Tyler struggled to settle his nerves. This was the biggest rodeo he’d participated in since graduating from college and deciding to go for the National Finals. It wasn’t a choice he’d made lightly, but the state-of-the-art rig his mother had given him when he’d graduated had made the decision easier. It’s a sweet setup for Rusty and I both.

As if his horse knew that thoughts of him passed through Tyler’s mind, Rusty pressed against his owner, and with great care, put his hoof on top of Tyler’s boot and leaned toward the cowboy.

Tyler yelped and shoved on the big gelding. “Damn you! Get off my foot! Ahh!”

Everett chuckled. As Tyler’s hazer, he kept the steer from running the wrong direction while Tyler jumped from his horse. Close to ten years older than Tyler, Everett had only worked with him since the start of the season. Tyler didn’t have the option of continuing to compete with his college partner. Chuck had two more years before he’d graduate and his father had made it very clear that if Tyler talked his son into quitting school, he’d beat Tyler like a drum.

Tyler had seen it as a serious threat and made sure to discourage any ideas Chuck’d had along those lines. His college rodeo coach had suggested Everett. While not the most congenial partner on the tour, he did his job well. Just as important, Tyler being gay hadn’t seemed to be an issue.

Rusty shifted his weight enough for Tyler to jerk his foot out, and Everett commented, “You’ve let that animal think for himself far too much. He’ll dump you one of these days.”

Tyler laughed at the idea as he did his usual pre-run check of his equipment. The horse behaved while Tyler tugged the cinch tight. But on his second pull, an ominous pop filled the room.

“What the hell?”

Tyler ran his hands along both sides of the strap. When the first pass found nothing, he calmed himself enough to give the strap a more detailed evaluation.

There it is, past the buckle. A weak spot.

“Something’s wrong with the saddle. I’ll be back in a sec,” he told Everett as he led his mount out of the holding pen. He moved at a fast walk until they’d cleared the crowd then dropped into a sprint toward the trailer. His spare tack supply was extensive, and it only took a few minutes to replace it.

He untied the horse, swung into the saddle and urged Rusty into a gallop. He slowed when he neared the entry, but his rapid pace still earned him a paint-peeling glare from the guy serving as gateman. He brought Rusty to a stop at Everett’s flank, and his hazer turned with a raised eyebrow. “I started to think we were giving up.”

Tyler shifted back and forth until he knew the new equipment was in good shape. He finished as they were called to the arena. He rode Rusty to the left-side box that had seen more than its share of wear over the decades and his horse banged into it a few times as the excitement grew. Tyler settled the gelding into the box’s far corner, and once every detail satisfied him, he nodded for the steer’s release.

The rangy red-and-white-mottled animal shot through the open space like a West Texas jackrabbit. But Tyler had dealt with animals similar to this daily for the last ten years.

Already straining to close the interval, he urged Rusty to the short-distance speed bred into the quarter horse. A second later they raced beside the steer. Tyler made all the last second changes and urged a burst of speed from his mount before launching himself.

Tyler equated the instant of weightlessness when he was off his mount to an eagle soaring above its prey. In his mind, the flight lasted less than a thump of his pounding heart. His fantasy burst when he landed on the animal and slammed to the reality of sweat, dirt and racing beef.

He curled his muscular arm around one of its short, thick horns. The other arm snaked its way to the muzzle and Tyler dug his boots into the dry powder under them.

Focused on a single task, he torqued his body, bringing into use every muscle developed over the years. When he twisted the animal around, there was an instant when everything froze in place as the final scene of the drama unfolded with the two gladiators straining to defeat each other.

With a final effort, Tyler won the battle and the steer rolled to its back. An instant later, the crowd erupted in a roar as the judge declared his run ended.

He released the steer, climbed to his feet and used his hat to knock off some of the dust covering his body. He smiled when Everett rode close and held out Rusty’s reins. “Good run, kid. Your luck is holding.”

Tyler listened as the emcee announced his time. Afterward, he turned to Everett with a broad smile. “Four-point-eight. I’m feeling like a winner tonight.” He mounted Rusty to follow Everett to the staging pens then to their trailers. Everett unsaddled his own horse and had her loaded almost before Tyler dismounted. He locked his trailer shut and flashed Tyler a wave. “Later. See ya next weekend.”

Before Tyler could do more than return the wave, Everett had left the fairground and disappeared behind a boiling cloud of dust. He waited for the clue to gaining a better understanding of his hazer and his lack of warmth, but after considering it for a few seconds, he shook his head at the reoccurring issue. Tyler considered himself good at making people feel comfortable, but his skill seemed to be ineffective with Everett. Knowing he might never understand the man, he turned to unsaddle Rusty. He was in no particular rush. His next destination was home and nothing urged him to hurry his return.

He tugged off his saddle and tossed it onto a rack. He brushed Rusty until the horse leaned into each stroke then loaded him into the trailer and used the last of the evening sun to see if he could tell what had happened to his original saddle. He tugged the damaged tack into the light and checked the leather inch-by-inch but revealed nothing new. The front cinch had developed a thin crease that weakened with each movement.

