Champion (Studs in Spurs) (5 page)

Chapter Five

Five years later

Glen came out of his bedroom and paused on his way to the bathroom. “Hey. What are you up to?”

Cooper let out a snort. “Nothing.”

That could be the answer until the day he died if he didn’t get back to where he’d been in his career just a few years ago.

It sucked, the toll time took on a man. Five years ago, he’d been at the top of his game. The best in his sport. Now, he couldn’t hang on long enough to qualify to ride in the circuit he used to dominate. Even Skeeter, the damn kid he’d trained to ride, had gone pro and had a better riding percentage than him this season. It would only be a matter of time before Skeeter would move up from the touring pro division and be ranked in the top forty in the world. Like Cooper used to be. Like he might never be again.

“Fuck.” The cuss Cooper bit out as a comment on his whole life in general must have clued Glen in to the full extent of his foul mood.

Glen glanced up and asked, “What’s the matter? You’ve been moping around here and guzzling whisky for days.”

“What do you think is the matter?” Cooper scowled.

What the fuck? His business partner should know what the hell was wrong. Cooper drew in another swallow and let the whisky burn a path down his throat.

“It’s just temporary, Coop. You’ll get back on the tour soon enough.”

“Yeah, sure. It’ll be a breeze. I’ll rack up the points and be back just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “Top ten. World champion even.”

“Maybe it’s time you consider retiring.”

Maybe it was time Glen minded his own fucking business and went back to the bedroom and that piece of tail waiting on him before Cooper decked him. Still, the suggestion ate at his gut. Enough so he couldn’t let it go.

“You saying I should retire because I’m too old to ride anymore?” Christ. Maybe it was true. He couldn’t keep his points high enough to stay on the tour he’d led in the standings most of his career.

“I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. Bull riding is a young man’s game. You’re thirty-five. Going on thirty-six this year, and that’s—”

“Old.”

“Yeah, Coop, it is. Considering the level you ride at and the way they’re breeding bigger and better bucking bulls every damn day, it is.”

Cooper let out a snort and downed more whisky.

Glen watched him polish off the glass before shaking his head. “Retiring from the tour doesn’t mean you curl up and die. Jesus, Coop, you’ll still be in the business. The ranch is doing great. With you not traveling all over the world following the circuit, we can expand our stock. Hell, you can still ride if you want. Compete locally in the smaller events where the bulls aren’t so rank.”

Acid rose in the back of his throat at that suggestion. Cooper didn’t want to hear logic. He couldn’t stomach sitting there and listening to Glen talk about raising bulls. He wanted to fucking ride bulls. Compete in the elite pro circuit he’d ridden in since the year after he’d gone pro when he was just a teenager.

With his former student riding in—and winning pretty regularly—those same local events Glen thought Cooper should be riding in, he could get beat by the kid he’d trained. That would be the final nail in the coffin of his career.

“I’m going out for a while.” He stood so fast, the whisky in the glass splashed all over his hand. He transferred the glass to his other hand and shook off the liquid.

“Cooper, you can’t drive.”

“Sure, I can. Watch me.” He turned toward the door, looking at the front table where his truck keys should have been.

“No, you can’t. Coop, stop. You’re drunk.” Glen’s voice came from behind him.

Cooper spun back to glare at him. “Fuck you. I’m fine.”

“Just stay here with me. We got plenty to drink. You don’t have to go out.” The sight of Glen, standing in the living room in sweatpants and a T-shirt fresh from fucking the girl still in his bed didn’t make the offer very enticing.

“Look, I get it. You have a girlfriend. You don’t have to go out. Fine. Stay home. Watch TV and hold hands on the sofa if that’s what you want to do, but I’m going out.”

Glen let out a sigh. “Then let me drive you.”

“Why? What fucking difference will that make? You’ve been drinking too.”

“I had a couple of beers with dinner. I haven’t been downing straight whisky all night. I’m not drunk. You are.”

Cooper let out a rude noise. “I don’t need your damn charity. I can drive myself.”

“Don’t be a stubborn ass, Coop. It’s not charity. It’s just a damn ride. You’d do the same thing for me.”

Glen’s main squeeze came out of the bedroom and glanced from one man to the other. “I can drop him off at the bar. I’m on my way home anyway and I’m sober to drive.”

She must have heard the whole discussion from the bedroom. The house was tiny and they weren’t exactly being quiet. At least she was fully dressed so Cooper didn’t have to watch her prance around in a T-shirt with nothing underneath. Her standard outfit on most nights she was there left next to nothing to the imagination. Not that the skintight jeans and shirt she had on now did.

