“Actually,” I said. “My brother is the reason I’m saving for a new house. And he won’t. I’m not even going to ask. We’re no longer on speaking terms.”
Waylynn held my hat out to me and I slipped it back on my head, then went back to trying to corral the horse.
“Swear to God, I’ll find you something. Anything. And I’ll pay you double,” Paul pleaded.
The kid spooked the horse, and unfortunately for the horse, she had nowhere to go but in the trailer.
Which she did moments later.
“Yes!” I cried.
“Excellent,” Paul said. “I’ll see you when you get here.”
Then he was gone, and I was left staring at the closed horse trailer with annoyance.
“So… we’re going to Houston?” she asked.
“We’re?” I prodded.
She nodded once. “We’re.”
***
Waylynn
It was a half hour later when I walked into the classroom with my hot, sweaty cowboy companion by my side.
He broke off and hauled ass down the steps toward the front of the room, leaving me to take a back seat to watch the festivities.
“Sorry I’m late,” he apologized to the thirty people filling the room. “I had to rescue a stubborn horse.”
There were murmurs of ‘it’s okay’ and ‘aw that sucks’ all the way around the room.
Darby didn’t waste time getting into the meat of the class, starting off with explaining what they would all be doing this semester. Explaining the syllabus. And also informing them what they’d need for class.
All the while he spoke, I admired him.
As well as about ten other ladies that I could see openly ogling him.
The bitches.
They weren’t shy about it, either. They watched him with open lust and curiosity, not bothering to hide their feelings whatsoever.
I quickly forgot about the women when Darby started to climb the stairs between the desks, handing out his course map as well as a supply list.
I watched his muscular forearms as he handed out one sheet from each stack to each row, and then his thighs that were encased in jeans so tight that they should be illegal.
I couldn’t wait to see him this weekend in his chaps.
He wore them every time he fought the bulls in the rodeos. I wasn’t sure why, because most bullfighters just wore sturdy pants and shirts, but Darby never missed a chance to wear the chaps.
And all of the ladies loved it when he did.
“Okay, are there any questions?” Darby asked, sounding tired.
One brave woman in the front of the class raised her hand.
Giggling, she asked, “Is it against school policy for you to date students?”
I snorted, causing Darby’s eyes to catch mine.
“Sorry, class,” he drawled. “I’m already taken.”
He jerked his chin in my direction, causing everyone to move their eyes toward me.
All of the girls in the class groaned.
Only after everyone was gone, and I received several glares from the ladies, did I turn to Darby.
“What the hell was that?” I asked curiously. “You just totally used me.”
Darby shrugged. “I can’t deal with them doing that all semester. I’m gonna have to go buy one of those fake silicone rings or something. Jesus Christ.”
I snorted and gestured to the cowboy hat.
“Maybe if you didn’t dress like someone out of their erotic romance novels, they wouldn’t act like that,” I told him.
He frowned.
“What?”
I pointed at his pants and his hat. His boots then his dirty, sweaty, stained t-shirt.
“You dress like a hot cowboy, you get treated like a hot cowboy,” I pointed out.
He scoffed. “Waylynn, you’re fucking nuts. Let’s go.”
We did, and I followed him out.
“Look at all these women staring at you,” I observed. “It’s the cowboy look, you know.”
He glared down at me, his cowboy hat shading most of his eyes from my view.
“You’re fucking nuts,” he said.
“You already said that,” I told him. “Give me your hat.”
He rolled his eyes but did as I said, handing over the hat.
I put both of my arms behind my back and held onto his hat as not to draw attention to it.
And the number of women looking his way drastically changed.
Sure, he still got looks, but the hat was distinctive, drawing the eye.
Not many men wore cowboy hats around anymore, so when one did, it caused people to look.
“See?” I said, handing him the hat.
He took it and resettled it back on his head.
“I never…” He shook his head. “I’m going to have to forego wearing a hat when I come here. Jesus Christ, I feel naked when I don’t wear a hat.”
I snorted. “You’re funny.”
He looked down at me. “Why?”
“You went half of the morning without your shirt on. First when you were mucking out stalls, then when you were trying to catch that horse. Yet, when you have to take your hat off, you feel naked?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Yeah.”
The storm that’d been brewing all morning started to fall out of the sky, and I gasped as cold rain started to pound onto me.
People all over the campus scattered like bugs, going this way and that.
Yet Darby and I continued to walk at a sedate pace, getting thoroughly drenched as we moved.
“I don’t see the point in hurrying,” I said. “This way I get wet, or more wet, who really knows? But I also don’t fall down on my ass like that girl just did.”
I pointed to a girl that’d been running through the grass. She’d hit a slick spot and had gone face first into the fluffy, green grass.
Darby snorted as he pulled a set of keys from his pocket.
“Gibson call you to ask you to meet him anywhere?” Darby asked.
I shook my head. “I left my phone in the truck—thank God—but he’d texted me when we’d pulled in saying he wouldn’t need me today. Something about getting the place bombed for termites or something.”
