Dare You to Resist the Bull Rider (Rock Valley High Book 4) Read online

  Dare You to Resist the Bull Rider

  BOOK FOUR

  in the Rock Valley High series

  LACY ANDERSEN

  DARE YOU TO RESIST THE BULL RIDER

  Copyright 2020 by Lacy Andersen

  All Rights Reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dare You to Resist the Bull Rider (Rock Valley High, #4)

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Epilogue

  Excerpt From Dare You to Chase the Soccer Player

  About the Author

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  Chapter One

  I, Charlotte Hale, was not a rhinestones and leather kind of girl. A mere whiff of hay made me sneeze. And fifteen minutes in the sun roasted me like a marshmallow held too close to a flame. Still, my best friend since seventh grade had finally moved back after a year away. It was his choice to have our big reunion at the Rock Valley fairgrounds arena so he could give me a surprise.

  I couldn’t say no.

  “Is it my imagination, or was that fly as big as a horse?” Lexi Black swatted at a loudly buzzing insect as it dive-bombed us and then flittered off. She looked totally out of place as we took a seat on the metal bleachers under the hot June sun. Frustration rolled off of her in waves. She blew her shoulder-length dark curly hair out of her face with an angry puff of air. “Tell me again why we agreed to come with you?”

  “We agreed because our sisters have decided to annoy us to death until we become quote, unquote, besties.” Beth Frye picked up a piece of gravel and tossed it at the bleachers below. Her blonde, wavy hair spilled over the purple Beat headphones wrapped around her neck and her emerald green eyes scanned the people running around the arena, setting up for the start of the 4H county fair.

  I supposed their lack of enthusiasm was to be expected. The three of us had kind of been forced together by our older sisters to become bonus sisters. They’d been bugging us to hang all summer, so I’d finally given in and asked Lexi and Beth to go with me to see Hunter’s surprise.

  “Listen, I’m not thrilled about this arrangement either,” I said, leaning back. “Let’s just do this, punch our timecards, and get our sisters off our backs. They’ll forget about this crazy plan when they’re off at college in the fall. Then, we can each go our separate ways.”

  That seemed to pacify them, which was good because that was when my eyes clapped on the last person I’d wanted to see today. Sarah Claiborne, with her snooty expression and her perfectly wavy shoulder-length blonde hair, was walking toward us in a deceivingly innocent yellow sundress. Her combination of a pert little nose, sharp chin, and high cheekbones were probably considered beautiful, but they only made me grind my teeth.

  She was the tormentor of my nightmares. The she-devil of my school. I’d once done everything in my power to become her friend and it had nearly gotten me killed.

  Clearly, we didn’t get along.

  “Hey, Lottie.” Sarah’s gaze drilled into mine as she stopped near the bottom of the bleachers and smirked up at me. The nickname she’d chosen for me had once felt like a badge of honor. Now, it felt like a curse. “I think you might be lost. The cows are supposed to meet in the 4H barn.”

  I scoffed as Beth and Lexi bristled next to me. It was just like her to ruin what could possibly be the best day of my entire year.

  “Would you mind?” Beth asked, leaning coolly back on the bench behind us. “You’re ruining the view of that guy shoveling horse poop.”

  Sarah’s thin, pink-tinted lips curved into a cruel smile. “That’s right. Keep your eyes on the guy that shovels manure. That’s about as good as you girls can do. Leave the real cowboys to me.”

  I stuck my tongue out at her as she threw her head back and laughed. Anything she could throw my way was going to roll right off my back. That was because it had been exactly thirty-seven days since Hunter McNally had broken the news that he was moving back home. Each day, I’d marked off the calendar in my room, excited to finally have him back for good.

  Everything was going to go back to the way it was, before his grandpa had broken his leg and Hunter and his mom had to suddenly move to Texas to help with the family ranch. Before my parents had made it their mission to throw me at every school club and association they could to help me find a passion. And before I’d had the worst sophomore year ever.

  My best friend was back.

  “Oooh, speaking of cowboys,” Lexi said breathlessly beside me, pointing down at the three stalls on the side of the arena.

  I hadn’t noticed them until now...or, the handful of guys gathered around one of the stalls. They seriously could’ve stepped out of an issue of Cowboy Monthly. Each guy wore some combination of tight Wrangler jeans, flannel shirt, cowboy hat, or a baseball cap. I was pretty sure I saw the glint of a gold buckle or two among them as well. They leaned over one of the stalls, moving leather straps around and chatting excitedly about what was inside.

  “Hot, chap-wearing, rugged cowboys,” Lexi said in a hoarse whisper, clutching her knees. “Think any of them are single?”

  I glanced sideways at her. She wore a vacant, dreamy expression, her expertly-lined eyes glued on the scene before us. I snorted in laughter. She was too much. I was about to poke fun at her, when I spotted Beth on my other side with a similar expression on her face. It seemed I’d lost them both. Even Sarah had lost her focus and was staring at the cowboys with a predatory look on her face.

