Cowboy Brothers of Rainbow Canyon: A Western Contemporary Cowboy Romance

by K. C. Crowne

  It bucked hard, my hands gripping the fake fur for dear life as I rode. The crowd was blurry around me, and my neck whipped back and forth. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched the big red counter tick away.

  Ten seconds. Gotta stay on this thing for ten damn seconds.

  More bucking, more lurching, more white-knuckle gripping. Seconds passed like tar dripping on a cold day. I snapped my head around toward the counter, certain I’d hit the time.

  Nope. Only five seconds. Then six.

  I couldn’t hang on for much longer. The bull shot straight up, pulling back and snapping forward, shooting me off the thing like a rocket. I sailed forward and landed in the straw, rolling to my side as I came to a stop.

  “Awwws” rose from the crowd, and through bleary eyes, I checked the time, the numbers a blurry mess of red in the distance.

  “Nine seconds!” the operator called out.

  Fucking hell. One damn second off. I rolled onto my back and prepared to heave my sorry ass up from the ground. But before I could, Travis appeared, looming over me and shot out his meaty palm.

  “A hell of an effort, gotta say.”

  I took his hand, and he hoisted me up to my feet. “Alright, alright.”

  “I’m serious,” he said as I dusted myself off. “That fucker’s no joke. I honestly have no idea how I managed to stay on as long as I did.”

  We walked out of the bull ring and wound through the crowd, a few of the people in the audience slapping our backs as we passed. I might not’ve beaten Travis, but the two of us had put on a better show than anyone else who’d tried.

  The competition was a friendly one, but something about it left me feeling raw. Maybe the fact that Skye was watching, sizing the two of us up. It was a strange vibe, knowing what she was doing, what she likely had on her mind.

  “But,” Travis continued, “I still whupped your butt by a whole second. Means drinks are on you for the rest of the night, bud.”

  “Alright, alright. Go sit your ass down, and I’ll get the next round.”

  “Hope I’m included in that.” Skye approached the two of us, that same sly smile on her face.

  “Sorry, girlie,” I said. “Gotta play the game if you want the fabulous cash and prizes.”

  She stopped, casting a glance at the bull.

  “Not a good idea,” I hurried to correct. “That thing would buck you off before you even knew what the hell was going on.”

  She raised an eyebrow, not bothered in the slightest by what I’d said. “Maybe we’ll have to see about that. How about you get me a beer and a whiskey shot, and I’ll think it over?”

  Skye didn’t wait for a response before taking off, strolling toward the table with an ass-wiggling walk that stole our attention like a damn hypnotist.

  “That’s a hell of a woman,” I commented, lifting my hat and running my hands through my sandy-blond hair.

  “No argument here. But you know, a hell of a woman means a hell of a lot of trouble.”

  I clapped my hand on his shoulder. “But hey, you don’t need to worry about any of that, do you?” He cocked his head to the side, puzzled by my comment. “You’re her boss, bud. That means she’s off-limits. To you.”

  Travis processed what I was saying. No doubt there was some smartass comment in the works, one letting me know that if we were competing for her, it’d take more than a technicality like that for me to come out on top. So to speak.

  But his expression was serious. “Fucking hell. You’re right about that. Get them drinks, would ya? I’m thirsty as shit.”

  He headed to the table, and I went to the bar. Travis loved women surely as I did, but more than that, he loved the ranch. Skye was fine as hell, no doubt, but he had to be thinking that anything happening between the two of them wouldn’t make for a good situation at Rainbow Canyons.

  I ordered a new pitcher and three shots of Jack, along with a glass for Skye. All that in hand, I returned to the table and sat down, my heart racing from the adrenaline-inducing bull ride. Part of me wanted to go for round two, let Travis see that I could whup his butt if given another shot.

  The two of them were in the middle of a conversation as I dropped onto the stool, my lower back still smarting from being launched off the bull.

  “So,” Travis said. “We didn’t get much of a chance to talk about what you’re all about during the interview today.”

