The Rodeo Rider

Determined to become a rodeo star, Julian Busch ends up in North Carolina at Rolling Meadows Stables, where the days are grueling, the nights are wild, and his fellow trainees will mount a cowboy faster than they will mount a horse. Life in the rodeo isn’t easy, but wit and grit lead Julian to a place he never thought he would be.

Excerpt:
Julian unpacked his suitcase, putting everything in the chest of drawers next to his bunk – socks and belts in the top drawer, underwear in the second, shirts in the third, and blue jeans in the bottom. He peeled off his red t-shirt with an Aggies mascot on it.

“Is that natural or do you work out?”

“What do you mean?”

“That chest. It just ain’t normal.”

“Just the result of daily workouts and some weightlifting.”

“I guess I’ve got to get me some weights.”

“Don’t need to. I brought mine. They’re still in the car.”

“Think you could help me?” He pulled up his shirt showing a modicum of development.

“Sure, we’ve got ten weeks here. I’m sure we could do something with that body of yours. It has potential.”

“Well, go shower. I’m going to grab a quick nap. Wake me when you’re ready to go to dinner.” Ross went to his bunk as Julian stripped, grabbed a towel, and entered the shower.

A few moments later, Julian hollered to Ross, “Hey guy, you got some soap? I didn’t pack any and there ain’t none in here.”

Ross rose from the cot and took a bar of soap to the shower room.

“Thanks.”

“Damn, you’re a hairy one,” Ross said. “Good thing your Emily didn’t let you get very far. She’d be spitting out pubic hair more than doing anything else. You want some help there?”

“What? You think I’m gay and want to touch another guy’s junk?”

“I guess I was wrong. Sorry.” Ross returned to his cot and hoped Julian didn’t notice what he was sporting. Ross was disappointed in himself. He had vowed to follow the straight path now that he was starting a new life away from the life he had led in rural Georgia, and all the peers he had secretly been with. He knew he had to work harder on suppressing his innate desires. He fell asleep, but his mind conjured up a dream of him with the man he had just met.