A Wild Ride

by Andrew Grey

  “Can we help?” the guard asked, taking the chair and getting it set up while Ryan reached behind his seat and pulled out the pads that would help Hy be more comfortable.

  “Thank you,” Ryan said, and then he made sure the pads were all properly set before wheeling the chair to the passenger door. He opened it and unbuckled Hy before gently lifting him into the chair. A year ago, if anyone had told him he would be able to lift Hy in and out of his chair, he’d have said they were crazy, but you do what you have to, and he’d promised Dante he’d take care of Hy when he was away.

  The past year had been the best of his life, though in some ways also the hardest. He’d moved out to the ranch a month before Dante had gone back on the road with the circuit. The time apart had been the toughest. He’d about nerved himself half to death until he’d gotten the call each night from Dante, telling him that he’d made it to wherever they were going or that he’d had a good ride. Some of the phone calls had nearly scared him out of his wits, but he did his best to keep his worry to himself. Dante had been having the season of his life. Whenever Ryan had watched him on television, he’d been able to see it. A few times he’d been able to attend an event in person, but mostly when Dante was away he looked after Hy or worked.

  The months had not been kind to Hy, but he was a tough old bird, and with treatments and medication, he’d managed to weather the past year better than most would have. “Are you ready to watch Dante?” Ryan asked, and Hy smiled the half smile he could manage. The guard closed the truck door.

  “You can park right there if you want,” the guard said, indicating a parking space. “That was supposed to be my spot, but my wife dropped me off. I’ll stay with him.”

  “Much obliged,” Ryan said, and he got the truck pulled into the spot, then walked back to where Hy and the guard waited. “Thank you,” Ryan said and slowly pushed Hy through the doors and into the arena.

  The sound of the crowd nearly blew him back outside as they yelled and cheered for whatever was happening. “What’s going on?” Ryan asked, hoping they hadn’t missed Dante’s ride. It had taken longer than he’d expected to get on the road.

  “Just the initial entertainment to warm up the crowd,” a man said, and Ryan thanked him. He pulled the tickets out of his shirt pocket and walked around to the section indicated before handing them to a man at the door. He led them down a sloped ramp and into the arena proper to a section with a seat and a place for Hy’s chair.

  “Dante took care of everything,” Ryan told Hy, getting him into position so he could see. People were running off the arena floor whooping and hollering, and the crowd answered until they disappeared. Then the din settled to the sound of a thousand individual conversations until the riding order flashed on the screens that hung above the arena floor and the deep voice of the announcer informed the crowd of the current standing and which rider would be riding which bull. All of that information was available on the screens, but the announcement was tradition, and cowboys were all about their traditions.

  “Do you want something to drink?” Ryan asked Hy, and he got the small bit of movement that indicated yes. Ryan knew what Hy wanted, but with his medication, a beer was out of the question, so he opened a small bottle of water from the cooler he’d brought along, placed a straw in it, and then held it to Hy’s mouth so he could drink.

  “It’s lovely how you take care of your grandfather,” the woman behind them said.

  Ryan turned to her and smiled. “Thank you,” Ryan said. He’d long ago stopped correcting people, and it didn’t matter anyhow. Hy was nearly as much a grandfather to him as he was to Dante. Ryan had never known either set of his actual grandparents, so Hy had simply slipped into that role for him. “Dante rides second to last,” Ryan told Hy, and he half expected him to drift to sleep for a while until it got closer to Dante’s turn.

  “Are you Rivers’s fans?” the woman asked, and Ryan turned back to her again. “We’re rooting for Maddox. He won last year and is right near the top of the standings. He and Rivers have been neck and neck all season.” She leaned closer. “You do know what they’re saying about that Rivers boy?” she said in a whisper, raising her eyebrows.

  Ryan couldn’t resist. “Yes, and you know what?” She shook her head in anticipation of a bit of juicy gossip. “It’s true.” She stiffened. “I know, because when he’s home, I’m the one he sleeps with.” Ryan heard her gasp, and she turned to her husband, who began to laugh.

  “He’s pulling yer leg, Ruth,” he said, and Ryan felt the other man smack him lightly on the shoulder. “That was a good one.” Ryan chuckled and kept to himself as the first rider was announced. Ryan watched as they got ready just off to the side of them. Ryan swore they were almost close enough to the chute that he could smell the damned bull.

