Chapter Twenty-Seven
Leo
The bull was angry, no doubt about it.
But it didn’t scare me, it set my adrenaline pumping. Anticipation pounding in my blood as I thought about how the next few seconds were going to go. Honestly though? Nothing scared me at the moment.
Life was incredible. It had been a month since I’d gone home and everything had happened with Maddy. I’d been walking on sunshine ever since. Some people might not see it as success, that I’d told my best friend I loved her and she hadn’t said it back.
But they didn’t know Maddy like I did.
I knew she loved me. She hadn’t said the words, but her body had told me.
I could see it in the way she touched me, the way she looked at me.
She didn’t guard herself; the walls had come down.
She feared that by saying it, she would seal our fate and then something awful would happen.
But it didn’t stop her from feeling it, from acting like it.
Even if she lied to herself about it. I would wait.
I’d found my soulmate so I would wait an eternity for her if I needed to.
“He’s so gonna kick your ass,” a voice said beside me.
I turned and saw Tori. “Are you talking to me or the bull?”
“You, that bull is going to destroy you.”
I snorted. “Thanks for the pep talk.”
She shrugged, her long dark hair falling over her shoulder. “You have Frank for that.”
“You’re a dick.”
She clapped me on the shoulder, smiling wide. “Thanks.”
Tori had opted to come back to Calgary with me instead of continuing on her own journey to Colorado.
She hadn’t said much except that what she needed to do in Colorado didn’t matter anymore.
I didn’t push her on it; if she wanted to talk then she would.
On our way back to Calgary, I’d had to pick her up from The Lonely Bison instead of my place.
She’d spent the night with Max and he hadn’t stopped asking me about her since.
“Maddy agrees,” Tori added.
“Excuse me?” I turned towards her. “You’ve been speaking to my girlfriend?”
“Your girlfriend?” Tori pulled a face. “I don’t think that’s the label she’s put on it.”
I ignored her. “Since when have you two spoken?”
Tori shrugged. “Since she reached out to apologize about that night. We kept in contact. She’s great, don’t know what she sees in you.”
“What? When?” I floundered at the news that they’d been speaking.
Tori peered down into the chute where the bull was banging around. “Well since you’ve not been telling her any info about how you’re doing, I’ve been letting her know. She said if you make it to a score of eighty-six, you’ll get a treat later.”
I glanced around frantically into the stands looking for Maddy.
“Relax, she’s not here,” Tori said. “She’ll FaceTime you.”
I wrinkled my nose in confusion, ignoring the disappointment at Maddy not being here.
“But we usually FaceTime anyway.”
“Then I guess this one won’t be any different, will it?” With that, Tori winked, patted me on the shoulder in good luck and went off.
Me and Maddy had spoken regularly. I hadn’t cut her off like I’d done before.
Which had been stupid to do anyway. The FaceTime’s had stayed platonic, we hadn’t discussed our intimacy or my confession of love.
Tension still simmered under the surface; I was desperate to touch her, to kiss her and watch her moan.
But being in two different countries made that difficult.
My mind whirred with what the treat could be. My cock readying at all the things I hoped it would be. Dirty thoughts and fantasises filled my brain but evaporated the moment Frank appeared.
“Get that stupid look off your face, boy. Get your head in the game,” he grunted.
I tried not to smile at his attitude. He was so gruff and surly, but I knew he was as soft as a marshmallow inside and he actually cared a huge deal about my career.
When I hit my first eighty score, he’d celebrated like a mad man.
I’d been doing so well recently. This tour had been a new lease of life for my career, and I couldn’t deny that all the support and love from my family was helping.
With life being so damn good right now, it helped me push myself.
No outside worries crept in to make me doubt anything and I felt like success was within my grasp.
I’d tried not to dwell on it, but with me getting older, I was close to ageing out of bull riding and the thought of not retiring as a success was sometimes debilitating.
Frank dropped my helmet on my head and slapped it down before doing it up. I shrugged on my protective vest as the announcements filled the arena.
I took a few deep breaths, glancing down at the bull huffing away in frustration in the chute. I’d pulled a mean sonofabitch to ride but I was used to it.
An eighty-six.
