Contributors: Jodi Payne, BA TortugaSeries: On the Ranch Series #2
Genre: Co-Authored, Contemporary, Gay, MM, Novel, Sweet with Heat, Western
Release Date: May 10, 2022
Buy the Book: Amazon~~Barnes & Noble~~iBooks~~Publisher~~Kobo~~Smashwords~~Universal eBook LinksThey say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but sometimes distance makes people drift apart.
Rope Canutt has announced his retirement from bull riding and is making the most of his final year on the circuit, riding the big shows and resting in between so he can finish the season on a high note. He isn’t sure what’s next for him. He has no plan yet and nowhere to go, especially since his family sold their ranch a few years back.
Jude Sharpe remembers Rope fondly from their younger days in Austin. Mostly he remembers how hot the rodeo cowboy was and how much fun they had hooking up every time their paths crossed. That was a long time ago, and Jude’s been married and lost his husband to cancer in the years since they’ve seen each other. Now he’s raising a son alone.
When bull riding comes to New York City, Jude’s consulting firm uses their private box to entertain clients from Houston, and Jude brings his son Silas along to see the show. Rope is riding and Jude hopes to introduce Silas to a real bull rider. They’ve each lived a whole lifetime apart, and Jude and Rope aren’t sure how much they have in common anymore. So will they be drawn to each other when their paths cross again?
The books in this series are standalones and can be read in any order.
Also in this series:
Chapter One
“Can I get a hat?”
“No, you don’t need a hat, buddy.”
“Daddy! Everyone here has a cowboy hat on.”
Ah, the familiar refrain of how life wasn’t fair. Jude shrugged. “I don’t.”
Silas rolled his eyes. “Please?”
“Not tonight, bud.”
Jude could understand why Silas wanted a hat; what kid didn’t want to be a cowboy? At seven, Silas was right at that age where he was impressed with every kind of uniform. But growing up in New York, Silas had seen lots of cops and firefighters and construction workers. He hadn’t ever seen cowboys that weren’t on TV.
It had been a long time since Jude had seen one too. In fact, he wasn’t all that comfortable being here tonight. But he and several colleagues were entertaining clients and their families to celebrate the closing of their latest deal and skipping out wasn’t an option.
Usually the firm went for hockey or basketball games, but this client was a big investment firm based outside Houston, so the marketing team had given them the hospitality suite for night one of the annual bull riding event at Madison Square Garden.
Bull riders. Yeah. That had been a lifetime ago.
“See? They have hats too!” As they approached the suite, Silas pointed to a handful of kids with little plastic cowboy hats on.
Now, that was a possibility. “You want one of those?”
“Please, Daddy?”
“Hey, Jude! We’re right in here.”
The Beatles song played in his mind. Yes, even at thirty-four years old, he did it too.
“Hey, David. Whoa, Silas! Look at all of this.” He led Silas inside and showed him the buffet, which was set up in front of a backdrop of a big red barn. At the end of the buffet was a stack of swag, including the plastic cowboy hats, pins, and T-shirts.
“Hats!” Silas looked at him for permission, and he nodded. Free swag for the win.
“Lord have mercy, this is a good spread.” One of the wives with cotton candy hair and smoky eyes smiled at him. “Seriously. This is wild—I came all the way from Texas to New York to see a bull riding.”
Her husband had brought her here so he could sign what was probably the most lucrative deal of his career, but he wasn’t going to say that. Jack was a good client and a better person. “It’s a novelty here. Something we only get to see on TV. It’s popular though, they say it sells out every year. Have you been to New York before?”
“No, strangely enough. I’ve been to Boston, DC, LA, but this is my first time here. It’s so fun. I’ve had a ball exploring.” When she bounced, her earrings and boobs bounced, but her hair didn’t move.
He remembered this was work and didn’t stare, but that was fascinating. A cheer went up and he glanced toward the arena floor. Whoever that cowboy was must have made his eight. “I like that sound.”
“Daddy! Daddy, that cow’s butt is dirty!”
He glanced over in time to see a shit-covered bull backside up on the big screen. Yay.
“Yep, that’s pretty gross.” He shook his head and grinned at Jack’s wife. She had a name. He’d been introduced, but he couldn’t remember. “Kids.”
“Aren’t they amazing? I have five at home, so I totally feel you.” She winked at Silas. “At least it’s not smell-o-vision, right?”
Silas wrinkled his nose. “Ew.”
“Did you get a drink, Jude? Oh, hey, Camilla. Things are starting to heat up out there, I think Jack has a seat for you.”
Camilla. He would never have remembered that. David to the rescue.
David leaned over close. “Apparently between the sections, they’ll send cowboys up to make nice and sign things, so that will be exciting.”