Glen had been seeing Darla pretty steady for a couple of weeks now. Long enough that Cooper had bothered to learn her name since it looked as if she’d be hanging around for a while. Though if the past was any guide, Glen would date her for six months or so, then they’d break up and he’d move on to the next girl and date her.

The man had turned into a serial monogamist, and it was putting a cramp in Cooper’s style. Having a partner who was always in a serious relationship meant he always was going out alone because Glen had no interest in looking for pussy.

He liked the good old days when one-night stands were good enough for both of them. But with his wingman in a relationship once again, it left Cooper to go out alone on the weekends he wasn’t riding. It sucked. And since he’d gotten dropped from the big tour last week, Cooper was extra depressed. He needed this—needed to go out. Needed to go out and find somebody to make him forget, if even for a little while.

Hell, if Glen’s girl wanted to drive him there, who was he to stop her?

“You’re not staying the night?” Cooper asked.

She usually did. He couldn’t count how many nights he’d lain in bed and listened to those two knocking the headboard over the past few weeks. All while he’d been alone. No wonder his temper was extra short nowadays.

“Darla has to work early in the morning.” Glen answered for her. Christ, he hoped they didn’t turn into one of those couples who finished each other’s sentences. Who said
we
instead of
I
because one couldn’t breathe without the other.

She nodded. “Yeah, I’ve got the first shift tomorrow, so I’m heading home. It’s not a problem for me to drop you off at the bar.”

“A’ight.” Cooper dipped his head in a nod. That sounded like a good plan to him. He’d get to the bar. Glen could stop being a little bitch about him driving after having a few glasses of whisky. Everybody would be happy.

With her car keys out in one hand, Darla hiked her purse up onto her shoulder with the other. “How will you get home later?”

“Oh, darlin’, I always find my way home. Don’t you worry ’bout that.”

Glen let out a snort. “Yeah, there’s one thing you can count on with Coop. He always finds his way home somehow.”

Her gaze cut from her boyfriend to Cooper. “Okay. If you’re sure.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” If Cooper didn’t score with a girl on his side of the bar, then there was always the bartender on the other side. She was sweet on him. Penny would drive him home when he needed it. She’d do other things for him when he needed it too.

Penny was a good ten years older than Cooper. Maybe even fifteen years older, but damn, every one of those years showed in the way she knew how to work a man’s body. She never failed to make him come harder than he ever had with anyone else. She’d done things to him no twenty-one-year-old had done, or would even know how to do.

He had gladly let Penny do what she wanted with him and gone back for more. Maybe he’d give Penny the bartender a whirl tonight. Just the memories of their last time together were getting him hard.

Of course, there was always a taxi, but what fun was that? It cost a shitload of money and he wasn’t going to get any backseat action from the taxi driver the way he would with Penny. That was well worth the wait until closing time when she could leave and give him a ride…and a ride in the other sense of the word.

More than satisfied with the plan for the evening Cooper waited for Darla so they could go.

Glen grabbed her arm and leaned down to drop a quick kiss on her lips. “Call me when you get home and let me know you made it safely.”

“I will.” She moved her purse higher onto her shoulder and turned toward Cooper. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” More than ready. He glanced back at Glen. “See you later. Unless you wanna come with?”

“To do what? Watch you hook up? Nah, I’m going to bed. I’ll be asleep by the time you get home so I’ll have to hear all about whoever she was in the morning.”

Old before his time, that’s what Glen was. Cooper shook his head. “A’ight.”

He followed Darla out to her car and slid into the passenger seat.

She’d just pulled out of the drive when she asked, “You’ve got plenty of booze at the house. Why you going out?”

“Because I’m bored.” He wasn’t much for small talk but she was giving him a ride, so he figured he owed her an answer at least.

“I think it’s more than that.” She shot him a sideways glance so filled with heat he felt it from across the dimness inside the car.

Intrigued, he angled his body in the passenger seat to face her better. “Oh, really? And what do you think I’m going out for?”

She gave him one last look before pulling her gaze back to the highway in front of the car. “Pussy.”

He nearly choked on hearing her say that word, plain as day. Sure, he’d been around girls who could talk as harsh as any man, but he’d never heard this one drop any words like that in front of him and Glen at the house.

Cooper smiled, appreciating a woman who didn’t pull any punches. He was getting too damn old to enjoy playing games with girls much anymore. “You’re right. That’s what I’m hoping for.”

“Shame to go out for something you could enjoy right at home.”

“Unfortunately, my home is lacking in that at the moment, which is why I’m going out for it.”

