Flanked (12 page)

Garret nodded to the gate man and called out through the grill of his helmet, “Buck him!”

True to form, Bad Boy dipped his front end low right out of the chute. Not liking how far forward his bull rope was, Garret had been leaning slightly back. It may be what saved his body from being thrown forward. The bull whipped to the left, but Garret’s hand being in center kept him from slipping off to the side from the force of that first move. It didn’t stop him from beginning to slip from the centrifugal force of the bull’s spin. He felt his weight shift and used all of his power to hang on. His balance wasn’t centered so he had to rely on sheer muscle to hang on and keep him on to the buzzer. As long as his hand was on the bull rope and his head hadn’t hit the ground, it didn’t matter that he was literally hanging off the right side of the bull.

Hell, the ride wasn’t pretty, but it was pretty amazing when he heard the buzzer and the cheers of the crowd. Garret finally released his hold and hit the ground. He scrambled to his feet and tried to look for both the bull and the wall. He needn’t have worried. Bad Boy wasn’t after Garret. The animal was a veteran in this sport. He was too busy looking for the out gate, knowing there’d be feed waiting for him now that his job was done.

Garret took the time to look for the scoreboard and saw as the numbers went up. The bull had scored a solid forty-five. A good bull score. However, Garret only scored a forty for his acrobatics and less-than-orthodox riding style. It didn’t matter. He’d gladly take the eighty-five total score for the ride, along with the honor of being one of only three men to ride Bad Boy at this level of competition.

A wide grin he couldn’t control stayed on his face all the way out of the arena to behind the chutes where the other riders were there to meet him. As he accepted the congratulations and slaps on the back, the pain began to set in. He hadn’t felt it before, probably because of the adrenaline. He felt it now though as he clutched his right hand to his shoulder.

“Great ride.” Luke was all smiles until his gaze focused in on Garret holding his arm. “You hurting?”

He went to shrug but it didn’t quite work. “Same old shoulder pain.” Only it wasn’t. This was way worse and the knowledge settled in Garret’s gut that perhaps an icepack wasn’t going to fix it this time.

The sea of riders surrounding him parted and the doctor stepped up. “Let’s go in the back so I can take a look at that.”

Garret nodded, as much as he wanted to say no. The reality was, even if he could ride through the pain his arm felt weak. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to hold himself in position with no strength in his riding arm. Maybe the doc could do something. Give him painkillers or a brace so he could finish the season. Then he’d have to suck it up and get the operation.

How the hell much would shoulder surgery cost, anyway? He dreaded to even think about it. It would probably empty out his savings account. Crap.

Garret sat in the sports-medicine room for the second time in two days and pasted a neutral expression on his face—or at least tried his best to as the doctor manipulated his shoulder. What felt like liquid fire shot through the joint.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve torn the cartilage.”

“Well, if it’s torn, then it’ll heal. Right?”

“It doesn’t exactly work that way.” The doctor shook his head. “You’ll need an MRI to determine how bad it is. You probably shouldn’t put off that surgery any longer.”

“How long would I be out? If I decide to get the surgery, that is.” Garret wasn’t committing to anything just yet. Not when there was still a hope he could get to Vegas for the finals.

The doctor stopped his examination and stepped in front of Garret to make direct eye contact with him. “There’s no
if
about it, Garret. And I’d say six months, including rehab, for it to heal properly and be back to full strength.”

Garret’s eyes popped open wide. “Six months? I’ve never been out for more than a month in my whole career.”

“We’re coming up on the long break, so even a six-month recovery will mean you’re only out of competition for the first few events of the new season. That make it sound any better to you?”

“No.” Garret frowned.

Another bull rider limped into the medical room, leaning heavily on a member of the sports-medicine team. That meant that Garret had a reprieve from Doc Tandy’s lecture on the surgery. It didn’t mean his brain could focus on anything besides their conversation though. Six months recovery. God, even just the thought of that sucked.

“You okay?” Silver was next to him, a furrow in her brow.

He’d been in such a daze, so deep in his own misery, that he hadn’t even seen her walk in. “Yeah, fine.”

“What’d Tandy say?” Aaron stood on the other side of Silver.