What would I get? The ideas filled my mind and I found myself more motivated than ever to hit that number.
I don’t remember clambering down onto the bull.
Don’t remember what Frank said as I glanced up at him shouting information down to me.
The next thing I knew, the chute was flying open and I was out in the arena, clinging on for dear life as the bull bucked with all its might.
It tried to throw me, leaping high into the air. My body rebelled against the strain, complaining about what I was putting it through, but I’d been working out something fierce recently and was stronger than ever.
My thighs clamped tight to the bull’s side, keeping me in place as he bucked away, trying to shift my weight.
Four seconds down. I was counting in my head. I gripped the strap tight, fought against gravity to keep my arm raised high.
Five seconds down.
Fuck, my back was screaming as loud as the crowd. The bull leapt into the air and landed so heavily it jarred my whole body.
Six seconds down and I nearly fell. I refortified the muscles that were already screaming. Thoughts of Maddy and what that top score could earn me had me tightening my grip on the bull strap, squeezing my thighs even tighter. She had found the perfect way to motivate me.
The bull leapt into the air, kicked his back legs and twisted sharply, dislodging my ass and I slipped to the side. I strained to keep myself upright, but my shoulder dropped and threw my balance off. The buzzer sounded for eight seconds and I felt myself slip, couldn’t stop it.
I hit the dirt and rolled away to get out from under the beating hooves of the animal while the bullfighters distracted it and chased it away.
My pulse thudded and my shoulder pounded from taking the hit in the dirt. With my heart in my mouth, I glanced over to see the score. Eighty-six point two-five.
“Yes!” I yelled, pumping my fist. I leapt onto the metal grate of the chute to where Frank was cheering and hugged him.
“Well done, boy!” he shouted over the noise.
The crowd clapped and cheered. I met Tori’s eye as she bandaged up another rider two chutes away. She nodded, smiling at me.
I removed my helmet and Frank followed me down to the locker room talking about how to sharpen up that technique, but I wasn’t listening. I was thinking about how to get out of here and back to my motel room as quickly as possible so I could call my girl.
Racing out like a bat out of hell, I waved away Frank’s demands for more work, more training, more everything. I’d give him more, just not tonight.
I drove back to my room, dropping my stuff by the door and leaping onto my bed. Propping myself up against the pillows, I dug out my phone, saw I’d already missed two calls. I called her back.
When Maddy answered, she was surrounded by her sisters. They all started cheering when they saw my face and I grinned so damn wide. It was such a good feeling to have the people you love rooting for you.
“Well done, rodeo clown!” Daisy shouted.
“Don’t call him that,” August scolded.
“Can you come home so you can train me, please?” Tilly added.
“Thanks ladies, even you Daze, and when you finish school, Tilly.” I replied to each of them before there was booing as Maddy left the room and went upstairs to her bedroom.
“Well done, Cowboy. I’m so proud I could burst,” she spoke softly but her tone was infused with pride. She entered her room, the low lighting giving her a golden halo as she sat on her bed. My chest constricted at her words, happiness practically choking me.
“Thanks, Maddy, that means more than you could imagine,” I said.
There was silence as we looked at each other through the screen. She didn’t have any make-up on, her hair down and slightly wavy, her cheeks flushed and lower lip pink from being nibbled on. She looked so damn beautiful.
“So, you’ve been speaking to Tori?” I asked.
She nodded. “I have. She’s a great woman and Max won’t shut up about her; he’s a smitten kitten.”
I chuckled. “That’s nice for them.”
“I take it Tori shared there could be something in it for you if you scored an eighty-six?”
I nodded solemnly. “She did.”
Maddy just nodded back, trying to fight a smile.
“Eighty-six point two-five, Mads.”
“I saw.”
The anticipation was killing me. My cock was rock solid beneath my fly and begging for me to touch it.
Maddy continued toying with me, coy looks, random conversation that she wasn’t truly committed to.
Like she was trying to push me to the edge of no return.
Teasing me and once more I reveled in seeing this new, unexplored side of her.
When she asked about the journey from the arena to the motel, I broke.
“Baby, please, give me something,” I groaned.
The triumphant smile that split her lips was almost its own reward.