“I’m there.” She shot him another glance.

“Yup, you sure are. Near every night. You’re there with Glen.” Cooper shouldn’t have to remind her that she was with his friend and business partner, not as a hookup, but as a girlfriend. At least, it seemed as if Glen thought so. So what the fuck was she hinting at?

It was becoming clear to him that there was more going on here than Darla simply giving him a lift. She pulled the car into the lot of the bar and all the way to the corner where the overhead security lights didn’t reach. After turning off the headlights, she cut the engine.

“I’m here with you now and he’s not.” She leaned forward as Cooper wondered what the hell she was up to.

“I was under the impression that you and Glen were serious.”

“Nah. Not really.” Darla shrugged. “I mean we’re not exclusive or anything. He can see other people. So can I.” Her hand settled on his chest as she hovered so close he could feel the heat of her breath brush his face.

“What are you after, girl?” Whatever it was, it was making his cock hard.

“Just a little fun.”

A little fun, Cooper could handle, but not the baggage that could come afterward. “And later, what then?”

“Then nothing. You go inside for a few drinks, and I go home satisfied.” She dropped her hand to his belt and he decided he was done asking questions or caring about the answers.

Sure, there was plenty left to ask. What about when they saw each other tomorrow at the house? What about Glen?

The answers didn’t seem to matter all that much to him after she began to work on opening his buckle. When that was done, she undid the fly on his jeans and reached inside. Her single stroke up and down his length even through his underwear sent a tremor through him.

“You know, I suggested a threesome to Glen.”

That got his attention, even with her hand on him. “Did you, now? And what did he say to that?”

“He said there was no way in hell you’d ever agree to that.”

“Really?” Cooper let out a laugh.

“Yup.”

In past, that had been true. A threesome with him and two girls, sure. But no way in hell would he be in one with another guy present, even Glen. Now that he had a few more years under his belt, would he consider it? The idea didn’t seem that bad. As long as they each stuck to their own end of the girl, it could work. It would sure be more fun than lying alone in bed and listening to Glen and Darla fuck, that was for damn sure.

He decided to investigate this notion further. “So you been thinking about being with me for a while?”

His ego liked the idea of that. He was a fucking shitty person, but her being with his friend while thinking of him gave Cooper a pretty big hard-on—mentally and physically.

“Mmm hmm. I have.” She freed his cock from his underwear, exposing him to the air. “Is Glen wrong? Would you do it? The threesome?”

“For you, darlin’, yeah, I think I would.”

She smiled but didn’t say any more as she leaned low over his lap. Her mouth was too full with his cock for her to speak.

Cooper didn’t feel the need to talk more himself. He tangled his hands in her hair and guided her mouth up and down his length. The wet heat of her mouth around him was like a balm. It soothed his restless soul. This was what he needed. If he couldn’t ride a bull every day, he needed to at least ride a woman’s mouth every night. Getting sucked off would help replace the adrenaline rush he craved.

As he felt the tingle slide up his spine and his balls drew tight in preparation to release into the depths of her mouth, he had to think that even if it didn’t help, it sure as hell couldn’t hurt.

Chapter Six

Glen glanced at Cooper from the seat next to him on the sofa. “So, uh, Darla made an interesting comment the other day.”

Crap. Had she told Glen what had happened in the car?

Even after having downed a good bit of a bottle of bourbon tonight, Cooper realized he should have known better than to give in to the temptation. It could fuck up more than his friendship with Glen. It could ruin their business. Riding as bad as he was lately, the ranch would soon be the only thing he had left.

“Yeah?” As drunk as he was, he figured it was a good time to play dumb. Paranoia had him reevaluating that response the moment it left his lips and bracing for what Glen would say next.

“Yeah. She said she wouldn’t mind taking us both on at the same time one night. Crazy shit, right?” Glen’s gaze cut sideways to Cooper, who couldn’t help raising his brows.

“Yup.”

“I told her you’d never been into that kind of thing, but she told me to ask you anyway.” Glen’s pitch rose higher.

In all the years Glen and Cooper had lived together, he’d never heard this tone of voice on his friend and partner. Like a pubescent boy hopeful and scared at the same time. Cooper didn’t know what to make of Glen’s reaction, though he couldn’t ignore his own. His cock stirred as the idea that next time he heard Darla and Glen getting busy, instead of reaching down beneath the sheets to grab himself, he could waltz next door and sink himself inside her.

“I reckon I wouldn’t mind.” He shot Glen a glance. “Would you? She’s your girlfriend.”

Glen’s eyes widened a bit. “No, I reckon I wouldn’t mind.”