“Surgery. Six months recovery.”

“Oh, man. I’m sorry. That sucks.” Aaron cringed.

“But then you’ll be back after that, right? Good as new.” Silver looked so optimistic it was tempting to just agree with her and move onto a more pleasant subject. Like when they could fuck again to take his mind off all this. But of course, Aaron was there so that subject was off limits.

“Sus…” Aaron let out a sigh. “I mean Silver, you don’t get it.”

“Then explain it to me.” With a scowl, she folded her arms across her chest.

Aaron mirrored his sister with the same pose. “Being a bull rider isn’t like being a football or baseball player. We don’t have a contract with a guaranteed paycheck for the season or even health insurance, at least not like you do through your job.”

“You’ve got no health insurance coverage at all?” Her eyes had opened wide and her voice had risen a good octave. “Neither of you?”

Garret jumped in to the debate before the two siblings got into it any further and caused a scene. “The organization takes out a limited policy on each of us in case we need to go to the hospital because we’re in a bad wreck during an event, but it’s not very much and it won’t cover something like my shoulder surgery and rehab.”

“Not to mention that for the next six months Garret will be out of competition, which means no money coming in. No riding, no winning, no paychecks. That’s how this sport works,” Aaron continued.

“Why don’t you buy yourself insurance?” She still looked shocked.

“Yeah, right.” Garret snorted. “Even just the catastrophe insurance Mustang told me he got costs a damn fortune. And that has a huge deductible and such high co-pays it’s only worth it for major surgery.”

“This is insane. This is America in the twenty-first century, for God’s sake. Every citizen in this country should have adequate affordable health coverage. You both pay taxes, don’t you?”

Aaron let out a huff. “Uh, oh. Now she’s on her soapbox.”

“Aaron, you have to agree with me.” Silver shook her head. “I can’t believe I didn’t know this.”

“Of course I agree with you, but you and I can’t change the way the whole damn country is run. Even if we could, it wouldn’t happen in time for Garret’s surgery.”

Silver got a faraway look in her eyes. “Hmm…”

“Hmm, what?” Aaron narrowed his eyes at his sister.

“Nothing.” Silver pursed her lips and shook her head.

“When you get that look in your eye and say nothing, it scares me. Last time you had a bright idea, you legally changed your name to Silver.”

Garret spun to look at the girl he’d spent the last two nights inside. “Your name’s not really Silver?” So much for thinking he knew her.

“It is now. Legally.” She sent a look that could kill in her brother’s direction.

Aaron scowled. “Just tell me what crazy idea you have up your sleeve. You going to storm the capital in Washington and demand health care and free surgery for all bull riders?”

“I have nothing up my sleeve. I mean, of course I think it’s ridiculous you guys are riding underinsured, but what the hell can I do about it. Right?” Silver turned away from Aaron and focused back on Garret. “When can you leave here for the night?”

He went to shrug and stopped in time before he hurt himself more. “Well, I’m thinking Tandy might not want me to ride again tonight even if I scored high enough to make the short go, which I probably didn’t. But I need to stick around until the end to sign autographs for the fans.”

“Oh, the fans. Of course.” She got another strange look on her face at that, like the wheels inside her pretty little head were really spinning away, concocting all sorts of crazy plans. “Okay. Sounds good.”

“Why?” Garret frowned, now as suspicious as Aaron.

“Just wondering what we’re doing after. I’m new to this kind of stuff. I don’t know if bad news calls for a wild night of shots or for a quiet night in.”

Garret laughed. “I’m not sure yet.”

Skeeter skidded in from the hall and came to a stop just inside the doorway. “Aaron. You’re in the short go. Get out here.”

Aaron looked from Garret to Silver. “Crap. I gotta go.”

“It’s fine. I can find my way back to my seat.”

Garret caught Skeeter’s gaze. “What about me? Did I make the short go?”

Skeeter cringed. “Sorry, bud. No.”

“Oh. Okay, thanks.” Not that he should have been riding with his shoulder feeling the way it did anyway, but the answer still disappointed Garret.

When Aaron left the room on Skeeter’s heels, Silver leaned her heart-shaped ass next to him on the edge of the examining table. They were so close her thigh touched his. He felt the heat from the contact. Funny how he still could admire the shape of her ass and think about her touching him even in his current state of misery.