  Suddenly, the gate burst open. The cowboy and bull burst into the arena, the bull jumping and twisting. Within seconds, the cowboy flew off the bull and landed in the dirt. The bull kept jumping, and Ryan cringed and looked away. When he looked back, the cowboy was hightailing it toward the fence with the damned bull right behind him. The smack of the bull running into the rail resounded across the arena and settled right into Ryan’s spine. The clowns captured the bull’s attention, leading him away while the cowboy waved to the crowd. Even though he’d been thrown, he played to the crowd and then left the arena. Ryan clapped and yelled with the rest of the crowd even as his stomach tied itself in knots.

  Rider after rider took their turn. Most stayed on; some didn’t. One got stomped and dragged until the clowns could get him away from the bull. Ryan couldn’t watch, as all he could see was Dante being carried out of the arena on the stretcher. “I’m fine,” he told himself. Dante had made it all the way through the season and he only had one more ride.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, our last riders are numbers one and two in the standings, separated by less than a point. Put your hands together for Dante Rivers!” The last part of the announcement was drowned out by the sound of the crowd as Dante climbed onto the side of the cage and waved his hat to the crowd. Tingles went up Ryan’s spine and goose bumps broke out on his skin at the thought that all this was for Dante. Many times he’d wanted to ask him to quit and come home, but he could never bring himself to do it, and now he was happy he hadn’t. Everyone deserved their moment in the sun, and this was Dante’s. Good or bad, this was Dante’s last ride.

  The crowd stilled as Dante lowered himself onto the bull. Ryan knew he was wrapping the bull rope so he could get his hand out when he needed to. Dante had told him everything he did, and Ryan watched all of it. He saw Dante’s body stiffen, and when he nodded slightly, the gate opened. From then on, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The bull jumped out of the gate and swung around, trying to get Dante off his back, but all Dante did was spur him on and swing his arm in the air. Dante’s hat went one direction and he the other as the bull lunged toward the side of the arena. Dante had told him they sometimes tried to squeeze riders into the rails, but Dante spurred the bastard again. To Ryan it looked like the eighteen-hundred-pound bull went straight up and then came straight down. Dante was having the time of his life; even Ryan could see that. Whatever happened, win or lose, Dante was giving them all a show and showing them all how it was done.

  The buzzer sounded and that fucking bull went nuts. Ryan watched as Dante held on, and then the bull bucked again. This time, Dante flew through the air, and goddamn if he didn’t land on his feet. Ryan thought for a second Dante was going to take a bow, but he raced for the rail and then watched as the rodeo clowns herded the bull away. One of the men handed him his hat. Dante waved it, and the crowd went wild.

  Ryan saw Dante looking over the crowd, and he knew the exact moment he saw them. Dante broke into a radiant smile, the same one he reserved for those special moments—the one that Ryan knew was for him alone. Then Dante brought his arm close to his body and flung his hat into the crowd. The applause had started to die down, but it swelled again, a
nd Dante basked in it. Ryan got to his feet, adding his own cries, and stomped his feet along with everyone else. Then the score flashed on the board and the entire place erupted all over again. Even the Maddox fans behind him were screaming their lungs out. Dante was in first place, but would the score hold?

  Eventually Dante climbed down from the rail, and the crowd settled down, but the air bristled with electricity. Would Maddox be able to get the score he needed? Ryan shuddered in his seat, and he could see that even Hy was excited, his hands moving erratically. Ryan contemplated getting him out of here. He was afraid he might hurt himself, but Hy had lived over eight decades already, and if he went, he’d go happy.

  The announcer introduced the last cowboy, and the hall erupted again, maybe even louder. Maddox took his place at the gate, whooping and hollering along with the crowd. Then he climbed on the bull, and Ryan had to sit on his hands to keep from chewing his nails to the nubs. He could hardly stand it until the bull and rider burst from the gate. Maddox knew he had to make good, and Ryan could see he was really trying. The eight seconds flew, and Maddox jumped off, hitting the dirt and then racing for the rail. He whooped when he reached it and waved to the crowd the way Dante had. But this time all eyes were on the scoreboard. The score flashed, and Ryan knew it would be close. Everyone held their breath, and then the scoreboard changed and the standings flashed on the screen.