  I pushed one shot to Travis, the other toward Skye. She eyed the drink with hungry eyes before flicking her glance up and regarding me in the same way. Her narrowed, green eyes were enough to make my cock shift in my jeans, and my own glance moved to the front of her shirt, noting how her gorgeous, full tits strained the fabric of her cowboy shirt.

  She picked up her shot and held it inches away from her red lips. “Well, cowboy, what do you wanna know?”

  “Let’s drink, first,” I said. “This Jack’s callin’ my name.”

  The three of us raised our shot glasses toward one another.

  “And what’re we drinkin’ to?” Skye asked.

  “Good question,” Travis said.

  “New friends,” I said, not thinking before blurting the words out.

  “I like that,” Skye nodded. “New friends.” She put a push of emphasis on the word friends. Made me think she had a certain kind of friendship in mind. Maybe the “with benefits” sort.

  What kind of game was this girl playing? I began to wonder if she was the type to get some kind of thrill from playing two guys off one another. But that struck me as wrong as soon as it appeared in my mind. The impression I got from Skye wasn’t that she was some kind of maneater – there was an innocence to her that called out to me. She was a complicated damn woman, that was one thing I could say for sure.

  We threw back our shots, the Jack burning just right on the way down. As soon as it was in my belly, I wanted another. Something about the night was bringing out the urge to get a little crazy.

  “Woo!” Skye smacked her lips and tapped the glass on the table when she finished her shot.

  Travis pushed the empty glasses to the side and leaned on the table. “Alright – what you’re all about.”

  She shook her head. “That’s a hell of a question. Don’t even know where to start.”

  “Well,” I said. “You’re workin’ at Rainbow Canyons as of today, and now you’re drinkin’ with the boss and his best friend.”

  She laughed. “Doesn’t hurt to get to know the people I’m gonna be spendin’ time around a little better. What about you?” The question was directed at me. “You work at the ranch, too?”

  “Nope,” I said. “Got my own construction business.”

  “And I’ve been tryin’ to hire this son-of-a-bitch for as long as I can remember,” Travis said. “Got big plans for Rainbow Canyons – lookin’ to make some additions to the property.”

  “Then you can cut me a check and pay me like the rest of my clients,” I said with a grin. “But we’re talkin’ about you, gorgeous.”

  I was surprised to hear the word flow so easily out of my mouth. And the smile on Skye’s lips made it clear she was more than fine with the compliment.

  “Horses,” she said. “My passion – like I said during the interview. And Rainbow Canyons is the place to be if I want hands-on experience. Not like I can afford a stable of my own, you know?”

  “And that’s what you want?” Travis asked.

  “Someday, Lord willin’,” she said as I poured the pitcher for the three of us. “And there’s a little more to it than that.”

  “I’ll bite,” I said. “What’s the ‘more to it’?”

  The playfulness vanished from her features, replaced by seriousness. Maybe even sadness. “I’ve worked around the area since I was a kid, spendin’ some time at ranches, gettin' to know the ins and outs of takin’ care of the animals. But not all of them have it as good as they do at Rainbow Canyons.”

  “Right about that,” Travis agreed solemnly. “I’ve seen some of the bi
gger ranches around these parts. Damn shame the neglect some of the animals suffer.”

  Skye nodded. “And the worst, not a doubt in my mind, the worst are the racin’ horses. Poor beasts get run hard, and when they lose even the slightest bit of their stride, their owners pitch ‘em away like trash.”

  I said nothing, listening to her go on as I sipped my beer.

  “I want to give those older animals a chance to live out the rest of their lives in comfort. I’m thinkin’ some kind of horse rescue, a place where they can go when the rest of the world’s decided that they’re useless.” She shook her head as if dismissing the idea. “But that’s a long, long time from now. I’m still young, and I got a lot to learn.” She shrugged. “So that’s where my mind’s at. One step at a time, you know?”

  Complicated woman, just like I thought. And there was an undeniable passion when she spoke. As if there needed to be anything more attractive about the woman.

