He connected the call.
“I still hate you plenty,” Quickdraw assured Dead.
Dead snorted and winced as he held his shoulder. At least he was making a fist fine now. “Who ya gonna call?”
“Ghostbusters,” Two Shots deadpanned, pacing away from him as the phone rang. “I’m calling someone who can help.” He didn’t know how he knew that she would be prepared for something like this happening, but in this moment, Two Shots realized he had utter faith in Cheyenne to come through in the clutch at any given time. She was that good.
She picked up on the third ring. “Hiiii,” she sang in an overly happy voice.
“Cut the crap, sexy lady. I know the riders were giving you hell. I’ll deal with them later, but we gotta problem.”
The false note dropped from her voice as she murmured, “What happened?”
“Dead’s hurt. We need pain relief.”
He could hear the bathroom door slam behind her and her hurried footsteps clacking against the wooden floorboards. Ooooh, Boss Lady was comin’. “I’ll be there in five. I have to grab a bag out of my truck.”
Then the line went dead. Two Shots smiled at the screen. Sexy woman always ready for whatever got thrown at her. His phone lit up, and it was a text from Cheyenne just to him. The entire message was just a red heart emoji. He sent one back and hoped she understood what it meant. He’d never sent a heart ever.
She put a heart reaction on his heart almost immediately, and he knew. She loved him, and he loved her. They were just dancing around the words.
Two Shots turned to the boys, both looking expectantly at him.
With utter confidence, he assured Dead, “Cheyenne’s gonna fix it.”
Chapter Sixteen
She’d done all she could do.
Dead had held still while she’d doctored him. Hell, yeah, she’d prepared for injuries. She’d hired a farm vet to show her in two months everything she could learn about fixing up bulls. But while she was confident in what she was doing to get him through the night, she kept imagining Dead landing wrong on that shoulder and snapping it back out.
Just the thought made her stomach turn.
Two Shots and Quickdraw hadn’t left them. They’d done everything she’d asked to help, and now Quickdraw was sitting right beside Dead, upping the intensity on the pulse machine. Dead’s massive shoulder, bicep, and upper back twitched in rhythm. Dead was using his arm, stretching it, testing it.
They wouldn’t be able to see the damage of his next change until right before his buck. Please God, let his shoulder stay in its socket during his change! Thank goodness for that fast bull shifter healing, but this was a rough injury to rehab right before a huge ride.
The announcer’s voice was echoing through the changing room by the time she was packing up the medical supplies. She snapped a first-aid ice pack and shook it, waited for the cold to penetrate before she handed it to Dead. “Don’t leave this room until I come get you to change. Okay? Don’t let anyone see you.”
Dead nodded and swallowed hard. “I won’t.”
“Two and Quickdraw, y’all need to go do your prep routines before you buck. You only have about twenty minutes left before you need to head to your chutes.”
“I’m fine.” Quickdraw leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “I’m just going to hang here until you call us.”
“You aren’t Changing in my territory,” Dead muttered.
“Oh, fuck off, I’ll go in my room to change.”
“I don’t need a babysitter, Quickdraw. Make like a cow and moooooove.”
“Fine,” Quickdraw growled. He stood and left the room, slammed the door behind him, and about two seconds later, the sound of his own slamming door rattled the room.
“What’s his problem?” Dead asked.
“Don’t think he was trying to be your babysitter, Dead,” Two Shots said. “Think he was trying to be your friend.”
Two Shots grabbed Cheyenne’s hand and shouldered her medical bag. “Come on. I need a few minutes to settle down.”
“Thank you,” Dead muttered so low Cheyenne almost missed it.
She turned and gave him a smile. “Anytime. You’re part of the team. You matter, Dead.”
Dead hung his head and fidgeted with his thumbs. “Quickdraw, if you can hear me…thank you.”
Two Shots opened the door and turned to him. “Don’t split us up, man.”
“Why would I split you two up. I told you I don’t care if you’re fucking.”
“Not me and Cheyenne. I mean, don’t split the team up. Don’t drop under three. You get out there and drop that rider in the dirt. You hear?”
Dead nodded.
Cheyenne pulled his favorite energy drink from her bag and tossed it to him. He caught it easy and grinned, his arm still twitching with the pulse machine. “I have room in my score,” he bragged. “Two Shots, you’re the one who should be getting a pep talk. First Time Train Wreck is right on your tail.” He jacked his voice up to sound feminine and whiny. “Don’t split us up.”
“Shut up, man,” Two Shots down muttered, but when they got outside Dead’s bathroom, Cheyenne didn’t miss the slight smile on his face.
“That’s my favorite one,” she said on a breath.
“Favorite what?”
“That’s my favorite smile. It’s the real one you give when you don’t think anyone is looking. I think you look so handsome when you smile like that.”
His smile turned all crooked and charming. “You wanna give me a hand job before I buck?”
“Two Shots,” she whispered, mortified.
He looked around at the people bustling around them. “None of these people can hear us.”
A group of bull riders was heading their way, and she recognized some of them from earlier. She wilted and slid her hand out of Two Shots’ grasp.
He wouldn’t have it, though. He leaned down and grabbed her hand again, intertwined their fingers. “Who cares what they think?” he said, plenty loud enough for the riders to hear.
They were all watching, whispering, snickering over something Roddy said.
It bothered her because they used to respect her. She used to be an agent for bull riders, and they’d had manners when she was. But now?
“Is this how they treat you all the time?” she asked.
Two Shots shrugged. “It’s how we treat each other. There will always be a rivalry, but that’s a good thing, Cheyenne.” He pulled her into his room and shut the door behind them. “Friendships soften you.”
He rounded on her and pushed her against the wall, unbuckled her belt like he’d done it a hundred times. He kissed her hard until her head swam.
“I can almost hear you thinking,” he whispered. “Your mind is racing while you’re taking this all in, getting overwhelmed because you aren’t used to it yet. You’ll get there fast, but for now?” He slid his hand down the front of her jeans under her panties and slid his fingertips down her sex. “I can make your head go quiet if you want.”
“Uh huh,” she whispered, nodding. “I want that.”