “Tell your little friends…spread the word…don’t mess with him.”

“Yeah, because he’s his guy,” Torrey told them.

“Stop. Talking,” Quickdraw gritted out, and then sauntered away. “Everyone stop talking!” His voice echoed through the clearing.

“What the hell just happened?” Buck whispered.

“Your face looks funny right now,” Torrey whispered back.

“Please stop.”

“ You stop. That was all your fault. You’re the one fighting. Peace and love. Work on your impulse control.”

He closed his eyes and pursed his lips and seemed to hold his breath for a full ten seconds before he picked up his duffle bag and flank strap again and made his way inside.

She had to jog to keep up, and her beer sloshed a little. She really should’ve worn a bra tonight.

She lost sight of him as he made his way inside, and by the time she got to the entryway, Buck This had disappeared completely, as if he’d never existed at all. She looked around everywhere for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

What the heck?

She made her way to the autograph tables, but security stood in front of her and told her she would have to wait in line. Quickdraw Slow Burn’ s table was empty, but other than that, everyone was back in place, and everything seemed normal.

He’d run from her.

A hollowness washed through her at the realization.

He’d wanted to get away from her and he had.

Invisible Torrey struck again.

She had good intentions, truly she had. She’d wanted to check if he was okay, and she’d done that. It had to be enough.

She wasn’t the cool girl, and especially not here where there was a culture she didn’t understand or belong to.

Someone was waving to her, and she saw Reece standing in the hallway with her new friends.

Forcing a smile, Torrey made her way toward them. At least someone saw her. She could try to get to know Reece’s new friends and have fun the rest of the night.

She looked behind her one last time, but Buck This really wasn’t there.

Torrey felt so lame. It was as if she’d been rejected, but that wasn’t fair.

They were strangers.

No more, no less.