  Dante seemed to appear out of nowhere next to him, and Ryan turned, momentarily stunned, and then he jumped up and into Dante’s arms.

  “Does it feel different being hugged by a champion?” Dante asked with a grin.

  “You were always a champion to me,” Ryan said, but the only person who heard was Dante, because the entire arena was coming to pieces. Dante hugged him once more and then hugged Gramps before hurrying back down onto the arena floor. He was the champion of the world, and Ryan felt every second of it right along with him.

  A hand landed on Ryan’s shoulder. “You weren’t shitting, were you?” the man behind them asked.

  “Nope. He’s all mine,” Ryan said and turned back around to watch as Dante was awarded his championship belt buckle.

  THAT evening, the three of them spent the night in a hotel, which was problematic, given Hy’s health, but driving the hours back to the ranch wasn’t an option. Ryan knew how important it had been to Hy to see Dante win, and if that meant putting off their own private celebration that night, so be it. In the morning, they got Hy up, bathed, fed, and into the truck for the ride home. Ryan and Hy followed Dante most of the way, and Ryan had never been so happy to see home in his life. He could tell Hy was pleased to be back as well, because once they transferred him to his living room chair, Hy fell right to sleep.

  “He doesn’t have long,” Dante whispered with a hitch in his voice, and Ryan nodded. “I was afraid the trip was going to be too much for him.”

  “But it made him so happy. He’s home, he’s taken care of, and he got to see you win,” Ryan said before pulling Dante into a hug. “If he goes tonight, he’ll have everything he wanted, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. He’s comfortable and content. That’s all we can ask for.” Just then Hy began snoring up a storm, and Ryan chuckled softly. “He’ll probably sleep for a while,” he said, and then he yawned.

  “Now don’t you start that,” Dante chided. “I have something for you.”

  “You do?” Ryan asked with a slight lift of his eyebrows.

  “Yeah. I need you to do whatever it is you need to and come out to the practice barn in fifteen minutes,” Dante told him with a smirk of satisfaction.

  “Okay,” Ryan said, wondering what Dante was up to.

  “And no sneaking out to peek,” Dante said, and Ryan rolled his eyes.

  “I wasn’t the one who shook every Christmas present under the tree,” Ryan teased. “Fine, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

  Dante hurried away, and Ryan went into their bedroom and began unpacking his things, checking the clock every thirty seconds. He thought he might have heard a truck door close at one point, but he wasn’t sure. Once the allotted time was almost up, Ryan put aside what he was doing. He stopped in the living room on his way out to check on Hy before continuing outside and into the practice barn.

  The door was closed, and Ryan wondered for the millionth time just what Dante was up to. He pulled open the door and took a single step inside before stopping still. Dante sat on top of the mechanical bull in his chaps, hat, a belt with his championship buckle, and not a stitch else. Ryan’s throat went bone dry instantly. “Jesus Christ!” Ryan rasped as he closed the door and stepped closer, swallowing multiple times so he could talk. “Is that my present?”

  “I know how you like me in my chaps,” Dante said, leaning forward to give Ryan a good view of his backside.

  “Do you want me to turn that on so you can go for a ride?” Ryan said, walking over to the controls but not reaching for them. He had no intention of turning on anything except his Dante, in every way he could.

  “I’d rather you gave me a ride,” Dante said, and Ryan slipped off his shoes and stepped right next to where Dante was sitting. He slowly stroked Dante’s back and then down over the curve of his butt. Ryan stepped back, and Dante slowly lifted himself off the leather-covered machine and climbed down onto the padding. Dante’s dick stuck out of the opening in his chaps, sticking straight up in front of the huge belt buckle like a flag pole.

  “Take off the belt and hat,” Ryan said, and Dante unfastened the belt, placing it inside his hat and setting both to the side. “God, you’re beautiful,” Ryan murmured as he stepped closer to Dante. Over the past few months, they’d both evened out. Ryan’s desire for control had waned somewhat, and Dante’s need for Ryan to be in control seemed to have waned as well. But Ryan felt the old need rising, and he slowly took off his shirt. “You remember the rules?”

