by Elle Thorpe
Dom’s answering smile was heart-melting. But then he jerked his head toward the door. “You know what I’m sure of?”
“That I’m going to miss my ride if I don’t get my ass out there?”
He slung an arm around my neck, and we walked side by side into the backstage hustle and bustle. He touched his lips to my temple. “I’m sure you’re going to go put your name at the top of the leaderboard. And I can’t wait to watch you do it.”
“Good to have you back, Summer.”
I nodded to the guy who’d spoken, vaguely recognizing his face and appreciating his encouragement, but the pit of snakes writhing in my belly snatched the ability to reply.
The man gripped the back of my safety vest, the one all riders were required to wear, and the thing that would hopefully protect me from a horn through my heart.
“I gotcha. You’re good to go.”
I slapped my palms against my jeans and climbed over the top of the bucking chute. The bull beneath me gave a snort of annoyance, kicking out at the gate and lurching forward, trying to free himself. I had no choice but to get lurched along with him, and my spotter grabbed my vest tighter, making sure I wasn’t going to slip off the bull’s side and end up beneath his hooves.
“Take it easy,” I muttered, as much to myself as the bull. His name was Spin Kick, and I hoped he’d live up to it. He just needed to wait until we got out of the gates.
“You okay?” One of the guys passed me the ropes with a frown of concern.
I couldn’t answer him. I was too busy reminding myself that I was okay. The last time I had ridden in an arena like this, I’d come off so injured I’d never fully recover. But it had been a turning point in my life that had led me here.
My attention flickered, and for the tiniest moment, I looked up from the ropes and found Dom standing off to the side.
You got this, he mouthed.
Damn straight, I did. This wasn’t last time. This wasn’t going to end with me crumpled and hurt, lying on the dirt, bleeding.
This was going to end with a winner’s buckle on my belt.
Determination roared through me, obliterating everything else. I grinned at Dom and got myself set on the back of the bull, wrapping the rope around my glove, and locking my bad arm in against my chest. My fingers wrapped around my vest.
Eight seconds to glory. That’s all I needed.
The gate burst open, and Spin Kick went with it, shooting out into the arena, dirt kicking up beneath his hooves.
I preempted it, moving with him, compensating for my bad arm with the new strength I’d gained in my legs and core. All those months of physical therapy paid off. My heart hammered behind my rib cage, sending adrenaline soaring through my body, but I welcomed it. It focused me, propelled me on, fed my determination until I knew, deep within my gut, there was no way I was falling off.
This bull could buck and kick and throw himself around. But I wasn’t getting off until that buzzer sounded.
No way. No how.
Spin Kick launched into his second attack, changing directions, and kicking his back legs so high I was sure he was almost completely vertical.
Yet I hung on.
I hung on until the buzzer sounded, and the crowd around me all leapt to their feet, stamping and cheering and screaming my name. I held on while the green eight-second qualifying ride signal flashed up on a screen. I held on while the bullfighters ran out, circling me and Spin Kick, waiting for me to dismount so they could get him out of the arena.
I waited until it sank in that I’d done it.
“Yes!” I screamed, letting out a war cry that was swallowed up by the crowd. I got my hand free of the ropes, and on Spin Kick’s next buck, I got myself off him.
My boots hit the dirt, and muscle memory kicked in. I ran for the fence and hauled myself to the top, twisting back around to stare up at the scoreboard.
The announcer’s excited voice pumped through the speakers. “We all knew what she was capable of, and she’s done us proud. Summer Hunt with a ninety-two-point-four!”
I blinked, not really sure I’d heard him properly. But a split second later, the score flashed up on the screen. I pumped my good arm into the air, and the crowd around me lit up again.
And then my gaze landed on the man behind the fence. The one standing there in a cowboy hat, cheering that I was his girl. I climbed down the other side of the fence, and he caught me easily, his arms wrapping around me.
“You’re back,” he said with a grin.
“And so are you.”
He ducked his head, gripped the sides of my face, and kissed me long, slow, and hard. I was back in the ring. He was back on my ranch. We were back on track. Together.
Epilogue
SUMMER
One Year Later…
Madison Square Garden was like no other stadium I’d ever ridden in before. The crowd screamed a little louder. The pyrotechnics lit up a little brighter. The anticipation in the air thickened in a way I’d never experienced.
Or maybe it was just me, and my full-body reaction to riding in the opening night of the WBRA pro tour.
In the wings of the stadium, surrounded by the other guys I’d be competing against as we traveled the country for the next year, I finally felt like I was where I was supposed to be.
In just a few minutes, I’d be introduced as a professional bull rider for the very first time. My photo would go up on the big screen, my stats displayed beneath it, while the announcer called my name.
My phone buzzed in my hands with an incoming message. I glanced down at it and frowned when Austin’s name was displayed on the screen. I hadn’t heard from him since the night we’d broken up.
