Tanner (American Extreme Bull Riders Tour Book 1)

by Sarah Mayberry

  His expression was unreadable as he sat to pull on his boots. “Thought you didn’t like watching bull riding?”

  “I’ll probably watch most of it through my fingers, but I’d still like to see you ride. Since you’re a world champion and all.”

  “I’ll make sure there’s a ticket at the gate for you.”

  “You don’t need to do that.”

  “Friends and family are always comped. It’s one of the few perks for riders.”

  “Well, in that case, yes, please.” She pushed her tangled hair over her shoulder, then pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them.

  “So you know, I’m buying my ticket to Santa Fe today,” she said.

  He frowned, and she realized he didn’t understand she was reassuring him.

  “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I have no expectations out of any of this.” Her gesture took in the sex-tossed bed.

  He went back to gathering his things, and she wondered if she’d misspoken. Maybe people weren’t supposed to talk about those kinds of things when they were having a one-night stand. Maybe the fact that they meant nothing to each other was just a given that barely rated a mention.

  “I’ll be back later this afternoon to grab my gear. Think you’ll be around?” he asked.

  “What time?”

  “Maybe four.”

  She shrugged a shoulder as casually as she could. “I’ll probably be around,” she said.

  He did his half-smile thing again, then approached the bed. His mouth straightened into seriousness as he stared down at her, taking in her features.

  “Have a good day, Evie,” he said, then he leaned down and pressed a hard, hot kiss to her mouth.

  The look on his face and the intensity of his kiss scrambled her brain so much she forgot to respond until he’d left the room.

  “You, too,” she whispered.

  *

  Tanner couldn’t get Evie’s words out of his head as he drove to the stadium.

  I guess what I’m trying to say is that I have no expectations out of any of this.

  He knew he was supposed to be relieved she was onboard with the temporary nature of their situation. He was supposed to be pleased that there wouldn’t be tearful expectations and awkward conversations at the end of their time together.

  And yet instead he felt…offended. No, that wasn’t the right word, either. He felt…frustrated.

  Because if Evie didn’t live thousands of miles away, he was pretty sure he’d be moving heaven and earth to make sure this weekend was not the end of them.

  But she did live in Australia, so feeling pissed because she was being pragmatic about their relationship was dumb, verging on irrational. And that was before he factored his own lifestyle into the equation.

  On average, he spent nine months of the year on the road, with only the occasional two-week break to allow him to duck home and keep an eye on his ranch. As his personal history had shown, there was no room in his life for an ongoing relationship.

  There was a bitter taste in his mouth as he parked his car and headed into the stadium. In all his years of bull riding, he’d never once wished for a different career or a different life. He’d never felt torn or conflicted; bull riding had always come first.

  Saying goodbye to Evie—letting her go—would be the first time he resented the life he’d chosen for himself. Which was nuts, when he considered he’d only met her two days ago and they’d only spent a few hours in each other’s arms.

  He nodded to the security guards on his way into the stadium, then waved to a couple of the support crew. The tour’s two MCs, Clint Holmes and Jessie Keener, were talking near the stairwell, and they both waved him over when they caught sight of him.

  “Sorry, guys, I’m late for an appointment,” he said, not slowing his pace.

  It was true, but he also wasn’t in the mood for shooting the shit with the guys. What had happened with Evie this morning had left him off balance and out of sorts.

  “Hell of a ride last night, Hard Man,” Jessie called after him.

  “Thanks, boys. But don’t go jinxing me by blowing too much smoke up my skirt,” he called back.

  He turned into the doorway to the medical rooms two minutes before his appointment time.

  “Tanner. Be with you in a minute,” one of the trainers said.

  Tanner nodded, but his focus was all for Troy, who was sitting on a bench, cautiously pulling a T-shirt over his head. The other man’s torso was covered with purple and black bruises, and Tanner saw his ribs had been taped.

  “Busted a rib?” he asked.

