There was a buzz, though, the kind that made his little hairs stand up. The kind that made Mackey glance over to make sure he was ready.
He nodded. He was.
He wasn’t going to drop the damn ball. No way. Mackey needed him to have their backs.
The arena went dark as they introduced the riders, and Jack took a breath to keep Ghost settled. He knew better, but he glanced into the stands anyway as the lights came back up. He found Denton easily in the VIP seats, sitting alone with an empty seat beside him. He cut his eyes to the family seat he’d gotten for Hudson, and this time, Hudson was there, applauding and cheering with everyone else as the event got underway.
Hudson was in his seat.
Jack tipped his hat in that direction, hoping Hudson knew it was for him, because it was. It was a hi and a howdy, and an I’m glad you’re here.
Hudson cheered louder, and that was all he needed to know.
It didn’t change what he and Mackey had felt in the air, though, and shit went sideways from the very first ride. Dean Kane got caught between his bull and the gate, and Mackey’s team was on it, but that was no way to begin a packed Saturday night in Vegas.
By the end of the third section, there had been six bad wrecks, and Tommy was bleeding. Stock came jogging up, mic off. “We got three more sections and the short-go. Dammit.”
“Tell me about it. Go entertain the people before they eat you.”
Stock nodded. “Watch Mackey. He’s got those eyes, if you know what I mean.” The clown took off running and did two no-handed cartwheels in a row to huge applause, pulling out the big guns.
“Watch Mackey. Dammit.” There were only so many more hits the bullfighter could take before it was all over.
“You’ve got this, Jack!” Hudson’s voice cut through the arena dust and the cheers for the clown and hit him right where he needed.
He and Ghost did what they needed to, hitting one loop after another, dragging bulls around the arena. Things eased up for two sections, and then everything went to hell.
One entire section went by in a rush of wrecks and no rides, one of the bulls tried to get into the stands, and he was fixin’ to lose his mind.
“Oi!” Tommy came jogging over between bulls. “Mother’s okay. You good?”
“Ready for tonight to be over. Shit. Twenty bucks says no rides during the short-go tonight.”
“Fuck, no. I should just hand you my money right now.” Tommy gave Ghost a pat on the neck. “Good riding, man. Let’s finish this.” Tommy jogged away again, headed right for the twins.
“Okay, Ghost. Twelve more bull rides, and we’ve got two weeks off, you and me.” He swung his rope in a lazy arc as he waited for the first ride.
The first one was up and down, not too scary, but not a good ride either. The next was a lot like the first. The big contenders came up next, and a couple of them even managed to keep their asses on the bull for eight.
Good thing he hadn’t kept that bet.
Kickstarter was up next, and Joao Pedilla was on deck. That big yellow bastard bull was losing his shit in the chute, climbing the fence and trying to kill someone.
Eventually Joao had to be pulled out, and they opened the gate. Kickstarter headed straight for him, and he kicked Ghost into gear, zipping around the shark tank and leading the bull on a little chase.
Mackey and Tommy were waiting, the twins were waving their arms like mad, and Hudson hooted from the stands.
He turned Ghost on a dime, throwing his loop and catching one horn and tugging hard before getting him and Ghost out of the way.
It went like that for a couple of minutes, and then he convinced that bastard to go back in the chutes and he followed. He needed to swap Ghost out.
Ghost was tired, ready for a break, and Princess could handle the handful of rides that were left.
At least he hoped so.
If not, it was going to suck.
Princess managed her job, but the last three outs were brutal, he was soaked with sweat, and he was in need of a shot of tequila, a bath, and a hard fuck.