Always knew you could do it. So proud of you, baby. Can we talk when you get home?
Ugh. I deleted the text and blocked his number. But there was no way I was going to let Austin rain on my parade. Not tonight. Not any night. He was no longer my problem. There’d be no talks. He was a chapter of my life that had well and truly closed, and one I had no interest in ever reopening.
The announcer started calling riders out in alphabetical order, and I shuffled forward, nervously waiting for my turn. At the mouth of the tunnel, I looked up into the friends and family section and spotted everyone I loved. My parents. Sisters. Preston, Hallie, and Nate. Felix, Johnny, Isabel, and Dom’s other brothers were all here, too.
And Dominic. He wasn’t up in the stands. Grave Digger was competing tonight as well. And had been booked for every round of the competition, so Dom was somewhere backstage, making sure he was well cared for and ready to do his job.
But I knew he’d be watching me.
My dad had assigned Dom to be Grave Digger’s handler for the entirety of the tour. So this was truly the first night of our new lives. Traveling around the country, just the two of us, a busload of cowboys and a convoy of trucks filled with prize-winning bulls.
All my dreams come true.
I grinned up at the sky, thanking my lucky stars for the life I’d found.
And the man I loved.
“Number seventeen, first woman to ever qualify for the WBRA tour, Summer Hunt!”
The crowd roared my name, and with my heart pounding, I stepped out from the darkness of the tunnels and into the arena. I took off my hat and waved it at the crowd simultaneously trying to find the X marked on the ground in the middle of the arena. That was where I’d been told to stand, so the pyrotechnics didn’t set me on fire.
The crowd screamed my name like I was a rock star, and I gazed out at all the proud, smiling faces, focusing in on one little girl who jumped and waved from behind the barrier of the front row. Her cheeks still held the chubbiness of childhood, two pigtails falling from beneath her wide-brimmed hat. I waved right at her, watching as her eyes lit up in excitement.
I hit my mark, and the pyrotechnics lit up the arena in a dazzling display of fire. The orange-yellow flames flew high into the air in huge bursts before the stadium plunged into co
mplete darkness.
I jerked at the sudden, and total lack of light, waiting for the lights to come back on.
They didn’t.
Seconds ticked by, and nothing happened.
Something had to be wrong. They shouldn’t have taken this long to turn back on. I didn’t dare move, though, for fear the pyrotechnics would go off again.
A murmur rippled through the crowd. I sensed people moving around me, but I couldn’t see a thing.
The lights suddenly flooded the arena once more, and the crowd let out a relieved breath as one.
Then they saw what I saw.
A shocked gasp ripped through the stadium, slowly turning into a cheer.
Dom grinned up at me from down on one knee, a ring box in his hand. “Surprise?”
My fingers started up a tremble like none I’d ever experienced. “What are you doing?”
“I think you know.” He winked at me, like he wasn’t even aware there were thousands of people cheering around us right now.
He opened the box, and I gasped at the gorgeous diamond ring inside. It wasn’t big or flashy. The diamonds were set into the band, and I knew instantly he’d chosen it because it wouldn’t get caught on things while I was riding or working.
It was the sort of ring I could wear every day, a constant reminder of the man who had given it to me. It was as if the crowd disappeared. All I heard, all I saw, all I could think of, was him.
“I love you, Summer. I’ve loved you long before I ever told you, and I’ll love you long after the last time I get to say it. But I want there to be a million times in between. I want to be by your side for all the moments. The bull riding. The teaching. The traveling. Family. Babies. I want to watch you chase your dreams and then conquer them. I want you to watch me achieve mine. Then I want to make new ones together. For the rest of our lives.”
He sucked in a breath, like he was suddenly nervous. “Summer? Will you marry me?”
I didn’t need to think about it. Not for a single second. “Yes!” I dropped down into the dirt with him, kneeling, not even caring about the ring. All I wanted was him. His lips on mine.
He kissed me soft and slow, arms wrapping around me and holding me tight.
I knew the crowd cheered. I knew somewhere in the stands, our moms would be crying, and our fathers would be shaking hands, and grinning with pride.
But all I saw was him. Our dreams. And a beautiful future where all of them came true.
THE END
Go back and see how the original dirty cowboys found their soulmates. Addie and Frost, Johnny and Isabel - their romances, plus their friends are all part of the Dirty Cowboy series. Start with Talk Dirty, Cowboy.
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Sneak Peek at Talk Dirty, Cowboy. Available now!
“He’s a single dad and a dirty talking cowboy. I didn’t stand a chance.”
“Lily? What’s wrong?” I knelt in front her tiny five-year-old body and scanned her for any obvious sign of injury. She seemed okay—no bleeding wounds or bones at odd angles. A little of my mommy panic ebbed away.