  “Just bruising, looks like,” Troy said.

  Tanner sat beside him and pulled off his boots.

  “You heard from Evie at all?” Troy asked.

  Tanner set his boots side by side, making sure the heels were aligned before he looked up. “Why?”

  “I can’t stop thinking about her. She came all this way to see me, only to have everything blow up in her face. She’s got no one. I just need to know she’s okay.”

  “Don’t sweat it. She’s fine,” Tanner said, barely managing to disguise his irritation with the other man.

  Troy had had plenty of time to consider Evie’s feelings and do the right thing by her. Feeling bad about his shitty behavior now that he’d been rumbled was a piss-poor case of too little, too late as far as Tanner was concerned.

  “Yeah? How do you know? You seen her?” Troy asked, his gaze suddenly sharp.

  “I saw her this morning. She’s fine. Planning on heading to Santa Fe to stay with a friend until she flies home in a couple of weeks.”

  Troy swore under his breath. “So she’s trapped here, too? I’m going to call her, offer to buy her a ticket home.”

  Tanner could only imagine how that would go down.

  “You really think Evie would go for that? Without tearing you a new one, I mean?”

  Troy smirked. “Yeah, you’re probably right. She’s pretty tough, even though she looks like you could knock her over with a feather. One time, we were repairing fencing back home, and she got tangled in some barbed wire. The barb was really stuck in the back of her calf, you know? I was ready to rush her back to the homestead so we could get her to the doc, but Evie just yanked it out.” Troy mimicked the action. “There’s blood oozing out, her brother, Aaron, was practically puking, but Evie just takes out her handkerchief, puts pressure on the wound, then ties it off and goes back to work.”

  He shook his head in admiration, smiling at the memory. Then his smile faded and he shook his head again, his focus on the floor now.

  Despite firmly believing the Australian was a complete jackass for the way he’d treated Evie, Tanner felt a twinge of sympathy. Clearly, Troy cared for Evie, just not in the way she’d wanted him to. Tanner might think the other man was nuts for passing up an opportunity to be with her, but he also understood that a person couldn’t make himself feel something that simply wasn’t there.

  “Tanner, you ready to go?” one of the trainers said.

  “Sure thing.” Tanner stood, then looked down at Troy. “Take it easy, okay?”

  Troy nodded before pushing himself carefully to his feet and heading for the door. Tanner wondered if he’d been given the all clear to ride tonight. The way Troy was moving, he’d have trouble staying on a bull for more than a second.

  But Tanner also knew the Australian badly needed points in order to keep his ranking high enough to stay on the tour. If he didn’t make some qualifying rides soon, there was a chance Troy could lose his place in the top thirty-five to some bright young thing coming up from the other competitions. Going back to the grind of pay-to-play bull riding, where riders had to pay to enter competitions to have a chance at winning prize money and points, wasn’t something a rider who’d been on the AEBR tour ever wanted to happen. It was a step backward, plain and simple.

  Tanner shook off his thoughts as he joined the trainer at the table, climbing up to begin forty min
utes of torture. It might be his imagination, but his shoulder felt as strong as it had ever been, which was good news, and the bruise on his hip had started to dissipate. By the time they’d finished mobilizing his shoulder and working on his back and hips, he felt looser and more than ready for his daily swim.

  He returned to the hotel, half hoping Evie would still be in the room, even though he knew he’d be sorely tempted to swap out his laps for a different form of exercise if she was. The disappointment he felt when he found the room empty was real and a little disturbing.

  He didn’t know what it was about her that got to him so much, but it had only gotten worse since he’d slept with her. Every time he let his mind drift, it gravitated to her. The smell of her skin. The brush of her long hair across his chest. Her eager, earthy responsiveness in bed. Her laugh. The faraway look in her eyes after he’d made her come.

  Yeah, he had it bad, big time. So it was probably just as well she wasn’t there.