Cooper’s pulse sped, pumping more blood to his already engorged cock. Damn, he was horny. He tried to keep the desperation out of his voice as he asked, “She coming over tonight?”

“I can call and ask.” Glen’s excitement came through his words.

“Yeah, call her.” Jesus, they were really gonna do this, and counter to everything he’d ever thought in past, he wanted to.

“Okay.” Glen reached into his pocket.

Coop couldn’t help but notice it took him a bit of effort to wrestle the cell out of his jeans past the bulge.

As Glen made the call, Cooper’s head spun too much to really listen to the words. All he knew was it sounded as if she was coming over. He got impossibly harder at the thought.

He remembered the feel of coming in her throat. Certain he could feel the precome seeping through the cotton of his underwear, Cooper hoped Darla would hurry.

Two straight men sitting next to each other on the sofa sporting erections as big and hard as sledgehammers—it was fucked up, and the only thing that would make it less so would be a woman between them.

In the meantime, some more liquid courage couldn’t hurt. Grabbing the bottle, he poured a healthy splash into his drink and glanced at his friend. Glen nodded and Cooper polished off the bottle, emptying it into Glen’s glass.

Glen disconnected the call and glanced at Cooper. “She’s leaving now.”

“Good.” The single word couldn’t adequately express his relief over that.

“So, uh, what made you change your mind?” Glen cut his gaze to Cooper as he reached for his glass. “You’d always been dead set against anything like that before.”

Cooper shrugged, not knowing the answer.

“I’m older.” Certainly not wiser, but at the moment definitely hornier. “And hell, you and I have been living together for years. It’s not like we’re not about as close as two guys can get already.”

“True. We sure are close.” Glen nodded.

This was a messed-up conversation. Cooper tried to take back control of it by steering it to something more normal—sort of. “I have plenty of condoms, so we don’t have to run out for any.”

“Won’t really need them unless you want to. She’s on the pill and we both got tested when we started to get serious, so I don’t use them with her.”

Damn. Cooper hadn’t trusted a woman enough to fuck her without a condom in years. Not since he’d started winning and making good money. The thought of pounding into Darla unprotected had him reaching down to adjust the length that was becoming increasingly uncomfortable inside his jeans. It felt like he’d have the impression of the teeth of his zipper permanently embedded in his dick if he didn’t get out of the torturous pants soon.

“Shit.” Cooper mumbled the curse but Glen let out a laugh.

“Yeah, I know. Me too.” Glen stood and started to unbuckle his pants. He glanced at Cooper. “What? Why the fuck should we be uncomfortable? I’m assuming we’ll be taking them off soon enough once Darla gets here.”

Soon was different than now, but he really was starting to be in pain. Fuck it. He stood too and worked on his buckle. The situation couldn’t get much more surreal than it already was. He might as well be comfortable for it.

Stripped of his boots and pants, Glen sat again, now in nothing but his T-shirt, boxer shorts and socks. Eyes on the television, Glen sped through the channels with the remote.

He landed on one of the movie channels Glen insisted they subscribe to. It was playing a pretty racy flick tonight. Glen tossed the remote onto the table. He reached for his glass with one hand and his cock with the other.

Cooper couldn’t be sure if his friend was aware he was stroking himself through his underwear or not. Truth was, it was something he really didn’t want to think about. But damn, the girl on the screen was doing some nice things to the guy’s cock. Nice enough Cooper found himself itching to reach for his own.

He downed the last of the bourbon in two big swallows while watching the actress deep throat the guy’s dick and thinking about what Darla would hopefully be swallowing shortly.

Staunchly keeping his eyes on the screen, Coop refused to look but still couldn’t help seeing in his peripheral vision as Glen pushed the waistband of his underwear down and pulled his dick out.

Fuck it. Glen was right. They’d both be naked soon enough, pounding into one end or another of Darla. They’d be coming in front of each other then. Cooper denying himself this small relief now seemed stupid. He reached beneath his own underwear and grabbed his length, but the tight cotton of the boxer briefs was too restricting. He needed more room so he pushed the waistband down and let his cock spring free.

He heard Glen’s intake of breath and thought the man had better pace himself. It would be a shame to come now and not be able to get it up again when Darla arrived. After all, they’d drunk a lot tonight, so that was a definite possibility.

Easing up on his own stroke, Cooper glanced at Glen, keeping his eyes to the man’s face and nowhere lower. He cocked a brow at the intensity he found there. “Take it easy there, man. Don’t want to shoot your load too soon or you’ll be useless by the time she gets here.”

