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My sto open, and out charged, I kid you not, the biggest bull of them all He was the Zeus of the bulls, and da it

Garth’s body bounced and flailed about like a rag doll’s as Zeus kicked his back legs a few ti The bull had barely made a full revolution before Garth flew off Well, it wasabout it was violent: the way his arrabbed at the air, the way his face looked, and the way his body sla about this sport wasn’t brutal Gentle was checked at the gates

The bull stopped spinning as soon as Garth had been bucked off He stood for a , as he and Garth seemed to have some kind of stare down Just when I couldn’t decide ould be the first to charge, those crazy-ass clowns intervened and got the bull ate at the end of the arena

The crowd applauded when Garth stood, but that only seerier I’d seen plenty of shades of pissed, and Garth’s expression definitelyover to where his hat had landed, he dusted it off before settling it low onto his forehead

Without so e for him, Garth powered out of the dirt arena

I’d known zilch about bull riding coh to know his ride hadn’t made it to the buzzer I wasn’t sure if that meant he received a reduced score or no score, but either way, I kneouldn’t leave with a shiny, new belt buckle

I knehat failing was like If I was an expert at anything, it was failing I wasn’t sure if Garth wanted to see anyone right away, but it wouldn’t hurt to try I’d seen enough bull riding for one night, and I certainly didn’t want to be in that seat when Jesse came back with a flushed face and a satisfied smile No, thank you

I was out of my seat and down the stairs in a flash I didn’t know exactly where he’d be, but I headed in the direction of a bunch of cowboy hats bobbing above the gate on the opposite side of the arena I was pretty sure one of those black ones had to be his

I got a few curious looks as I wove toward the pack of cowboys with nu into an "off li

Ducking under a rope, I headed for a fa froid, but he had a beer in his hands All had to be soood-sized crowd around Garth, all about the sa the woes of bull riding, when I stopped a few feet behind him

"I don’t knoho looked more pissed off out there," I said "You or the bull"

Garth twisted around He had a serious scowl on his face That was, until he took one look at me His eyes skimmed up and down me once, then repeated When his eyes finished on mine, they were ice "This is a rodeo, sweetheart Not the circus" His voice was just as icy

I flinched At least on the inside It took everything inside ofon the outside "Excuse er-than-two-seconds Black? And thanks for re to leave et the hell out of there when a single chuckle rolled out of him

"Rowen?" he said, like he couldn’t have been anymore dumbfounded "Holy shit I knew you were troubled, I just didn’t think this troubled" He waved his hands up and down ht be able to overlook the hot mess if you’re as freaky in bed as you dress"

He wasn’t saying anything I hadn’t heard before, but he’d taken uard for those kinds of cruel words and nasty names, but I’d let that wall fall sometime recently Each of his words hit me in a sore spot Each of them would leave a permanent scar That hy I didn’t let my walls down Not even for a second because the moment I did, I was re sure those walls were back in place before I replied, I glared at him "I knew you were a poser, I just didn’t realize how much of one until I saw that sorry excuse for a ride out there" He uessed where he hid his, too Rodeo Winning Proving he wasn’t a failure Proving to hi his face, I knew I’d hit the right spot "Why don’t you get the hell out of here?" he said before pointing for the exit "You’re confusing everyone" He cupped his hand over his mouth and shouted, "No, people! It’s not Halloween! It’s just our resident freak who’s really letting that freak flag fly tonight!"

Shit That would have done soe if those trusty walls of mine weren’t back up I’d known frory souls, but I never guessed he was the cruel, downright nasty type

Dropping his hand, he took a sip of his beer That predatory look in his eyes returned "You knohen teachers told us not to be afraid to be e are, you really shouldn’t have listened"

The rest of the guys around him chuckled A few tried to hide their ahed at I hated being seen as a joke I hated feeling the way I did then I turned to rush for the exit, when a body plowed past me

"Shut the hell up, Garth" Jesse squared himself a foot in front of Garth and very intentionally looked down at hi you say?" Garth replied, his voice and expression lazy and unimpressed

Jesse’s fists clenched and unclenched "Because I know, and you know, I’d have no proble you up if you don’t want to do this the easy way"