“Oh yeah? A bunch of Wrangler butts. Should be a good time.” And a little too close for comfort. “Probably not the celebrity types though, right?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea. I’m just pleased that they are sending people up. It will go over well with the Texans, I think.”
“Oh. For sure. Did you see Kevin’s email? He’s already gunning for more work with them.” David handed him a beer. “Thanks.”
“I’m not sure bull riding is my thing. Most of these guys are just getting tossed.”
“Sometimes it starts slow. It gets more exciting as the night goes on.”
David raised a curious eyebrow. “I didn’t know you were a fan.”
“I have…friends that ride. Had a friend. A while ago.” And it was time to shut his mouth.
“Really? You? That’s—fascinating. Seriously. I wouldn’t have imagined.” David’s eyes went wide.
“No, most people wouldn’t. It’s like you and your pre-grad school singing career.” He winked at David and held out his beer. “Cheers.”
“Right. Cheers. That’s cool.” David rolled his eyes and looked out the window. “I’m going to go make sure everyone’s having a good time.”
“Sounds good.” That worked like a charm.
“Daddy, can we watch?” Silas had a huge hot dog in one hand and a Coke in the other.
“Yes. Let me take that Coke.” He took it, and left it on the counter, trading it for a bottle of water instead and leading the way out to the leather-covered seats. “We’re watching in style, bud. Check it out.”
“Whoa!”
He let Silas choose where to sit and settled in next to him.
“Have you ever been on a cow, Daddy? Do you think it hurts when they fall? How does the cow know what to do?” Silas was bright-eyed, watching everything from the gate pullers to the clown.
“I haven’t been on one, but I can tell you that it definitely hurts when they fall.” He had no idea how the bulls knew what to do, but they definitely knew they had a job out there.
He looked at the card that had been on his seat, which listed who was riding when, and scanned it, knowing he’d find the rider he was looking for. He didn’t know why he was so anxious about running into Rope Canutt again, because that was years ago. Another lifetime. But it had been less of a breakup and more of a fizzle, and he’d always felt badly for not ending it right.
Apparently not badly enough to quit being a coward and pick up the phone, though.
Rope was on the list, sure enough, in the fourth section of riders. Not at the end with the most famous guys, not at the beginning with the newbies, but in the middle.
That wasn’t surprising; he knew Rope was retiring at the end of this season. Jude had been checking in over the years, watching him ride, following Rope’s career. Not like a hard-core fan, but with interest. At arm’s length.
“Daddy!” A rider went down, the bullfighters doing their jobs, and Silas was out of his seat.
He didn’t know that kid from a hole in the wall, but his heart started racing, and he gripped his fingers together to keep them from shaking. He made himself look away and just breathe, pretending to study the sheet on his lap, and after a few seconds he had everything under control.
Okay.
“All good, bud?” Jude picked up his beer and took a sip.
“That was scary. Is he okay?” Silas glanced up at him, and he could see the hint of panic, just right there.
Jude took Silas’s hand and pulled him back into his seat. “He’ll be fine. These cowboys are tough. They do this all the time. Did you get to see the bullfighters running that bull off? Pretty cool, huh?” He was the king of redirecting.
“Yeah. Yeah, they’re brave, huh? Like you?”
Well, that made him feel ten feet tall. “Even braver. Like you.” He put an arm around Silas’s shoulders and squeezed. Damn. It had been long enough that he hadn’t even thought about whether this would be hard for either of them. He decided that was mostly a good thing—there was a time when he’d thought about it constantly.
Losing Nigel had been more than hard, closer to impossible, and he still wasn’t sure some days that he and Silas would be okay.
They had to be, though. Especially Silas. “I heard there might be some cowboys coming up to do autographs, bud.”
“Yeah? What will they sign?”
“Anything you want. Maybe your program?” he suggested.
“Can I get a picture too?”
“Probably. I don’t see why not.” Silas wouldn’t be the only one wanting pictures.
“That’s cool! A real cowboy, Daddy. We’re going to meet a real-life cowboy.”
Okay, that smile was worth every second of this. “Awesome, right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, awesome.” Silas grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “They’re going to go again. Are you ready?”
Maybe? “Yes. Watch the gate.” He held on just as tight as the gate flew open and the bull leapt out.
The cowboy flew off as soon as the bull cleared the gate. That was going to leave a bruise.
“Oops.” He winced.
“Ouch,” Silas said at the same time, and they looked at each other and laughed.
“If it were easy everyone would do it, right?”
“I guess so. I’d be scared, I think, to get up on one of those.”
“I would too. That is definitely not a sport for me. Are you scared to watch too? We don’t have to if it’s not fun for you. It’s okay.”
“No. I want to. I want to know how they do it.” That was his son—so interested in why and how things worked.
