But when the gate opened? The bull came out hard. Jaxon was forced so far back he ended up lying on the animal - and then it kicked up hard. He popped forward, rocking his legs from the bull's shoulders to its hips like a teeter totter up there, but somehow that crazy bastard didn't use his free hand.
There was no spurring. That would mean letting go with the one part of him he could use to hang on. Instead, Jaxon did his best to get straight again, get his damned head down, and regain control, but something was wrong. Worse, the clock was quickly spinning toward eight, and while I knew he'd had a problem with J.D., he also hadn't ridden yesterday, so was he going to throw this or not?
"I'm hung!" he yelled, still somehow managing to stay in place. "Spur! Hung!"
"Fuck, fuck," Isaac hissed, looking over to me.
"He's still got it," Jorge snapped. "We can't interfere if he'sriding!"
"Bail!" I told Jaxon.
"I'm fucking hung!" he yelled back, proving he could hear us.
"And I got you!" I swore.
That was all he needed. Jaxon slung his body sideways, revealing his spur caught in the tail of his rope. The moment his body was off the side, the tail yanked tight, the part around the bull's middle went slack, and it all left him strapped there, halfway between the ground and the sky - grabbing at the bull withbothhands, yet gripping nothing long enough to help.
And I moved. The moment the animal swung around, I jumped onto it, propelling myself high enough to land halfway across its back. My right hand fumbled in my pocket. My left gripped Jaxon's leg, holding both of us where we wanted to be.
"Cut it!" Jorge ordered.
The moment I got my rope knife out, I hacked at Jaxon's bull rope. The first cut only went halfway through. He sagged, but I wasn't about to give up. Another strong hack got him free. Without the rope supporting us, we both slid off the side together, crashing down into the dirt with my hand gripping his knee and my face?
Well, he probably wouldn't like my face being that close to his dick.
"Chutes!" I told him, pushing up quickly in the hopes he hadn't realized where I'd just been.
I moved. He moved. The bull moved, and my team was making sure it didn't manage to get back around. Instead, it took off, running along the rail in a move that was much too familiar. If Jaxon had still been on it, this would've been a perfect replay of what had happened to Casey.
The outrider saw it was getting away from us, so he moved his horse in, swinging the rope over his head. That was enough. Spinning quickly, the bull decided his time was done and he was more than ready to go home. With one last swish of his tail, that bad boy charged out of the arena, making the gate attendants scramble to close it behind him.
"Fuck!" I breathed, bending over to catch my breath.
Isaac nodded, showing he approved, but he was breathing too hard to get a word out. It was Jorge who wiped at his face, then gestured for us to look.
Across the dirt, Jaxon was making his way back over from the chute, holding the cut rope in his hands. His chaps flared out with each step, and the man's head was down, but he'd managed to trade his helmet for his hat while we handled the bull.
But he shouldn't be out here. He should be up there, letting the next rider get his turn. I stood, ready for the worst, just as Jaxon reached me, thrusting the rope at me.
"This was you, right?"
"Yeah," I said.
He simply lunged, wrapping his arms around my shoulders to hug me hard enough to make my back crack. Twice, he thumped my shoulder blade, and then he pulled back.
"I... Tanner, I was hung." Then he pointed around the arena. "That was how Casey died. I... I could bedeadright now, but you saved me."
"Also ended up falling into your crotch," I pointed out.
"Don't fucking care," he said. "Look..." And he pulled in a deep breath, clearly thinking hard. "Hey, can you turn on that mic for a second?"
"Bad idea," I told him.
"I can," Isaac said.
So Jaxon leaned over near him. "Hey! Y'all see that save?"
The crowd roared with approval.
