“Getcha head in the game, cuz.”
“Colt, we flat-out suck at this. Even another week of practice wouldn’t help us none,” Kade hollered over the stall.
“Kwitcher belly-achin’. Watch the barrier this time.”
Kane—aka newly self-christened as Buck—whooped, “Gentlemen, start your horses!” and dropped the orange rope. The calf took off out of the chute in a red blur, Colt and Kade hot on its heels.
Dirt flew, saddles creaked, ropes twirled in the hot, dusty air. Both men let their ropes loose at the same time; Kade aimed for the head; Colt for the back feet.
Each rope hit the mark and the calf jerked to a stop. The horses knew the drill, backing up in opposite directions until the rope was pulled taut and the calf was stretched between them like a Chinese finger-pull.
Kade wiped his forehead as he waited the four seconds the calf had to be down for their time to even count.
“Time!”
Buck raced into the paddock and untied the calf. “Seven point eight seconds. Not bad.”
Colt coiled his rope after Buck released the calf. “Least we didn’t break the barrier.”
“Least we caught the goddamn thing,” Kade said. “That piss-poor time ain’t gonna win us a dime tomorrow.”
“Ain’t about money.”
Kade squinted at Colt. “What the hell are we competin’ for then?”
“Honor.” Colt spit out a wad of chewing tobacco.
“For Christsake, Colt, that’s the dumbest damn thing I ever heard. I’m a little old to be defendin’ my honor, let alone yours.”
“Kade’s got a point.”
“Shut the fuck up, Buck.” Colt grinned. “I gotta admit I’m likin’ the way your new name rhymes.”
Buck gave him the finger.
“Maybe I didn’t mean honor as much as I meant I don’t wanna get shown up,” Colt said.
“Shown up by who?”
“Quinn and Bennett are competin’.”
“So? They been travelin’ the circuit team ropin’ on a regular basis?”
“Nah. But that don’t mean they ain’t been practicin’ together down at the south end of the ranch when we’ve been up here workin’ on our separate sections. If you’ll remember, they whupped our butts but good last time.”
“That was damn near seven years ago.”
“Hey, ain’t that the time Cam and Carter teamed up?” Buck asked.
“Yep. Folks were laughin’ at my brothers attempts at ropin’ and wrestlin’, instead of laughin’ at the damn rodeo clown,” Colt grumbled. “So it is about honor. The honor of kickin’ our cousins’ sorry butts in front of the whole county.”
Kade loosened his grip on the reins and patted Colby’s old rodeo horse on the neck. “Didja think that maybe folks’ll be laughin’ at us instead?”
“Nope, because we’re gonna win and make ’em choke on our dust.”
Buck snorted. “You know Trevor Glanzer and Cash Big Crow are competin’? And they were both professional rodeo cowboys. If any team’s got a leg up, it’s them. Or Dag’s old partner, Jess Barton.”
Silence cut through the dirty air. It’d be the first year without Dag or Uncle Harland.
“Like I said, it’s about honor.”
Kade realized Colt’s insistence on participating was a tribute to their cousin. That put the whole thing in a different light. “Only way we’re gonna beat them guys if we keep practicin’.”
“Works for me. Load up another calf, Buck.” Colt spurred his horse back to the chutes and Kade returned to his side.
After the team roping practice, Buck nagged Kade into hazing for him while he attempted to steer wrestle. But none of the taunts from either of his crazy relatives would convince Kade to climb on the back of a bull at tomorrow’s rodeo.
Two hours later, dusty, sore and tired, Kade, Buck and Colt were sitting on the tailgates of their trucks, drinking iced tea out of mason jars. The sun hung low in the purple sky.
Talk turned from rodeo competition to cattle to ranch business to women. The conversation wasn’t nearly as raunchy as it’d been in years past. Kade didn’t know whether it was because they weren’t liquored up, or because they’d all grown up.
“You bringin’ that baby of yours to the rodeo?”
“Yep.”
“Ma says everybody’s gonna be there.”
“That don’t surprise me.” It occurred to him Skylar hadn’t talked to him about anything the last couple days. Maybe she didn’t want to hang out with his kin at the rodeo. After his I-control-all-the-sex-and-you’ll-give-it-to-me-anyway-I-want-it ultimatum, maybe she didn’t want to hang out with him.