“Take off your shirt, Cowboy.”
I stripped off my t-shirt and held my phone at arm’s length so she could see my chest.
Her grunt came down the line. “Fuck, how have you got even more muscular? It’s not fair.”
I bounced a pec. “You like that?”
She giggled. “Hmm, maybe.”
“Now what?”
“You did so good today, Leo. I’m so proud of you. You’re such a good boy.” She drew out each word slowly, the husky drawl vibrating over my skin.
“Oh shit,” I said, my head dropping back as her praise warmed me. I’d never been called a good boy before, didn’t think it was something that I would like but when she said, it hit different. My dick pulsed in my jeans and I gripped it tight, needing relief.
“You like that?” she asked, her voice low. She’d laid back in bed, her hair splayed over her pillow.
“I like it when you say it because I know I’ve earned it,” I replied, my voice rough like gravel.
“Then be a good boy and take off your jeans,” she instructed.
Whenever I thought about phone sex, or spicy FaceTime or video sex, whatever this was called, I figured I’d be the one leading, telling her what I wanted her to do. But I was very pleasantly surprised by my best friend. I should have known she would take charge.
I shucked off my jeans, my boxers with them until I was laying naked on my bed.
Her eyes ran over the screen, taking in my chest, my abs, my face. She couldn’t see below my stomach though, something she clearly wasn’t happy about.
“How hard are you right now?”
“How wet are you right now?” I countered.
She smirked. “Show me and I’ll show you?”
“Fuck yes.” I could absolutely get on board with this. No part of it felt awkward or uncomfortable. It was just the two of us together, the way life always felt better when it was just the two of us.
I flipped the camera around so she could see my hard dick resting there. I gripped it in my palm and stroked once, twice for her. I watched her face on my phone, her eyes wide and tongue running over her lip as she watched the show.
“Not so fast,” she cautioned as I sped up.
“Show me how much you enjoyed that,” I grunted, flipping the camera back to my face.
Maddy sat up a little straighter and waved her fingers at me before they disappeared from view.
Then her eyes rolled back, her mouth lifting in a satisfied smile before she trapped her bottom lip between her teeth, a little moan slipping out.
She was so wet, I could hear her fingers slipping into her pussy from here.
A moment later her hand reappeared in front of the camera and I could see her wet fingers.
“Fuck, I want to taste them,” I said.
“I want you to taste me,” she replied.
I gripped myself tight, pumping my fist. “Touch yourself again, baby.”
As much as I wanted to watch her slide her fingers in and out of her pussy and rub tight little circles over her clit, I was getting off on watching her face as she did it. Her eyebrows drawn in pleasure as she worked herself. Her mouth dropping open on a soft moan that went straight to my dick.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked, slightly breathless.
“Thinking about you sitting on my face, licking your pussy while I jerk off,” I groaned while fisting my dick, spurred on by the image combined with her face as she fingered herself.
“Oh my god,” she moaned. “That would be so hot.”
“We’ll have to try it next time,” I suggested.
“Can’t wait.”
“I’m already close, Mads,” I admitted. I’d been turned on since I knew there was going to be a FaceTime after the rodeo.
“Show me,” she said.
I flipped the camera again so she could see me working my cock. My breathing grew heavy.
“You gonna come for me, Leo?” she asked.
Hearing her say my name like this was one of the hottest things I’d ever experienced.
“Yes,” I rumbled.
“Make a mess of yourself,” she said, her breaths panting as she watched me come.
My balls drew up tight and I felt the heat rising. Then my fist slowed and teased around the head as I came, spurts shooting out over my stomach in thick, white ropes as I grunted through my release.
She moaned as she watched me coat my stomach. My eyes flicked to the screen as her head whipped back and she cried out, her body shaking as she came. I loved watching Maddy come, as shivers of intense pleasure wracked her entire body.
“That was amazing,” she breathed, when her orgasm subsided.
“Yep, that was the best motivation I could have asked for,” I laughed. She hit me with a dazzling smile that burned itself into my memory. I wiped my stomach dry with my boxers and got under the covers as Maddy rolled onto her side.
We talked until we both fell asleep.