Nathaniel
“KEEP THAT ELBOW higher next time, Bucky!”
I nodded as I wiped my face with the towel that was hanging on the pen railing.
Doc’s advice wasn’t something I wasn’t already telling myself but I appreciated him shouting it out to keep me on my toes.
Feedback was important in this sport and thinking I knew everything wasn’t the way to improve my skills.
My shoulder twinged slightly because I’d been working it out hard.
The rodeo season would be starting soon and I needed to reclaim my title.
After the fall I’d taken last year, I’d been out for the rest of the season.
Besides a few errands I had to help my brother with, I had rested my shoulder since the official diagnosis was that I’d hyper-extended it when it was dislocated.
Wearing a sling was a bitch, but I wasn’t the type of man that was too stubborn to do what I knew would heal my body.
Besides, my mama and Yzzy threatened to tag team my ass if I even thought about taking it off for longer than a shower.
I’d been sidelined at the right time since this land had become available thanks to my brother and our newly found extended groups of friends.
I don’t know what judges they or my sister-in-law’s sister Billy had in their pockets but somehow this property had to be sold immediately to begin to pay off debts.
They’d blocked it from being collected by creditors and the amount I paid for it was only about a third of what they could’ve gotten for it.
The perks of knowing the men who hold the note on the mortgage.
I tossed the towel back on the metal rail before I looked at the rest of the people who were sitting around watching me practice.
The errands that I had last year were about the only thing that kept me sane for a minute.
I’d helped my brother send a few assholes to their graves, which had me using my arm sooner than I should have.
I hadn’t gotten up to much trouble after my sister-in-law cussed me out about not following doctor’s orders so I’d chilled and healed.
Being back into my training now made me feel even more excited about the season starting.
It was coming up in a few short weeks and I was doing the final preparations needed to ensure I was going to reclaim my title.
Especially since the son of a bitch who currently had it only had it by default.
My family still wanted to put him in the same dirt we buried those Persian bastards that had tried to mess with Yzzy in.
“Besides that, how is it looking?”
I didn’t need approval from anyone but I knew I was going to get constructive criticism from the men standing in front of me. Since their opinions were the only ones I cared about, I wasn’t going to be out here embarrassing them.
“You look almost as good as you did before your fall.”
“Almost?”
My brother smiled, something that his ass seemed to never stop doing now, because he could hear the annoyance in my voice.
He was taking time out to check on me because it was one of my first practices since I’d gotten injured.
With the season starting soon, I needed to hear everyone’s thoughts on my form.
My brother, Sampson, was a person I trusted more than anyone else in the world.
He’d have been excellent at the sport if he actually gave a damn about it, but his thoughts were normally on business.
“I mean you were in crazy condition last year so yeah you gotta work your way back up to that.” He gave me a friendly slap on my good shoulder, which only irritated me further.
“You shitting me?”
I narrowed my eyes at him because I could never tell if he was serious now or not. This nigga being a jokester while I was serious was never something I saw happening in my life. It’s probably because you ain’t had a release in a minute.
His face cracked into a smile before he leaned over the railings with his eyes cast toward the ring. “Yeah, Bucky, you look good and you know it.”
I folded my arms over my chest because I didn’t know if he was shitting me then or now. “Then what was all that about?”
Sampson turned and laughed at me like my question was funny. “Gotta keep your ass humble. Your form looks good. Damn near like you haven’t lost a step. But you gotta make sure that you stay focused. Thinking that you’ve got it in the bag is the quickest way to fuck yourself up.”
I nodded looking at Doc and my father, waiting on them to say something to add onto what Samp said.
“You look good, Buck. Sampson isn’t wrong, though. You need to ensure you’re keeping everything together mentally as well as physically.” My daddy wasn’t going to be a man of many words. Sampson was a lot like him in that way. His brevity made the words I received all that more special.
I turned my eyes to the first person who’d spoken to see if he’d had anything else he needed to say. “Doc?”