  Dante shuddered visibly. “Yes,” he breathed.

  “Did you bring stuff?” Ryan asked, and Dante inclined his head. Ryan followed his gaze to the bottle sitting just off the padding. Ryan got it and returned. “Turn around and place your hands on the bull.” Dante complied as Ryan shucked his pants. “I’ve wanted to get you alone since your ride yesterday,” Ryan said and then stroked slowly down Dante’s warm back. “You scared the life out of me, and I’ve never been prouder of you in my life.” Ryan cupped Dante’s cheeks. He loved how the old, tan leather of the chaps framed his white skin.

  “Ryan, please,” Dante whimpered.

  “I know what you want. I want it too,” Ryan said before kissing Dante’s shoulder. “This isn’t gonna last long.” Ryan needed Dante too badly. “I need to know you’re okay.” Ryan traced the bruise on Dante’s side, knowing there were others he’d map later when they had time. Ryan slicked two fingers and pressed them into Dante’s body.

  “I know,” Dante said, and the damned scamp actually wagged his butt at him. “I need you too.”

  Ryan pulled his fingers away and slicked himself fast before pressing into Dante’s body, and damn if he didn’t slam himself backward. “You’re getting pushy, you know that?” Ryan grabbed Dante’s hips and held them still, their bodies locked together. “You didn’t obey the rules,” Ryan said even as he soaked in the feeling of his lover surrounding him skin to skin.

  “I know, but I need you so bad,” Dante said.

  “Don’t break the other rule,” Ryan warned. Dante whimpered something that sounded like “never” as Ryan pulled out and then slammed back into Dante before holding him tight around the chest, pressing them together back to front. They moved together, their bodies in tune with one another, just like their lives fit together.

  Sweat poured off both of them in the hot barn and neither backed away. Beads of water ran down Ryan’s chest and his hair stuck to his forehead. “Just do it,” Dante groaned, pressing back against him. “I need it as bad as you,” Dante ground between his teeth. Ryan bent his knees slightly to change the angle and drove forward. Dante th
rew his head back and yowled to the rafters.

  “Stroke yourself, baby,” Ryan told Dante. “I’m right there and I want you along with me.” He continued his nearly frantic thrusting. “That’s it, now!” Dante shuddered, and Ryan thrust one final time and then came hard inside his lover. Dante’s body gripped him tight as he went to pieces. Then all was still.

  Neither of them moved as they stood together. Ryan was afraid he might fall down. Ryan separated them, and Dante turned in Ryan’s arms. They hugged and held each other until Dante guided them down onto the padding. “You were naughty,” Ryan said without any heat.

  “I know. Do you forgive me?” Dante wriggled closer, and Ryan hummed his forgiveness. Like he could deny Dante anything.

  “Are you going to miss it?” Ryan asked, shifting to look up at the mechanical bull. “The excitement has to be hard to walk away from.” Ryan knew Dante was retiring partly on his account, and guilt began to creep up on him.

  “Hey. I ended the way I wanted to, on top,” Dante said.

  Ryan huffed slightly. “That was some ride you had yesterday, wild beyond belief.” Ryan swallowed hard. “Are you sure you want to walk away?”

  “Well,” Dante said thoughtfully, resting his head on Ryan’s chest, “it doesn’t compare to the wild ride you just gave me, and it never will.” He reached over and lightly stroked Ryan’s cheek. “Not by a long shot.” Dante paused. “And just think about it—that’s a ride we can have for the rest of our lives.” Ryan closed his eyes as Dante stroked his arm. “That’s one rodeo I’ll always be ready for.”

  About the Author

  ANDREW GREY grew up in western Michigan with a father who loved to tell stories and a mother who loved to read them. Since then he has lived all over the country and traveled throughout the world. He has a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and works in information systems for a large corporation. Andrew's hobbies include collecting antiques, gardening, and leaving his dirty dishes anywhere but in the sink (particularly when writing). He considers himself blessed with an accepting family, fantastic friends, and the world’s most supportive and loving partner. Andrew currently lives in beautiful historic Carlisle, Pennsylvania.