  “Good to hear,” Travis said. “Thinkin’ you’ll make a fine addition to our little family.”

  She shifted in her seat before turning her attention back to the mechanical bull just in time to watch another drunk cowboy get launched off after only a few seconds.

  “You thinkin’ of takin’ a turn on that thing?” I asked. “Might be a little much for you.” I liked watching the defiance rise in her eyes when I challenged her.

  “You kiddin’?” she asked, scoffing. “I’ve been ridin’ horses since before you had your first wet dream. Ever since I could walk. Done competitions, tamed unruly animals, and ridden with the best of ‘em.” She narrowed her eyes again, licking her lips slowly. “In fact,” she said. “I’m thinkin’ we make this more interesting.”

  Travis sat back, crossing his arms over his shoulders. “What, you ride that thing and beat our record, and we’re payin’ for the rest of the drinks?”

  She took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling slowly. “Nah. I’m thinkin’ that if I stay on that thing for longer than ten seconds, I get to do a different sort of ridin’ later tonight.”

  What she did next shocked the living hell out of me. She reached forward, placing one of her hands on mine, the other on Travis’s. He and I glanced at one another as if trying to figure out if she was really suggesting what we thought she was.

  As quickly as her confidence appeared, a blush spread across her creamy-white cheeks. She snatched her hands away and took a fast pull of her beer.

  “Um, anyway,” she said. “I’m gonna get in line. You boys watch what I can do.”

  “Oh,” Travis said, “we’ll be watchin’.”

  She shot out of her seat and scurried across the bar toward the mass of people in front of the bull. A strange silence descended over the table. After several moments, Travis broke it.

  “Uh, I didn’t just imagine what that girl said, did I?”

  “I don’t think you did. She just suggested the three of us, uh…” We sipped our beers. I scoffed, trying to ease our tension. “She has to be drunk. Only explanation.”

  “I mean, no doubt about that. But I’ve been drunk before and said some stupid shit. Thing about it, though, is the stupid shit you say tends to be stuff that’s true.”

  More sips of beer. We drained our glasses, and I poured fresh ones.

  “Don’t get me wrong,” I said. “The things I’d do to that girl…”

  “Man, same here,” Travis agreed.

  “But you’re her boss. Little complication there.”

  “No shit,” he grumbled as if irritated to have the subject brought up. “But, I mean, she’s still new. A little fun before she officially starts wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world.”

  “But she wants ‘a little fun’ with both of us.” I shifted uncomfortably. I’d never been in this situation. “Trav, what if she’s serious?”

  He gave the matter some thought. “Man, I don’t know.”

  “I mean, we’ve hooked up with girls in the same room back in the day,” he said. “Wouldn’t really be all that different.”

  “Might even be kinda fun.”

  More silence as we watched the crowd around the bull. Skye’s turn for the bull came up, and the operator helped her onto the back.

  “Gotta see if she can actually break the record,” I decided. “Girl seems like she knows her stuff, but we gotta find out if she’s all talk.”

  “Yeah,” Travis agreed, deep in thought. “Let’s wait and see.”

  We said not a word more to each other as Skye settled on the bull. I sipped my drink, still thinking about what she’d suggested.

  Threesome or not, it was shaping up to be a hell of a night.

  Skye

  The whiskey. That damn whiskey.

  It was all I could think as I scrambled my mortified self up onto that bull. What the hell was going through my head? I’d just told two men, one of which I’d only met an hour or so ago, the other of which was my damn boss, that I wanted them both in bed with me.

  I mean, it was the truth. Being with two guys at once had always been a fantasy of mine, and Travis and Adam were both the exact pair of cowboys I’d imagined doing the deed with. But cowboys weren’t exactly the kind of men to be open-minded about shit like that. Fastest way to start a brawl in a place like this would be for one cowboy to get the impression another was getting too cozy with his girl.

