Ride Me Cowboy by Alycia Taylor Read Free Book Online Page A

with
them. He announced the first rider. He was a guy named “Tuck” Gardner. The
announcer said he’d been riding bulls for thirteen years and was ranked number
two on the circuit. He’d pulled a bull named Travis. I laughed at that. Travis? Really? I didn’t know any of Travis’s stats, but I
already preferred “Buttercup” just because she had a cooler name that didn’t
sound like she should be a jock instead of a bull. I thought about her being a
bull and realized that “she’s” probably a “he,” too…maybe it wasn’t such a cool
name. I mean, doesn’t “Buttercup” sound just a little bit feminine for a tough
guy bull?
    The next bull was Mr. Doubtfire. I scoffed at the
name at first until I saw him dance in the ring. He threw his rider off in
under three seconds. The guys next to me said his average was four or less.
Like Stacks, he’d never been ridden. After he threw the rider off, he strutted
around, stopping occasionally at the fence to make eye contact with someone in
the stands. I started to understand what Mark meant about their eyes. You could
see in his that he wanted to convey what a stud he thought he was. It was as if
he was saying, “Ride me if you can.”
    After seeing Mr. Doubtfire, I developed my own
respect for them, and I started rooting for the bulls almost as much as I did
for the cowboys. I actually think I rooted for them more, until Mark’s name was
announced overhead. He hadn’t drawn Stacks. I wondered if he was happy about
that or disappointed. He was on a bull named “Destructor.” I wondered if he was
as ominous as his name. I didn’t have to wonder long after the chute was pulled
open and the bull and his gorgeous rider emerged.
    Destructor was a cream-colored bull with giant horns
that came out bucking all four legs off the ground at once and he did a spin
with his almost two-thousand pounds of bulk that most ballerinas would be
jealous of. As impressive as he was, I couldn’t help but find the cowboy
sitting on top of him even more impressive. He was wearing a vest now that
matched his chaps. I guessed it was the kind of vest that bull riders wear to
protect their internal organs, but on him it just looked hot. He had on one
black leather glove that he held onto the rope wrapped around the bull’s chest
with and as Destructor twisted and spun around, Mark’s body seemed to move
fluidly right along with him. It was like watching a beautifully choreographed
dance, and I was mesmerized. If a bomb had gone off in the stands during those
eight seconds, I don’t think I would have even noticed. When the buzzer rang, I
was on my feet with most of the rest of the attendees. Mom was right next to me.
Mark slid off the bull and picked up his hat that had flown off when he came
out. Destructor seemed angry and went after him. Mark had to jump up on the
fence to avoid the bull and then the rodeo clowns chased him around until they
got him back out of the ring and into his pen. Mark raised his hat once more
before he left the ring, and I could see that sexy confidence on his face and
in his posture. I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off of him and was kind of
relieved when he finally left the ring. I knew I was a little bit more excited
than I should be. My face was flushed and my heart was racing. I was truly
happy for Mark, which I guess is strange since I barely knew him. I looked over
at Mom, she still looked excited, too. Maybe it was an
adrenaline surge thing. Then I glanced at Rob who was still sitting stone faced
in his spot. I wondered what his excuse was for not seeming to be excited at
all.

 
    CHAPTER
NINE
    MARK
    There is absolutely nothing like staying on the back
of a good bull for that full eight seconds. I jumped off of Destructor with the
help of the rodeo clowns and picked up my hat and then threw it up in the air.
The adrenaline rush was incredible and I was even happier for it when I saw
that Destructor thought we had unfinished business. I ran and