“Ain’t nobody gonna sit here and blow your big ass head up anymore. You gonna get that belt back and reclaim the honor of the family. Especially since that square headed bastard won’t keep his mouth shut.”
Doc reminded me why I was training so hard to get back on the circuit.
I’d planned on last season being my last season but being injured ruined that announcement.
The one man I couldn’t stand ended up profiting largely off my absence and was now the top rated in our sport.
Most people didn’t understand how lucrative rodeos were and why it was such a big deal.
Millions could be made in a weekend and that didn’t include what you could make if you had a team behind you, offered training and had endorsements. All of which I possessed.
“‘Preciate y’all coming to look. I don’t really care what anyone else thinks but I know y’all wouldn’t lie to me.”
This was a private practice with just the family. I’d been working on the artificial bull on my own when the weather was too cold but now I was going to move toward outside for live practice.
“You got this place looking real good, Bucky. I’m proud of you.” No man, no matter his age wouldn’t feel a sense of pride at his father saying those words and I was no different. I stood up a little straighter and battled the grin that was trying to come over my face.
Another compliment from my father as he stood from the stands and glanced around had me ready to call it a day.
I had multiple training rings each with a set of bleachers set around them.
It wasn’t hard to convert the training rings the De la Costas’ had for when they wanted to show off their racehorses.
There were a few exercise pens that had to be retrofitted but it had been easier to do that than to start from scratch.
There were multiple barns where we would eventually start boarding horses but I needed to get into this rodeo season and find someone who could actually run this shit for me.
I had barely opened my doors and I already had a bunch of people wanting to schedule time to come and practice and use the arena we had set up.
I was thankful that my name was being mentioned in so many places and people were excited but I didn’t think it would happen this quickly.
“Thanks, pops. I owe it all to Samp. If he hadn’t gotten that girl and her daddy sent up on those charges I wouldn’t have been able to buy this place the way I did.”
Samp rolled his eyes while Doc and my father laughed at him.
I was happy that he’d found his wife but his bullshitting around with his fake ex-fiancee had been a come up for all of us.
When she was arrested on fraud charges and her father was taken in for duping investors based on the bad horses they were selling, they had to mortgage this place to pay for their legal fees.
They’d swiftly gone through the money attempting to bribe officials and pay off debts to show good faith but couldn’t pay the bank note.
Since they were sentenced, I went to the bank that held the note and took over the debt.
The rodeo team I competed with was more than impressed by the facility when I’d invited them out for a tour.
A few people tried to invest in the project with me, but with land I would only own it jointly with my blood: by birth or by covenant.
Too many business deals went sour far too often for me to risk my dream for the fickleness of someone else.
“Your mama wants me to remind you that you need to get fitted for the gala this year. You’ll be in and out of town so get it done early.”
Nodding was the only respectful response because if I thought about going against my mama’s orders I’d have not only her but my daddy as well on my back for upsetting her.
“I’ll get it handled.”
“You still thinking about giving it up like you were last year?”
“This place gives me a reason to slow down. The good thing about the sponsorships is that they’re team specific and not me specific.”
“You know they were only offered because of you, though.”
“Should’ve had a better lawyer when it came to making the contract. Everybody can’t have a Billy Briggs in their corner.”
Samp grinned at hearing his sister-in-law’s name. She was my agent and we’d crossed paths before I knew anything about her and her husband or her sister. The one degree of separation between us meant everything that happened was for a reason.
“Those Briggs girls are more than remarkable. I’m lucky to have one to call mine.
” The besotted grin of a man in love who’d realized he’d been too far away from his lady for too long came across his face.
I was sure he was going to leave within the next few minutes so I made it easier for all of them.
“Yeah, go home. I got more runs to do. Doc, you staying? I can drop you off before I swing by Terrence’s to get my face trimmed later.”
Terrence had been a family friend for years but was like a second brother to both me and Samp.