Colby (BBW Western Bear Shifter Romance) (Rodeo Bears Book 3) by Becca Fanning Read Free Book Online Page B

nowhere better she could hide, not unless she was willing to risk bed bugs and drunken neighbors.

    Contemplative, Brianna studied her. “That’s an awful big purse you carry around,” she said, meaning the duffle bag.

    “It’s my belongings.”

    “Your only belongings?”

    Dakota looked away, unwilling to share the details of her past. Maybe the apartment wasn’t such a good idea after all. “All that I have on me.”

    “Gotcha. I was going to show the room to a few others over the week then choose from there, but I like what I see. You have your secrets, no doubt about that, but we all have things we keep hidden. As long as you’re not planning to bring no trouble, the room is yours.”

    “No trouble,” she said, uncertain if it was a promise she could keep.

    Brianna took the envelope. “You didn’t steal this, did you?” she asked with clemency.

    “It’s my savings.” That, at least, was the truth.

    “Are you handing me all you have? Cuz I don’t want you wandering around with empty pockets.”

    “No. There’s more.”

    “Good.” Brianna tucked the envelope into the back of her jeans without counting the money inside. “Then hurry on up and change. We have a rodeo to get to, and you can’t go wearing a sweatshirt. You’ll wither away like a tulip without water.”

    “A what?” Dakota asked, taken aback.

    “A rodeo. Call it your roommate initiation. I’m a bull rider. The best in my class. I can’t live with somebody who’s never seen a bull buck. You wouldn’t understand anything I have to say.”

    Dakota glanced at her room. All she wanted to do was sleep. “I think I’ll have to pass, but thank you.”

    “You can thank me after all the fun you’ve had. You look like you’re in need of some fun, chickling. Go on now. Shower and get dressed. I’m about to change your life.”

    ***

    I came to the South because it was loud and rowdy , Dakota mused as they entered the rodeo. Careful what you wish for.

    When she thought of rodeos, beefed-up rednecks sporting cowboy hats and rugged smiles came to mind, mavericks who were rambunctious and fowl-mouthed, sons and daughters of the Wild West. She was right. In the stadium where the rodeo events took place, hundreds of country folk cheered on a rider in a pen, their shouts as deafening as a thunderstorm.

    Beside her, wearing a white hat embroidered with a green that matched her eyes, Brianna whistled. “I love it when the party comes home! That’s Owen Hutch,” she explained, pointing to the man in the pen. “He’s the best bull rider in these parts. He’s a superstar.”

    A buzzer echoed across the stadium, causing everyone to explode. Used to the drone of the bus, it took all of Dakota’s willpower not to cover her ears. In the pen, sitting on a bull, Owen shook a gloved fist in the air, playing to the crowd, not a fear on him.

    “We’re getting close!” Brianna shouted over the noise. “When they open the gates, his eight seconds will start. He has to stay on for eight seconds to receive a score. We’re just in time.”

    “Is the score based on how long you’re on the bull?” she asked.

    “Only partly. It’s how well you ride.”

    They stood near the arena, inches from the barrier that divided them from the action. Tickets didn’t seem to be a requirement, not for Brianna. Everyone they passed had greeted Brianna warmly, full of admiration. No one had stopped them, not even security. It seemed Owen Hutch wasn’t the only superstar at the rodeo. Brianna Jackson had her own fans.

    “Are you ready?” the announcer bellowed across the stadium. He was met with elaborate applause. “Keep your britches on. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”

    Another buzzer sounded, and the gates to the pen swung open. The bull rushed out, carrying Owen on its back. He sat tall and confident, moving with the bull as if he and the animal were the same. Dakota watched him carefully, his ease and his talent. And the way he