  “Come on, guys.” I brushed a dark brown curl out of my face and sighed. “Don’t lose focus. We’ve got to keep an eye out for Hunter. He’s around here somewhere.”

  “Hunter McNally?” Sarah shot me a quick frown. “He’s back in town?”

  I wrapped my arms tight around my torso. The fact that Sarah cared about Hunter’s return made me feel all kinds of twisted up inside. “Yep, he’s coming back to Rock Valley.”

  The interested spark in her eyes made me growl internally. The girls in our class had always paid Hunter plenty of attention, but he’d never been very interested in pursuing anything with them. But Sarah had a way of sinking her claws into people. I wouldn’t have put it past her to try.

  Beth
shifted beside me, pointing at the stalls in the arena. “Actually, I think we already found him. Isn’t that him? In the helmet?”

  My pulse thrummed excitedly as I redirected my gaze back to the group of guys. Sure enough, there was one among them that I recognized. Hunter McNally stood hunched over the side of the stall, wearing a wire face mask and black helmet that covered up his short, brown hair.

  Hunter had changed since he’d moved away. He was now taller than me by several inches, his lean body filled out with sinewy muscles that flexed and tensed as he climbed higher on the side of the stall. A ragged black t-shirt stretched over his broad shoulders and tight denim jeans hugged his hips. He put a leg inside the stall and straddled something large inside it, giving me a flash of his tan cowboy boot with the rounded toe.

  There he was — my best friend! And he was finally home.

  I clutched hard onto Lexi and Beth’s arms as Hunter settled into the stall. There was an intensity in the way he moved that I wasn’t used to seeing. Curiosity blossomed inside of me. Was this the surprise he was talking about? What was he doing in there?

  I didn’t have time to speculate much longer. He mouthed something to one of the other guys. With a firm nod of his head, they all stepped back and someone pulled a rope that opened the stall, revealing a massive thousand-pound horned white beast with Hunter sitting on its back.

  “What the...?” Beth pulled the headphones off her neck. “Is he riding a cow?”

  Not a cow.

  A raging, muscular bull.

  My lungs had officially forgotten how to work. I stared breathlessly as the bull tore from the stall and began to kick up its hind legs and twist in midair, doing anything possible to dislodge my best friend from its back. Despite its best effort, Hunter remained in his seat, his legs holding tight to the thick backside of the monster.

  The ride seemed to last forever. Hunter raised his left hand up and down with the flow of the bull’s kicks, holding on tight to a strap with his right. Even from this distance, I could see the deadly concentration on his face. The cowboys on the fence whooped and hollered, waving their hats as if to goad the bull on even more. The massive thing lowered its head and let out a nasty snort before charging toward the fence and stopping fast enough to fling Hunter from his back.

  He landed hard on the ground, looking up at the clear blue sky above him. The sight nearly gave me a heart attack. Two of the cowboys raced into the ring, waving their hats and chasing the snorting bull toward the other end of the corral.

  A fall like that would’ve knocked the stuffing out of me, but Hunter was tougher than that. He pushed himself up on his elbows, laughing as his gaze trailed the bull. And when he turned back in my direction and our eyes met, red hot relief burst inside me.

  “Ow, Charlotte, you’re hurting me,” Lexi whined, looking down at where I’d grabbed her arm.

  “Oops, sorry.”

  I dropped my hand from both of them and took a steadying breath. I wasn’t sure whether to be furious or impressed with my best friend right now. The emotions swirling inside of me were too confusing to make out. He’d mentioned how his time in Texas had gotten him into extreme sports, but for some reason I’d had a vague notion that it involved wrestling a greased-up piglet or maybe tussling a calf. I’d had no idea that meant bull riding. This was dangerous. This was stupid. This was reckless.

  And so unbelievably cool.

  “Charlotte Hale, how’d you like that eight seconds?” Hunter pushed himself off the ground and ran to climb over the arena fence.

  He easily cleared it and landed on the other side with a solid thud and a cloud of dust forming around his boots. Part of me longed to run to him. I would’ve done it a year ago, no questions asked. But this young man in jeans and a threadbare shirt, half-covered in dust, was not the kid I remembered from my childhood. The boy who had secretly admitted to me that he listened to Taylor Swift to put him to sleep at night and didn’t mind when I picked Easy A every time it was my turn to choose for movie night.

  “Don’t just stand there,” he said, his hazel eyes glittering as he tore off his helmet and shot me the ornery grin I knew so well. “Are you fixin’ to stare at me all day, or are you gonna come say hi?”

  What was this twang coming out of his mouth? I didn’t recognize it, but it didn’t stop me from jumping from the bleachers and pummeling him with a hug. As he wrapped his arms tight around me and lifted me off the ground, I got the distinct scent of dirt and salty sweat from his t-shirt. I sighed and closed my eyes, sinking into his embrace. It might have been a lot different from the Hunter hugs I knew, but they were just as good at making me feel at home.