  He changed into his board shorts and headed down to the pool. He swam his mile, then did a few more laps to build up the endurance in his shoulder. His wet board shorts clinging to him, he went back up to the room.

  He knew Evie was back the moment he unlocked the door, her light, fresh perfume reaching out to wrap itself around him.

  “Oh, hi. I just got back,” she said, smiling as she looked up from placing a couple of shopping bags on her bed.

  “Thought you hated shopping?” he said.

  “I do, but I had a mission today.”

  She reached into the bag and pulled out a pair of deep blue and black cowboy boots. The shafts featured traditional tooling, and the soles were blue to match the uppers.

  “Can’t go home and not have something to remember this trip by. And I got something for you, too.”

  He frowned as she delved into the bag and pulled out what looked like a bumper sticker.

  “For your truck.” There was a glint in her eye as she held up the shiny white strip so he could read it.

  Bull Riders Do It In 8 Seconds.

  He cocked an eyebrow at her and she laughed, clearly delighted by his response.

  “I knew you’d love it,” she said.

  “Seems to me that sticker is actually a challenge,” he said.

  “No, it isn’t, honestly. I just saw it and thought it was funny,” Evie said, her blue eyes dancing.

  “I think it’s definitely a challenge,” he said, whipping his T-shirt over his head.

  Her mouth formed a gratifying ‘O’ as she looked at him.

  “Come on, Evie, get with the program. Don’t you know we’re on the clock?”

  He pushed his board shorts down, and her gaze dropped to his erection. She blinked slowly, then reached for the hem on her sweater. Whipping it over her head, she sent it flying before reaching for the stud on her jeans.

  “That’s my girl,” he said, stepping forward to ensure she took her panties with her when she pulled off her jeans.

  Once he had his hands on her, he couldn’t let her go, and he hoisted her into his arms as his mouth found hers. One step and he had her pinned against the wall, her legs around his hips as they kissed like wild things. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders, her chest heaving against his as things got out of control. Somehow he reached for and snagged one of the condoms left on the bed stand from this morning, and he broke their kiss long enough to tear the pack open with his teeth.

  “Let me do it,” Evie insisted, taking the condom packet from his teeth.

  He watched through hooded eyes as she smoothed the latex down over his cock, turning the exercise into an exquisite new form of torture. He ducked his head and retaliated by pulling one of her pale pink nipples into his mouth, laving it with his tongue until she moaned.

  “Fair warning, this is going to be longer than eight seconds,” he told her as he lined himself up.

  “Thank God,” she breathed as he pushed inside her. He stifled a groan at how tight and ready she was.

  She started to pant as he stroked into her, every fiber of his being focused on the place they were joined. She was so goddamn sexy with her breasts bouncing in time with each of his thrusts, her eyes glazed with need. He tightened his grip on her ass and tilted his hips, hoping to hit her sweet spot. She rewarded him with a breathy gasp, then her fingers clenched into his shoulders as her body tensed.

  “Yes, Tanner, oh God, that’s so…good.”

  Her words and the way her body tightened around his sent him over the edge, and he thrust into her one last time, going deep and staying there as his own climax ripped through him.

  They were both breathing heavily afterward, and he released her slowly, keeping one arm around her waist as her feet hit the floor. Sure enough, her legs buckled a little, and she gave a bemused laugh.

  “You stole my legs,” she said.

  “Only temporarily,” he said.

  Scooping her into his arms, he strode to the bed and sat with her in his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss beneath his ear.

  “That’s the best challenge I ever lost.”

  He laughed, couldn’t help himself, and she giggled against his shoulder. Looking down at her laughing face, something shifted in his chest, and suddenly he didn’t feel like laughing anymore.

  Was he really going to say goodbye to this woman tomorrow?

  Because the intensity of his own feelings scared him, he shifted her off his lap and onto the bed.

  “I need to get my gear together for tonight,” he told her.

