Read 02-Let It Ride for Free Online

those last two words. He just nodded. “Yeah.”
    Kent clapped him on the shoulder and stood. “I love you, man.”
    Bridge looked up into friendly blue eyes and smiled at Kent’s unwavering acceptance and loyalty. “Love you back.”
    Bridge held out his fist, and Kent bumped it with his knuckles. Then he smiled that suave James Bond smile of his that always won the ladies over. “I got some rookies to go show how to wrestle down a seven-hundred-pound steer now.”
    Bridge nodded. “See you out there.”
    He watched Kent walk away and exhaled a long breath, then lifted his hat and ran a hand through his hair. He really needed to get Eric alone and have a talk. Soon.

“You all right?” Eric asked when Kent brought his horse to a halt beside him, wincing as he dismounted.
    There were still a couple more sessions on the roster, but day one of rodeo school was coming to an injury-free close—so far. Kent had just finished a steer wrestling demonstration, and his clothes were covered in dirt, there was a tear in the knee of his jeans, and one of his shirttails was hanging free.
    Kent sighed and pushed his hat back to wipe sweat from his face with an old bandana. “Yeah.” He angled his leg to get a better look at his knee. “Just a scratch.”
    “Even so,” Eric said. He kneeled down to open the emergency field kit he’d placed near the arena entrance where he stood watch, and pulled out a package of antibacterial wipes. “Let me give it a quick cleaning. You’d be surprised how fast a minor cut untreated can turn into a major infection.”
    “Yes, Mom.” Kent chuckled but hooked his boot onto the second railing of the arena fencing, giving Eric better access.
    “He-Man,” Eric joked. He pulled the torn material back from Kent’s skin and started wiping away the dirt to get a better look at the cut. “So . . . is it just me or has Bridge been acting weird?”
    Eric didn’t look up, but he could feel the weight of Kent’s stare on him. “Yeah. Something’s going on with him. He’ll tell us when he’s ready.”
    Eric nodded, fighting back the urge to ask more questions, even though he knew Bridge was the only one he should be talking to about this. Except he had a feeling he knew exactly what was going on and some part of him didn’t really want it confirmed.
    He may have felt like he’d known the affable cowboys forever, that maybe he finally belonged somewhere, but in the back of his mind, he was still Disposable Eric. The kid whose parents said they loved him but kicked him to the curb; the new kid in the foster home who would always be the first one turned out if there was a rift between him and the established friends. If he let his original attraction to Bridge resurface any more than it had already, let something happen between them, he’d lose more than Bridge when it took its usual route south. He’d lose all of them because there was no way Marty and Kent would choose him over Bridge. No way anyone would choose him first.
    Fuck, how did he let himself get in so deep with these guys? He knew better than to let his guard down and believe in fairy tales.
    Before he could wander farther down Woe Is Me Road, commotion from the arena drew his attention. Eric turned in time to see a horse pull itself up from the ground, leaving its rider in the dirt. The riderless horse trotted off, shaking its head and snorting, clearly not impressed at having taken a fall, but the cowboy remained flat out on the ground. A split second later, Eric’s stomach bottomed out when he recognized the cowboy. He swallowed back the sudden queasy lurch and shifted into professional mode. He grabbed his field kit, holding it under his arms to keep it closed rather than wasting time fastening the latches, and sprinted into the ring.
    “Clear back,” he barked at the cowboys who’d gathered at Bridge’s side. Eric’s heart pounded hard in his ears as he dropped to his knees beside the burly cowboy.
    “Bridge.” His