Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
It isn't true. I feel like I’m going to puke. Like I want to run out of the arena and out of the fairgrounds and forget about the perfect night I had with my hunky rodeo cowboys. Because as invested as I am, I know this can’t go anywhere. My home is Blue River, and I’m not cut out for the riskiness of it all.
The gate swings open.
Black Thunder explodes out of the chute.
My heart jumps into my throat.
Tripp's free hand flies up, his body snapping with the bull's first violent twist. Black Thunder bucks hard, launching his hindquarters into the air before dropping and twisting again. Tripp stays centered.
“Come on, Tripp!” I shout, leaping to my feet before I know what I’m doing.
The crowd is roaring now. I barely hear anything except the pounding of my own heart and Levi yelling beside me.
One second.
Two.
Black Thunder spins left, then suddenly reverses direction. Tripp's legs clamp down, his shoulders moving with the bull instead of against him.
Three.
Four.
The bull bucks so hard that Tripp nearly gets thrown over his shoulder. Somehow, he recovers. He straightens, his free hand still high in the air.
Five.
I realize I'm holding my breath.
Six.
For one perfect second, relief rushes through me.
Then Black Thunder bucks again.
Tripp's grip breaks.
He flies sideways, hitting the dirt with a sickening thud before rolling once. The crowd's roar changes instantly, excitement collapsing into a collective gasp.
“Oh my God.” Bile rises in my throat. Beside me, Levi has gone stock-still.
Tripp doesn't get up.
The bullfighters rush into the arena, distracting Black Thunder and driving him away. I can't take my eyes off Tripp. He's lying on his side, one arm pulled tight against his body.
Levi catches my wrist.
“Marci.”
“I know.” My voice comes out barely louder than a whisper.
The medics run in. One kneels beside Tripp while another checks his head and neck. Tripp tries to shift, but the medic immediately stops him.
“Don't move,” I hear someone say.
My chest feels tight.
“He made it six seconds,” Levi says quietly.
I nod, staring at Tripp. “And then he got hurt.”
Levi's hand is still around my wrist. When I look down, his fingers loosen, but he doesn't pull away completely.
“We'll wait,” he says.
I glance at him.
There's something in his expression that makes me realize he isn't only worried about Tripp. He's worried about me too.
I swallow and turn back toward the arena.
The medics carefully roll Tripp onto the stretcher. He looks impossibly small against the wide expanse of dirt, so different from the powerful cowboy I’d seen just minutes ago.
The cheering has stopped now. The stands are as silent as I’ve ever heard them. There’s not even a whisper of chatter. The whole place is holding its breath.
All I can hear is the distant buzz of the arena lights and Levi's steady breathing beside me.
This is my worst nightmare. Even though it kills me, I let go of his hand.
Chapter Eleven
Levi
“Go,” Marci whispers, dropping my hand. Her voice is thick with pain, and her face is impossibly white. I know I need to go, to rush to Tripp’s side, to ride in the ambulance with him, and to be at his side in the hospital.
But I know even before I ask that Marci’s not going to come with me. I stare at her for a moment, paralyzed at the thought of losing her, of losing them both.
But I’ve known her for a day, and Tripp for what feels like my whole life. He needs me. There’s no real choice to make.
So I smile weakly, give one last kiss on her soft cheek, and race down the stands, reaching the ambulance just as they are loading him in. “Wait!” I cry. “That’s my… he’s my partner.”
Normally, I’d use the word partner and hope they took it in a rodeo sense, rather than a significant other sense. Both things are true, and most small towns weren’t very open-minded. But as the paramedics stare at me, I remember where I am. This is Blue River. As I had put it yesterday, a town full of gay men, or bi men, more accurately. A town centered on unorthodox relationships.
I clear my throat and start again. “He’s my rodeo partner,” I explain. “And my life partner.”
The paramedic, a lanky man with dark curly hair that’s on the longish side, smiled. “Well, why didn’t you say so? Hurry and hop up in here. They’re expecting us at the hospital.”
I nod, tears pricking the corners of my eyes, and hop into the back of the truck, taking a seat on the bench that ran along the side wall, across from Tripp. There’s an oxygen mask covering his face, and his eyes are dark with pain. I’ve never seen him look so small.
“What’s… What…” I falter. I’m not sure what to ask, and I don’t want to voice the terrible thoughts running through my head. I squeeze my eyes shut and swallow hard.