  “You’re here,” I said as he put me back on solid ground. “You’re really here.”

  He smirked and tugged playfully on a lock of my hair. “In the flesh, Char Char. Guess you’ll have to get used to having me around again.”

  “That was the longest year of my life. Thank goodness for cell phones or I would’ve been convinced you’d dropped off the edge of the world.”

  He chuckled, his laughter a lot deeper than before he’d left. “Widow, Texas might just be the edge of the world. People go there and never come back. I was one of the lucky ones to escape.”

  I stared at him in wonder, hardly able to contain my happiness. How many nights had I wished he’d come back? That he could be there as I trudged through my second year of high school, pathetic and all alone? But all of that had changed. I was determined to put things right again. Starting now, my life would go back to normal. It would be as if he’d never left.

  “I can’t believe you’re finally back. And I really can’t believe you just rode that big horrible bull,” I said, glaring up at him. The adrenaline from watching that scene was still coursing through my veins, but at least I wasn’t shaking now. “My best friend moves back into town only to be trampled by a bull? What were you thinking with a surprise like that?”

  I smacked him lightly on the shoulder and he grunted, faking a wince and rubbing it as if I’d injured him. His reaction only made me laugh. Standing this close, I could now see the hint of new scruff coming in on his chin. That definitely hadn’t been there before.

  “Come on, Char. You’re going to hurt Marshmallow's feelings,” he said glancing over at the bull loitering in the opposite side of the arena.

  “Marshmallow?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “That monster’s name is Marshmallow? You’ve got to be kidding. I’d say Man-Killer would fit him better.”

  “Nah, he’s as soft as a teddy bear,” Hunter said, his eyes fixing me with a teasing glint.

  “That thing is not a teddy bear,” I said firmly.

  Hunter shrugged and glanced over his shoulder at the arena. “Marshmallow’s about the size of the bulls I’ll be riding at the junior 4H rodeo next weekend. This was just a taste. I wanted to surprise you.”

  I gaped at him, dread sprouting through my chest like thorny vines. “You’re kidding me. You’re actually going to do that again?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Why?”

  “The thrill of the ride, Char,” he said, frowning at me. Shadows danced in his eyes. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but a lots changed in the last year. I’m not the weak little kid that moved away. I can handle this bull and anything else that comes my way. You’ll see. Everything’s changed for the better.”

  Since when had Hunter McNally become so serious? I’d never considered him a weak little kid. He was one of the strongest, most kind-hearted people I knew. I didn’t want him to change.

  “Wait — you’re riding in the rodeo during the fair?” Sarah asked from behind me.

  I hadn’t noticed her and the girls coming to join us. The slow way Sarah scanned Hunter over with her approving brown eyes gave me the sudden and powerful desire to jump in front of him and tell her to back off. I inhaled sharply at the sensation, unused to such a strange reaction around my best friend.

  “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be in
the junior bull riding rounds on Friday night,” Hunter said, leaning his elbow on the arena fence and returning her smile.

  “That’s awesome,” she said with a toss of her hair. “I’m running for the Junior Rodeo Queen. We’ll have lots of time to catch up during the fair.”

  Hunter nodded at her and I couldn’t help but wonder if he was being pulled in by Sarah’s fake smiles. Guys automatically seemed to like her. She knew how to turn on the sugar sweet charm around them. It was a strategy she’d used on me, too. It had taken me a while to see through the act.

  Lexi elbowed me in the ribs. “We’ll be sure to be there to cheer Hunter on, won’t we, Charlotte?”

  I shot her a thin-lipped smile. Seeing Hunter gored by a bull wasn’t on the top of my to-do list, but I supposed this was best friend territory. “Yeah...I guess. But I’m going to cover my eyes when Hunter’s turn comes up. I don’t think I can watch.”

  “It’s a deal.” Hunter pinned me with a steady look, his frown deepening slightly, as my gut warmed. “I’m glad you’ll be there, Char. It really means a lot.”

  “It does?” I asked, chewing nervously on my thumbnail.

  But all of my worries faded away as Hunter took a step closer to me and gently grabbed the hand I was chewing on and pulled it away from my mouth. He leaned down slightly to look me in the eye and gave me one last, heart-galloping crooked grin.

  “You’re my girl, Char. I need you there.”

  I knew he was just talking big when he called me his girl, but still, my girly hormones weren’t immune to the power those words held. My head spun just enough to make me dizzy. Somehow, I managed to nod my acceptance at him, earning another wide hazel-eyed smile. And I didn’t miss the narrowing of Sarah’s eyes as she glared at me from behind Hunter.

  “Fine. We’ll be there,” I said firmly. “But when you fall and bump that pretty head of yours, don’t make me say I told you so.”

  “No worries.” His eyes danced with excitement. He rapped his knuckles on the side of his head and then winked at me. “Hard as a rock. At least, that’s what Mom says.”