She shook her blonde head sadly, then whispered, “I don’t feel so good.”
I didn’t even have time to flinch before she hurled her dinner up.
All over me.
I scrunched my eyes and mouth shut, whipping my head away just in time to miss the second wave, which landed all over her, the carpet, and again, me.
As her heaving was replaced with sobbing, I dared to survey the carnage. And oh, as soon as I opened my eyes, I wished I hadn’t. Because it was bad. So very bad.
“Sorry, Momma,” Lily whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks.
I gathered her shaking form up in my arms and recoiled when I touched her burning-hot skin. Whoa. Where had that fever come from? I held her for a moment, debating my options, then decided that the first order of business was getting both of us in a shower.
The doorbell rang when I was halfway down the stairs with my vomit-covered parcel. “Aiden! Could you grab that, please?”
I shifted Lily’s weight, peering over her and carefully watching the stairs to be sure I didn’t fall. Because wouldn’t that just top this evening off. A vision of Lily and me rolling down the stairs, spreading puke everywhere as we went, flashed through my mind and I almost laughed. It was either that or cry.
I took the last step, landing in the living room, right as Aiden screamed, “Mom! It’s for you!”
I froze.
Bowen, all six foot something of delicious, clean, and rugged man, stood in my foyer.
“Hello, Paisley.”
Read it now. 1-click or download for free in Kindle Unlimited.
Also by ELLE THORPE
The Only You series (complete)
*Only the Positive (Only You, #1) - Reese and Low.
*Only the Perfect (Only You, #2) - Jamison.
*Only the Truth - (Only You, bonus novella) - Bree.
*Only the Negatives (Only You, #3) - Gemma.
*Only the Beginning (Only You, #4) - Bianca and Riley.
*Only You boxset
*All of Him - A single dad anthology, featuring Only the Lies. Only the Lies is a bonus, Only You novella.
Dirty Cowboy series (complete)
*Talk Dirty, Cowboy (Dirty Cowboy, #1)
*Ride Dirty, Cowboy (Dirty Cowboy, #2)
*Sexy Dirty Cowboy (Dirty Cowboy, #3)
*25 Reasons to Hate Christmas and Cowboys (a Dirty Cowboy bonus novella, set before Talk Dirty, Cowboy but can be read as a standalone, holiday romance)
Saint View High series (Reverse Harem, Bully Romance)
*Devious Little Liars (Saint View High, #1)
*Dangerous Little Secrets (Saint View High, #2)
*Twisted Little Truths (Saint View High, #3)
Buck Cowboys series (Spin off from the Dirty Cowboy series)
*Buck Cowboys (Buck Cowboys, #1)
*Buck You! (Buck Cowboys, #2)
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Acknowledgments
So, do we love Dominic as much as we loved his dad, Johnny? I know I do. Johnny has been my favorite from my cowboy books for a long time, but I think Dominic might have knocked him off the top spot. Seems only fitting that Johnny’s son was the one to take his crown haha.
Summer and Dominic’s romance wasn’t an easy one for me to write. I cursed them many a time during the writing process. Just ask my readers group, and my newsletter. They got to hear all my frustrations as I wrote. But you know what? The best stories are always the ones that push me the most. And I love how Buck You turned out. Though who is next? Callie or Lennon? Preston? Maybe one of Dominic’s brothers? I don’t know yet, but maybe they’ll go easier on me? Doubtful haha. But do let me know if you have a preference. I love hearing from you guys.
Thank you to Jolie Vines, Zoe Ashwood, Emmy Ellis and Karen Hrdlicka who make up my stellar editing team. And an extra thanks to Jo and Zoe for being my author besties too! Thank you to Sara Massery for the chats, sprints, and graphic design advice. Thank you to Shellie, Lissanne, Kirsty, and Louise for your early feedback. A massive thank you to my promo and review team for always being there for me.
And as always, a huge thank you to my family. To Jira, Thomas, Flick, and Heidi. You four are the loves of my life and I couldn’t do any of this without you.
Love, Elle x
About the Author
Elle Thorpe lives on the sunny east coast of Australia. When she’s not writing stories full of kissing, she’s a wife and mummy to three tiny humans. She’s also official ball thrower to one slobbery dog named Rollo. Yes, she named a female dog after a
dirty hot character on Vikings. Don’t judge her. Elle is a complete and utter fangirl at heart, obsessing over The Walking Dead and Outlander to an unhealthy degree. But she wouldn’t change a thing.
You can find her on Facebook or Instagram(@ellethorpebooks or hit the links below!) or at her website www.ellethorpe.com. If you love Elle’s work, please consider joining her Facebook fan group, Elle Thorpe’s Drama Llamas or joining her newsletter here. www.ellethorpe.com/newsletter