He leaned against the trailer and laughed when a dark red muzzle appeared. Tyler scratched the horse’s nose as he tried to figure out why the weakness had developed in the cinch. With a final sigh, he pushed off the trailer and readied everything for their trip home. He didn’t have a clue what was causing the issue with his equipment but he knew its investigation couldn’t be delayed for long.

* * * *

Micah drove the utility vehicle into the welcome shade of the tool shed and sighed. What a long day. He was making progress on the fence replacement, but on some days, it felt as if his progress could be measured in inches. He stared at the leather gloves that were becoming flayed from the miles of barbed wire redone so far this spring. But, in reality, he had been productive. Today he’d managed to finish an entire section of fencing, giving Micah a sense of accomplishment on what seemed to be a never-ending task of keeping the ranch operational. As he unloaded the tools and materials from the job, the two blue heelers who were the working dogs for their ranch threw themselves into the shade. He reached down to give each of them a loving scratch behind their ears. “Get some rest, guys. You were good company this afternoon, but we have a lot more to go this summer.” Smiling at the familiar interaction, he turned back to his work.

“How’d it go this afternoon?”

Micah sighed at hearing his father’s voice. He put the fencing pliers onto the pegboard and turned to his dad. “Good. Got a lot done. I finished repairing the section of fence that butts up against the old Parker place. Everything should be finished this summer. I need to stop by the Lang ranch and talk to them. I want to confirm they’ll be willing to help with the shared fencing.”

His father chuckled. “Mary Lou won’t let you anywhere close to her precious horses with your barbed wire.”

He shook his head. “I ran into Lee in the feed store the other day. We’ll do vinyl fencing, so there shouldn’t be any issues.”

“Isn’t the Lang boy back from college?”

Micah hesitated to say anything. His dad was too good at reading his thoughts and his infatuation with Tyler Lang was a secret he would prefer to keep to himself. Tyler’s muscular body had provided Micah with jack-off fantasies since they’d been in high school. Now his fantasy man was one of the highest-ranked steer wrestlers in the country. There was no way any of those daydreams would come to life. Besides, he couldn’t bear the thought of how his dad would react if Micah came out as gay. He couldn’t see it happening.

“Micah? Everything okay?”

He dropped the pointless speculation and answered the question. “Someone told me he was back in town. They said he is Grand Marshall for the Fourth of July parade, but I haven’t seen him.”

His dad frowned. “You work too hard. Take some time off and enjoy yourself. You don’t have to finish all the things on your list every day.”

Micah made a final check that he’d put everything into its place before turning to his father. “Well, if it will make you feel any better, I planned to go to the rodeo tonight. Dustin Lewis is one of the bull riders. From what I’ve seen, he’s doing better this year. He has a good chance of winning at Nationals.”

“Isn’t that the boy who’s married to another man?”

Micah swallowed hard. “Yeah, he’s with Shane Rees, the bullfighter. I don’t know if they’re married or not.”

It was impossible for Micah to interpret his father’s expression, but he seemed to be thinking about the information. Then he turned to Micah. “Good. I hope you enjoy yourself. You’ve earned a break from all the work. Go clean up. I’ll feed and water the stock.” He waved his hand at Micah as his grin got even larger. “If you don’t make it home before dawn, I’ll take care of everything then, too.”

Micah snorted. “Yeah, like that would ever happen. I’ll take care of the animals in the morning. But if you’d do the evening feeding, I wouldn’t mind getting to the fairground in time to see everything before the rodeo begins.”

He waved Micah toward the house. “Go get ready. I can handle a few old hens and a lazy bull.”

“Thanks, Dad. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.”

A short time later, Micah sat on the bench in the entryway, pulling off his boots before moving into his room. In the dim, cool bedroom he had no trouble smelling the odor from a day of hard work. He wrinkled his nose as he stripped off the last of his clothing and dropped it all into the hamper. After a relaxing stretch, Micah turned on the shower and adjusted the spray until it was hot enough to begin relaxing his stiff muscles. He stepped inside, the water cascading over his neck, and he moaned. After letting the water wet him thoroughly, Micah soaped himself. He thought about Tyler as his body responded to the fantasy. He teased his soap-covered hand up and down his dick, enjoying the sensation on his now-iron-hard shaft.

Steam filled the glass enclosure as Micah lost himself in the pleasure. He ran his fist up and down his cock as he explored his taut body with his other hand. A minute later, he leaned against the shower wall as he pounded his shaft, his breath coming in gasps. As he tensed with orgasm, he twisted his nipple and sent himself over the edge.

His climax painted the glass door with white lines as he shook with pleasure. With his balls tight against his erupting cock, Micah enjoyed the waves of ecstasy washing over him. He stripped the final strands of cum from his softening dick until he was focused on more than his trembling muscles.

As the last of the sexual euphoria left his body, he stepped back under the cascade to finish his shower. A short time later, he was done and used one of the plush towels to dry himself. He dropped the damp towel into the clothes hamper, walked into the bedroom and went through his closet to look for something to wear. He made his typical choice of pressed Wranglers, a heavy western shirt and boots polished to within an inch of their lives. It was likely he’d run into someone he knew and he planned on being prepared.

Once he had everything in place, including the addition of a tooled leather belt, he checked his appearance in the full-length mirror hanging from the closet door. Satisfied with what he saw, Micah headed out to the fairgrounds.