Glen’s gaze met Cooper’s, just as Glen reached out, fisted Cooper’s T-shirt and crashed his mouth against Cooper’s.

The shock had Cooper frozen in place. At least that’s what he told himself later when he realized he wasn’t doing anything to stop it as Glen shoved his tongue into his mouth.

It was like it all happened in slow motion so that every one of his senses could register the event in vivid detail. The taste of the bourbon on both of their tongues. The way the room seemed to sway, from the drink and the pounding of his pulse. The roughness of Glen’s stubble scraping the skin around Cooper’s lips raw. Glen’s hand landing on Cooper’s cock.

That’s what broke him out of his shock and had him shoving Glen away with both hands.

The whole thing couldn’t have lasted more than a second or two, but much like in bull riding, those few seconds seemed like an eternity. Just pushing him away didn’t seem enough to undo the horror and anger roiling inside Cooper. Anger at himself for not reacting sooner. At Glen for trying something so fucked up in the first place. He had to do something to try and undo this feeling of being violated. Betrayed by a man he called friend.

Cooper swung at Glen, sending spit and blood flying as his fist connected with the man’s jaw.

“I knew your girlfriend wanted to fuck me, but Christ, Glen, I never thought you did.” He spoke as he stood and pulled up his jeans.

“I don’t.”

“You kissed me!”

“I didn’t mean… Coop, I swear. I don’t know what the hell that was.” Glen ran his hands over his face.

Coop let out a snort even as he backed up toward the front door. “I think it’s pretty obvious what that was.” His friend. His partner. The man he lived with—who he’d pissed in front of without a second thought and who’d seen him walking out of the shower in nothing but a towel—was gay. Or at least bi, since he’d heard with his own two ears the man fucking plenty of women.

“Coop, I’m drunk. It was just a mistake.”

Cooper had made many mistakes in his life, but trying to shove his tongue down another man’s throat had never been one of them. Teetering on the edge of his fight-or-flight instinct, he realized he was shaking harder than he had in years.

“So what are you? Gay and dating women to hide it? Or hell, are you trying to fuck the gay out of you with your girlfriend?” He could barely get out the last word with his heart pounding so hard it vibrated his throat.

“No.” Glen stood there, still in his underwear, looking devastated, but it was too late. The man Cooper thought he knew seemed nothing more than a stranger he didn’t know at all.

“I’m going out. When I get back, I want you gone.”

Realization hit Cooper that it wouldn’t be as easy as that. They were partners in the ranch. He’d have to buy Glen out, and he didn’t have that kind of cash lying around. There wasn’t enough in the bank and he sure as hell wasn’t delusional enough to believe he could win it this weekend in the damn local event he was riding in. He’d have to sell most if not all of the stock and give Glen the money to get out of this partnership.

“I’ll buy you out of the business, just stay the fuck away from me.”

“Stop. Let’s talk about this.” Glen took a step toward Cooper and this time he forced himself to stand his ground. He’d be damned if he let this man make him turn tail and run.

“Ain’t nothing to talk about. I want you and all of your shit out of my house by morning.” Without even a final glance, Cooper slammed the door shut behind him and walked for the truck.

He was too upset and too drunk to drive. He put the key in the ignition anyway, headed for the dirt road on his property and turned toward the pond. He parked, cut the lights and sat in the dark. A honkytonk would have been better. He would have noise and people to distract him. Instead, he sat alone in the quiet with nothing but the peepers for company and relived what had happened until he nearly crawled out of his skin. He ran a hand over his lips, but he couldn’t wipe away the memory.

“Fuck!” He shouted the word while pounding his fist against the steering wheel. One minute—less even—and his whole life had changed. No business. No friend. All shit added to the stress of his career being in the toilet.

This would be a real good time for a bottle. Maybe in a little bit he’d stop shaking enough to drive and get one. Until then, he closed his eyes and tried not to feel the razor stubble burn around his lips. The memory of it would haunt him forever.

He dozed, though he had no idea how considering the turmoil inside him. The next thing Cooper knew, his cell phone was ringing. He fumbled for it in the darkness, only to groan when he saw the caller ID read Glen.

“I don’t want to talk—”

“Cooper. It’s me.” The female voice on Glen’s phone, combined with his grogginess, confused him.

“Me who?”

“It’s Darla.”

“Look, Darla—” Cooper was about to tell her it didn’t matter what she had to say, the partnership and the friendship was over, but he didn’t get a chance. Her sharp intake of breath followed by a sob interrupted him.

“Cooper, I’m at the hospital. There’s been an accident. It’s Glen. He’s real bad.”