“He should just start all the way over,” he mentioned. “I told him that in the beginning, but he swears that the place will bring back old memories. That he needs to just re-do it. And I guess I can see where he’s coming from. All the old-timers will like that it’s not changed. But I don’t think that the old-timers will really even be able to utilize the place like they used to.”
I burst out laughing at that, thinking about all the old people coming out that used to hang out at it in the beginning.
“How does that work?” I asked him then. “Isn’t showing a porn movie going to be one of those things that will lead to sex in their cars?”
Darby shrugged.
“I honestly don’t know,” he said. “I realize that it’s gonna happen. And so does GQ. And from what I can tell, as long as they keep it in the car, it’s private. The Apache is also on private land. But there’s also beer served here, so there will be a twenty-one-year and older thing at the gate. Meaning that anybody underage won’t be getting in. I don’t know the legalities of it or anything,” he said as we finally made it to the truck. “But I imagine there’s more to it. I just didn’t think to ask Gibson yet. But I’m sure he’d be willing to share his knowledge. He owns a strip club. I’m sure that the two properties are very similar in what is and isn’t allowed.”
I got into the truck as he held the door open for me and tried not to look at the way the white shirt clung to Darby’s neck and shoulders.
And oh, God. His chest.
It was nice and defined, and I could see his tan nipples through the nearly translucent fabric.
He got in then, slamming the door closed hard behind him, then looked at me.
; “Want to go to your place, change, and then go to the grocery store?” he asked.
I was already nodding enthusiastically.
The idea of getting to go to the grocery store was exciting.
So fucking exciting.
“Yes!” I clapped. “Yes, I do!”
So that was exactly what we did.
Gathering enough essentials to get us through tonight, with a promise to go back once we got back home from Houston, we went grocery shopping.
Then, we went and checked on the horse that Darby had sequestered at Gibson’s place.
Followed shortly by us going home, and once again sleeping in the same bed.
It was only a little bit better than last night, and I say that loosely, seeing as I was so exhausted that I fell asleep right away.
It didn’t matter, though.
When I woke up that morning, I was so hot and bothered that it took everything I had to not wake Darby up as I pulled myself away from him.
The only thing that saved me was the screeching of the water heater as it turned on and scared the absolute crap out of both of us.
I didn’t miss the way he looked at me, though.
Nor the way he turned so abruptly away the moment he realized we weren’t going to die from a water heater malfunction.
Chapter 10
I paused my audiobook to text you.
-Waylynn to Darby
Waylynn
“Hey, Darby! Waylynn! What’s shakin’?”
I turned to find Paul staring at me with awe.
“You want to fight tonight?” he asked hopefully.
I was already opening my mouth to deny that when Darby answered for me.
“Not only no, but fuck no,” he snapped. “Where’s this trailer?”
Paul chuckled. “Just as well,” he said, gesturing for us to follow him. “If she’d said yes, I’d have then had to deal with her dad.”
“He’s weakened right now thanks to the flu,” I said. “You could’ve taken him.”
Paul snorted and led us through the throng of trailers, stopping at one of the nicest ones there.
“Here it is,” he said.
Darby and I came to a sudden standstill.
“What?” I asked. “Whose is this?”
“It’s the one we’re giving away today,” he said. “We’re selling raffle tickets.”
My brows rose.
“You’ll have to be out of it by Sunday afternoon when the winners pick it up. But for now, it’s all yours. Everything is hooked up and ready to go. We got the dealership to make sure it was all working and stuff so we didn’t have to do that ourselves.”
Darby looked at me and grinned.
“Sweet,” I said, winking at Darby. “Vacation for me, work for you.”
“Actually.” Paul held up his finger. “Not if you don’t want to. I could use you if you’re willing.”
“Sure, anything. Put me to work.”
Anything to get away from the sexual tension that was building and building between me and Darby.
“As long as she’s not the one dealing with the bulls, I’m happy,” Darby interjected.
I rolled my eyes, but the thought of him worried for my safety had me feeling things I probably shouldn’t be feeling. At least when it came to Darby Valentine.
Especially when a group of girls walked past and said, “Hey, Darby!”
Darby didn’t bother to look their way.
That was what was wrong with Darby, though.
He was a one and done man.
I’d also heard he was a one and done and mean man.
Meaning when he was done using the women, and he wanted them gone fast, he’d go for the gut and hit them where it hurt.
I’d heard it from multiple people that he could be rough when it came to getting rid of the girls.
Not physically or anything, but when they didn’t leave as fast as he wanted them to, he’d become nasty and say things that he never would’ve said had they only obeyed the first time.
“My announcer has the flu, too,” Paul continued. “So you’d be up in the box the whole time with Jim.”
Darby cursed. “You can’t put her with Jim.”
“I’m not going with Jim,” I shook my head. “Not happening. No way. Nuh-uh. Nope.”