“Okay.” He remembered watching Rope on event weekends, signing autographs. He complained about the adults sometimes, but never the kids. Maybe he could suck up his regret if… “Well, I think someone pretty cool is coming up in a bit. He’s a former champion, and he’s really good.”
“Yeah? What’s his name? Do you know him? Is he nice?” Silas couldn’t figure out whether to look at him or the arena floor.
“His name is Rope, and he is nice.” And fun and cocky and hot as hell. “I did know him a long time ago. Long before you and Dad, and even before I got my job.” He pointed to the floor. “Behind the gate, the rider is getting his rope all ready, the one that he holds onto. And the other guys are helping him get focused for his ride.”
“So…he just holds onto the rope? He’s not tied in?”
Silas was really thinking about this. It was kind of wonderful. “It’s wrapped really tight around a glove on his hand. He has to be able to let go so he can get off the bull. They can’t tie him in, right?”
“No. No, that would be scary and dangerous, huh?” Look at those wide eyes.
“That’s right. They do everything they can to make it less dangerous. You watch his head, and when you see him nod, the gate will open fast.”
He remembered Rope, bragging in that way guys did at nineteen, telling him all about how everyone out there had a job to do. The guy pulling his rope, the guy holding his vest, the bullfighters, even the bull had a job. Eight seconds went by so fast everyone had to have their heads in the game.
He got it a little bit, really. They’d broken up because they both had to have their heads in their respective games, and they couldn’t change that.
Now that he was explaining things to Silas, he was starting to look forward to seeing Rope ride in person.
“You’re going to have to have a cowboy explain all the spurring and the balance things… I don’t know much about how that’s done. I just know that the harder the ride, the higher the points.”
“Don’t forget the bull is half the points. That’s real important.”
Jude would know that voice anywhere.
Anywhere.
Rope Canutt stood there like a bent and broken angel, an ancient scar from a roping accident splitting the man’s lower lip.
He stood and looked Rope over, finally meeting those green eyes that had fascinated him so long ago. He supposed he ought to see more age, but all he saw was the crooked smile and handsome face that he remembered.
He had no idea what to say.
And his mouth had gone dry anyway.
He patted Silas’s shoulder. “Silas, this is Mister Canutt. He’s a bull rider.”
Silas’s eyes grew wide. “For real?”
“Yes, sir. For real. Rope, pleased to meet you, Silas. Are you enjoying the event?” Rope held his hand out to Silas, the smile warm.
Jude had to smile back at the awed look on Silas’s face as his son shook hands with Rope. Silas nodded but didn’t say anything at all.
“Silas is very curious about how it all works,” he offered, trying to help things along.
“Well, you see them bulls? Stock contractors bring them up from all over the country. Buckin’ bulls are special types of livestock.” Rope kept jabbering, telling Silas how bull riding worked in that soft, lilting voice.
Silas was riveted, listening to every word like it was so important. It was the first thing Silas had shown real interest in since they’d lost Nigel.
“Can I see the bulls?”
“Oh, I don’t know, bud. Rope is working, you know.”
“Those beasts aren’t pets, but I might be able to introduce you to Harker’s horse, Jimbo, after the event.”
“Really?” Silas’s eyes lit up. “Is that okay Daddy? Please? Can I?”
He nodded. “If Rope can manage it, but you have to promise not to be upset if he can’t, okay?” Not that he really expected a seven-year-old to be able to keep a promise like that, but at least he could say he tried.
“Okay! Thank you! Oh. I have to get a program so you can sign it!” Silas climbed right over the back of his seat and disappeared into the suite.
“Harker won’t mind. He likes kids.” Rope held out his hand. “Jude.”
“Rope.” He took the offered hand and shook it, grateful they’d had Silas as an ice breaker. “Thank you for all of that. It means more than you know.”
“No problem. None at all. Good to see you, man.” He got this shit-eating grin. “You look fine.”
“I was thinking the same about you.” He felt the tips of his ears heat up and he was surprised that Rope could still make him blush. “It’s nice to see you again. I’d ask how things are going, but I know. I’ve been keeping an eye on you.”
“Fixin’ to retire. Having my final year. Good stuff.” Rope smiled down at Silas and took a Sharpie out of his pocket, signing the program. “Here you go, little man. If you come down after the event, we’ll see Jimbo.”
“Thank you!” Silas was so excited.
“We’ll be there.” He wasn’t ready for Rope to walk away yet, but he wasn’t sure why. “Good ride.”
“Every one you walk away from, yessir.” Rope shook Silas’s hand and his. “Looking forward to seeing y’all later.”
He watched Rope go, enjoying the view of Rope’s ass in his Wranglers, and wondered if Rope was hoping he was watching.
Published by: Tygerseye Publishing, LLC
ASIN: B09VD8LB9T
ISBN13: 978-1-951011-72-7