She drew in a deep breath. “Okay, so here’s my plan.”

“All right. Shoot.” Somehow he’d had a feeling there’d be a plan. What it entailed, he had no clue, but he could hope that sex was involved.

“We encourage all the guys to go out to the bar next door. Then once we’re there, you tell the guys that you’re really not in the mood to stay out because of your injury and all, or maybe because it’s starting to hurt really bad, and you’re going back to the hotel. That’s when I say that I’m tired too and I go with you.”

Apparently Silver’s plan was to soothe his woes with some sexual healing. That was fine with him. No wonder she hadn’t wanted to tell Aaron her agenda for the evening. “All right. We’ll give it a try. As long as Aaron and Skeeter don’t decide to come back with us.”

“Well, I have an idea for that too.”

“Oh? Another plan, huh?” He was almost afraid to ask. This girl’s mind was temptingly evil and she lied like it was second nature. He found it strangely attractive.

“Yup.” Silver looked so smug it made Garret laugh.

“And? Are you going to tell me?”

“You’ll see what it is when we’re out tonight. I’m gonna go.” She hooked a thumb in the direction of the hallway. “You know, gotta watch big bro ride in this short merry-go-round or whatever it’s called.”

Garret shook his head and grinned at her effort. She was trying to embrace the bull-riding lingo, and messing it up so badly it was endearing.

“Of course. You don’t wanna miss the short go.” Garret doubted that was totally the reason she was making her exit. Completing preparations for her plan might have something to do with it though.

He smiled at the thought of what Silver could possibly have up her sleeve all so they could be alone together later. His career was done—for the next six months anyway—and Silver still had him smiling. Sure, he’d do his best to finish the season, but it wouldn’t be good. And the start of next season was out. But with a few words and one devilish smile, she’d lightened the weight that had settled in his chest during his conversation with Tandy.

Somehow, that wasn’t as surprising to him as it should be. Deciding just to accept it all as it came, no matter what, Garret hopped off the table and headed out to watch the short go.

A few rides to watch and a couple of dozen autographs later, the riders and Leesa and Silver stood in a group by the exit.

“So what are we doing?” Skeeter asked.

Garret didn’t miss Silver’s eyes opening a bit wider—her not-so-subtle reminder for him about their plan. He cleared his throat and launched into his prepared speech. “Um, well I was thinking I could use a nice stiff drink after tonight.”

There was something stiff in his future, but it didn’t contain alcohol. He hid his smile at his own wit, even while glancing quickly at Silver and wishing he could share his little juvenile joke with her.

Aaron nodded. “Don’t blame you there, bud. I’d probably need a bottle if I were you. Just a drink might not do it.”

Silver stepped forward into the middle of the group. “How about we go to the bar across the street? I mean, it couldn’t be more convenient. Then we won’t have to even move the trucks. You know, in case somebody wanted to leave early or something.”

She tilted her head toward where Chase and Leesa stood nearby talking, as if the couple who only had eyes for each other would probably be retiring to the privacy of their bedroom sooner rather than later. Garret knew exactly who was going to be leaving for the hotel early tonight. It was the last couple anyone in the group would even suspect of being together, because so far he and Silver had been pretty good at sneaking around. He saw Silver glance at him again, brows raised expectantly. Crap. Apparently he was supposed to participate again, maybe back her up on the choice of location.

“Um, sure, across the street’s fine.” He nodded a bit too enthusiastically. “They, uh, even had a drink special tonight, I think. I saw a sign in the window on the drive over.”

Satisfied he’d done a good job and the lying was over, at least for the next few minutes, he let out a breath. This deception crap was too much damn work.

He pictured getting Silver in his hotel room alone where there were lights so he could actually see her and space so they weren’t crushed up against his truck door or the cement-block wall of the arena. His shoulder still hurt like hell, but the icepack strapped with a bandage under his shirt helped numb it a bit. It wouldn’t get in the way of his night with Silver. Maybe he wouldn’t be hoisting her up tonight, but lying down would be just fine. His cock started to wake up, like it always did when he thought about her.