  She reached for her sweater and pulled it on, but didn’t bother stepping into her panties, a fact that meant he was going to be permanently distracted while she was in the room.

  “Tonight’s our last night in Tulsa,” she said, sitting back on the bed.

  He pulled on his tracksuit pants and started collecting clothes from his case. Jeans, underwear, undershirt.

  “What time does your bus leave tomorrow?” he asked.

  “Midafternoon. When do you head back to Colorado?”

  “I was thinking of heading out early, try and miss the morning traffic,” he said. “I’ll speak to reception, make sure they’re okay with a late checkout for you, though.”

  “That would be great, thanks.” She pushed her bangs off her forehead. “Anyway, because it’s our last night in town together, and because I know your head will explode if I offer to pay for half the room, I’d really like to take you out for dinner after the show.”

  She waited for his response, head tilted to one side.

  “How about I take you out? There’s a great steak place nearby, and they don’t close the kitchen until late,” he said.

  “Too late, I asked you first,” she said.

  “You don’t need to take me out for dinner,” he said.

  “You don’t need to take me out, either. So let’s call that a draw, and move on to the fact that I really want to do something for you when you’ve done so much for me.”

  “I let you sleep in a bed that would have been empty anyway. Don’t go turning me into a saint, Evie.”

  “Please let me do something to pay my own way,” she said, and he could see she was very serious, and that it meant a lot to her to stand on her own two feet.

  “All right. You can take me out to dinner,” he said, even though it was going to kill him watching her fork out for the meal at the end of the night.

  She smiled at him. “That hardly hurt at all, did it?”

  “Don’t push your luck.”

  She peppered him with questions about the night’s event as he finished getting his gear together and had a quick shower.

  “Your ticket’s on the gate, like I said, under your name, okay?” he told her when he was ready to go back to the stadium.

  “Do you know when you’re riding yet?” she asked, pushing herself up off the bed.

  He cursed under his breath as he took in the sight of her in nothing but her sweater, the golden triangle of hair betwee
n her legs like a magnet for his gaze.

  “You trying to kill me here, Evie?” he said.

  “You can handle it, cowboy,” she said.

  He shook his head and concentrated on her question. “I’m in the first half. I’ll text you the schedule when I see the running sheet.”

  “All right. Good luck. Be safe.”

  He couldn’t help laughing at that. “Sweetheart, there’s nothing about bull riding that’s safe. I’ll see you later, okay?”

  He kissed her goodbye, needing one more taste, then forced himself to walk out the door. He stopped by reception on the way down and ensured they were okay with a late checkout for Evie the following morning, then took the elevator down to the parking garage.

  Usually he only had one thing on his mind when he was heading to an event—the bull he was riding and the eight seconds he needed to qualify. Today, his head was full of Evie and he had to make an effort to find his focus as he arrived at the stadium and headed for the change rooms.

  He’d drawn Hurricane Habit for tonight’s ride, a relatively new animal athlete. The bull was known to be unpredictable and dangerous, and Tanner needed to be on top of his game, no matter how much fun it was thinking about Evie instead.

  Giving himself a mental slap, he started on his pre-event routine and pushed Evie out of his mind.

  For now, anyway.

  Chapter Nine

  Evie decided to take the risk of wearing her cowboy boots to the stadium. The leather was stiff, and she’d been told they’d take a few wears to soften, but it felt wrong to wear anything else when she was going to watch a bunch of cowboys ride some crazy bulls.

  She walked the few blocks to the Bank of Oklahoma Center, then went to the gate Tanner had directed her to and told them who she was. A ticket was handed over and Evie made her way into the stadium and followed the overhead signs to her section. She was a little alarmed to find she was sitting right down near the rail, just a dozen feet or so from the chutes. From the one bull-riding event she’d attended in Australia, she knew most of the action tended to happen close to the chutes, since the bulls were more preoccupied with unseating their riders than running around the ring.