  I glanced back at the table and saw the two men watching me silently. I had a feeling I’d dropped a bomb of serious awkwardness and left the two of them to deal. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I could just imagine going back to the table, Travis getting all serious and telling me maybe he had the wrong impression of me, maybe I wouldn’t be such a good fit at Rainbow Canyons after all.

  And I’d only have myself and those stupid damn whiskey shots to blame.

  “You ready, little miss?”

  “I’m ready,” I called as I positioned myself on the bull. “And don’t call me that.”

  He raised his palms in surrender. The crowd cheered around me, and for the moment, I was happy to focus on something that wasn’t the major fucking faux pas I’d laid out with two men I barely knew.

  “Go!” I shouted.

  Another surge of applause rippled through the crowd, and the bull was off. I gripped the fur, wrapping my legs around the bull as it bucked back and forth like crazy. The thing was easily one of the wildest I’d been on, but I’d ridden it before. After all, the Raw Heart was a local favorite of mine.

  The thing bucked and tossed, the intensity picking up by the second. I glanced to the side, seeing that five seconds had passed.

  Five more, and you’re the damn champ. Five more, and you get those two right where you want them.

  Even through the chaos of the ride, I was still thinking about Travis and Adam. But damn, it was stupid as hell – not like they’d agreed to the wager.

  I focused, my stomach feeling like it was flopping around inside me from the rapid jerking of the bull. I closed my eyes, summoning up all the skills I had to muster from riding ornery horses over the years.

  The audience called out the time. “Eight...nine…ten…eleven!”

  Done. I’d beaten Travis’s best. I managed to hold on for two more seconds before my arms gave way, the bull bucking me forward and tossing my body into the hay. I crossed my arms in front of my face, landing in such a way to make the impact painless. The cheers were like nothing I’d ever heard. The operator ran over and helped me to my feet, the crowd going wild all around me.

  “We’ve got a new champ for the night!” he announced as he raised my hand above my head in a triumphant stance. “And a new record. “Drinks are on us tonight, little lady!”

  I could barely breathe. The operator led me away from the bull and back into the crowd, gesturing toward the bartender and letting me know that whatever I wanted was mine for the drinking. I ordered another round of shots along with a pitcher of Bud and made my way back to the table.

  Here goes fuckin’ nothin’, I thought as I appr
oached Travis and Adam.

  “That was some pretty impressive shit,” Travis complimented, more impressed than he’d been when I mounted his horse. “You really know how to ride.”

  You don’t know the half of it, I thought.

  “No kidding,” Adam agreed. “Never seen a woman take a bull like that.”

  “Makes me wonder what else you can do,” Travis commented, his eyes widening almost imperceptibly before he added, “Uh, on the farm, that is.”

  I was getting the impression they’d done more than a little bit of talking about what I’d said. “Well, drinks are on me, boys.” I pushed the shots towards them. “My amazing skills are your good fortune.” I winked at the two of them.

  We downed the shots and poured myself another beer. I was starting to feel woozy but in a good, relaxed kind of way. Jack had a way of doing that to me, but I was finished with shots for the evening. If the opportunity arose, I didn’t want to be too drunk. I wouldn’t do it if I was too drunk, and I got the idea the two men in front of me weren’t the sort to fuck a drunk woman.

  “Alright,” Adam said, putting his hands on the table and leaning forward. “I gotta ask – were you screwin’ around when you said what you said earlier?”

  I fidgeted in my seat, trying to figure out how to answer the question. It occurred to me that I could say I was only messing around, that I didn’t really want to be with both of them at once. But it’d be a damn, dirty lie.

  I sipped my beer, hoping for one last boost of courage. “Um, yeah. I was being serious.”

  The two men regarded one another, and part of me was certain they were going to tear into me for proposing such a ridiculous thing. However, their gazes returned to me after some sort of silent communication.

  “Gotta say,” Travis started. “I’m a little surprised.”

  “Why’s that?” I asked.

  “I mean, we’ve only known you for a day, but you seem a little more…”

  “Innocent than that,” Adam finished.

  If there was any doubt that they were close as hell, the way they managed to finish one another’s sentences put that to rest.