Paul looked ravaged. “I’ll pay you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t care what you offer me. It could be seven hundred bucks and I wouldn’t.”
“What about a thousand?” he goaded.
I was already shaking my head. “No.”
Though the thought was a good one. I could do a lot of stuff with a thousand dollars. Like put a down payment on a car.
“How about two?” Paul offered, dangling the shiny carrot right in front of my face.
I opened my mouth to say no for a second time, even though it was hurting my heart, when Paul sweetened the deal.
“I’ll even offer you ten free tickets to enter to win the trailer you’ll be staying in,” he offered.
“You pay her two thousand dollars, pitch in the raffle tickets, and buy us dinner tonight as well as keeping Jim as far away from her as you can, and she’ll take it,” Darby paused, eyes on me. “But she gets to do her announcing from where she wants. The mic travels. And Jim is disgusting.”
Darby was right. Jim was disgusting.
I really didn’t know why the hell he was still working for this rodeo.
Well, that was a lie. I did. Jim was actually Mayor Jim Falconi of Houston, Texas. He was a touchy-feely weirdo that didn’t know boundaries when it came to touching women.
He, more than once, had let his hand slip down a little far on my ass. And had ‘accidentally’ grabbed my boob more than once.
“Deal,” Paul said, pulling out some tickets from his pockets. “Fill these out and go put them in the tub at the front of the stadium. We’re drawing for the winner tomorrow night.”
Darby rolled his eyes and took the tickets.
Once Paul had left, we looked up at the trailer that we’d be staying in.
Then we both bolted inside at the same time.
“Holy shit,” Darby said, eyes wide as he took everything in. “This is even nicer than Banks’ trailer.”
I felt my mouth fall open in surprise.
“This thing has marble floors.” I kicked the floor with my sneakered foot. “And accent lighting. I can get up to pee and walk out here without stubbing my toe.”
Darby snorted and walked farther into the kitchen.
“There’s a full-sized fridge in here with a television in it bigger than the one in my bedroom at home,” he said.
“This isn’t an RV. This is the grandma of travel trailers. The one all the old people that are rich want when they go to Florida for the weekend,” I muttered, eyes taking in everything.
There were two full-size couches. A mini bar. A fire place.
“What do you think the bedroom looks like?” he asked.
We both moved as one, eyes taking in the full-sized bathroom.
“No tiny little mini-shower here,” I murmured. “And the toilet actually flushes like a normal toilet.”
Darby hummed as he continued to move, stopping short when he got to the entrance of the bedroom.
“Wow,” he said. “Is that a full-size washer and dryer?”
“It sure looks like it.” I blinked rapidly. “And a king-sized bed with actual room to walk around? This isn’t like any trailer that I’ve ever been in before.”
Darby took a running jump toward the bed and bounced twice before settling in deep.
I was much more circumspect as I climbed into the bed beside him, lying down and curling into myself so I didn’t touch him anywhere.
He moved over a tad, and I stretched out my legs, inadvertently touching his calf with my foot.
I almost wished that I had my shoes off so I could feel the heat of his skin.
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“Wow,” he said. “I don’t know who the hell donated this bitch, but winning it would be the bomb.”
“It would,” I murmured. “I wouldn’t even bother fixing up the house if I got this.”
“Me neither,” he agreed. “This thing is big enough to fit a family of eight in it comfortably.”
“Did you see the mini pigs for sale on the way over here?” I asked, my face smooshed into the pillow.
“Yeah,” he said. “They were cute. Would make great tasting bac—”
I slapped him upside the head with a pillow, causing him to laugh.
“That was not funny, jerk,” I told him, a laugh tinging my voice. “Oh my God. I cannot believe you just said that.”
He didn’t move the pillow off of his head, causing me to feel sorry for slapping him with it. So, I removed it for him, checking out his face while I did it.
His eye crept open and he stared at me.
“Your fangirls know you’re here,” I told him. “And your brother’s here. I heard that at the concession stand as we walked past. Are you going to be okay with him?”
Darby shrugged. “I’m fine.”
He closed down, and I didn’t like it.
“Who’s going to shovel out the stalls for you this weekend?” I asked curiously.
He shook his head. “The hands do it on the weekend. I do it during the week. They won’t notice. They probably think that it’s the hands doing it right now anyway.”
“I doubt that,” I admitted. “I saw the blinds flicker today as we were doing it. Someone knows that you’re there.”
“Probably Desi,” he muttered, closing his eye once again. “She’s the one who gets up early to cook breakfast.”
I wouldn’t think that Desi would keep something like Darby coming to still do his duties secret from her husband.
But I knew when a subject was off-limits, and this one definitely was.
***
The first night at the rodeo has this air about it.
There’s excitement and laughing, and everyone is feeling the adrenaline pour through them.
“Our first rider of the night is Talon Daniels and he’ll be riding Little Red Riding Hood,” I called into the microphone.
“You could try to sound a little more enthusiastic,” Darby whispered into my ear.
Get Bucked Page 9