Cowboy Summer - 17. More Trucks Than Cars

Rhydian came gently into consciousness knowing several things: the warm along his back was Bryce, the weight over his ribs was his boyfriend’s arm hugging him, they’d slept together all night, waking up every few hours to kiss and touch each other until they were dizzy and exhausted. He opened one eye.

They were still lying in the truck, on the mattress in the flat bed at the back, covered with the blanket. Rhydian made no move to get up, but Bryce must have felt him tense as he woke, because the arm around him pulled him back firmly, and Bryce was nuzzling at the back of his neck. It was day time, but it was early, the sun was still coming up over the horizon, the sky was clear and blue and still star studded in the west, and Rhydian felt a single stab of guilt for worrying Sam and Caleb. He wouldn’t be on the ranch and Shura would need him. He managed to roll over without too much shuffling and looked at Bryce. His hair was a mess from sleeping, short straw-blond strands all over the place, there was a dark mark at the joint of shoulder and neck where Rhydian had kissed him hard enough to bruise. He was beautiful.

“Is it morning?” One green eye cracked open, and Rhydian worked his way forwards to close the space between them. He kisses Bryce with lips that were still swollen from kissing all night.

“Yeah…” Rhydian breathed rather than spoke, not wanting to break the spell over them. There was nothing but the far off sounds of morning birdsong and the creak of early crickets. “I love you.”

Bryce blushed and kissed his lips chastely.

“I love you too. Happy day-after-birthday babe.”

“Do you wanna go survey the damage?”

“Not really,” Bryce snuggled into his front, but teenagers or not, Rhydian knew there was no way he could find the energy to screw or be screwed senseless by his boyfriend again. At least not for a couple of hours. “But it’ll be nice to be the ones laughing when we wake ‘em up.”

They kissed a bit longer, and then Rhydian finally found the energy to sit up and look around. They could be alone, except for when he looked past the big tree and saw the other trucks parked up on the hill. Obviously not everyone else had left either. Rhydian crossed his arms over his chest and cast about for his clothes.

“You’re not embarrassed are you?” Bryce had tossed the blanket aside and lay stretched out and totally naked on the thin mattress. Both of them wore the crusted remains of some sort from their nightly excursions, and Rhydian remembered that neither of them would be wearing socks today. He’d never seen Bryce naked in a good light, and his boyfriend looked so incredibly sexy and unashamed. Rhydian kissed his navel with a grin.

“No,” he unfolded his arms, “But we are going to need clothes at some point.”

They found jeans and pulled them on, Rhydian scratching the dried remains of their mixed semen from his abdomen, and located their boots in the grass. Bryce handed him his shirt and Rhydian put it on and but left the studs open. With his arm over Bryce’s shoulder and his boyfriend arm around his waist, fingers in the waistband of his jeans, they went to go and find out just how much mess they’d made.

David was still passed out on the ground, snoring softly, Johnny and Christina’s truck was gone, along with all the buckets of ice. There was a collection of unopened drinks on a hay bale. Rhyder found a coke and a cream soda and both boys drank down the cool fizzy liquid.

“Jase’s truck is still here.” Bryce pointed to the great hulking black Chevy, “This I have to see.”

They raced over, smothering their giggles, and Bryce hopped up easily onto the back wheel tyre. Rhydian jumped up on the other side. Jase and Shaun were both lying passed out and half dressed in the flat bed of the truck. Jase was drooling.

“Oh that’s attractive…” Rhydian drawled, and Bryce burst out laughing. A movement caught his eye. In the cab of the truck on the long bench seat in the back where he and Bryce had cuddled while they drove here, were people. Those people on closer inspection turned out to be a very nude Sam and Caleb, wrapped up around each other and sleeping like angels. Rhydian wanted to look, and didn’t at the same time. Sam and Caleb were his friends, and while they were each attractive in their own ways, it felt wrong to intrude on their privacy like that.

“I’m gonna go get my truck babe,” Bryce kissed his neck, “You wake this lot. Big day today and lots to be getting on with.”

Rhydian wondered how he was going to wake the sleeping men, and settled on the idea that Jase would do it for him. He retrieved another coldish bottle of soda and placed the glass on Jase’s bare stomach. His yelp and ensuing profanities woke everyone still sleeping in the field.

“Morning fella’s,” Rhydian could not keep the smug note out of his voice when he talked, “Rise and shine boys. It’s rodeo time!”

There was a lot of embarrassment, blushing, and scrambled searching for clothes. Sam knuckled his hair as he pulled on his jeans and Rhydian punched his arm gently. Caleb only smiled, kissed his lover, and passed Rhydian with a silent smile. Rhydian knew Caleb well enough now to know that even though Caleb hadn’t said a word, that he was proud of him. Bryce came back up with the truck as Shaun started lamenting about how much sleeping in the back of the pick-up hurt, and they kicked David awake, and started clearing up. Collecting the bottles and clearing away the remnants of cake didn’t take long. Kevin and Kenny had cleared down all the fondue gear when they’d left. Eventually the six men were standing around in a rough circle by the trucks.

“So what’s the plan Cay?” Jase asked, leaning back against the hood of his truck, “We gotta get four horses to the rodeo this afternoon and show Rhydian a good time at the county fair.”

“Leave that last bit to me,” Bryce pulled Rhydian close to his side and their kisses were broken up by Sam clipping Rhyder around the back of the head.

“Smooch him later bud. And actually it’s five horses.”

“Samson?” Rhydian asked.

“Yeah,” Caleb sat on a hay bale, “I figured you’d be best off riding him when you act as Jase’s outrider. Shura can rest up and be in top shape for penning and wrestling.”

“OK. What do you want me to do?”

“Alright. You two go back to the ranch, take your showers and give Indi, Samson and Shura a ride. Put them through their paces, a nice rub down and a bath and then leave them in the stables to have a rest. We’ll finish up here and come join you. Jase, you wanna ride Sugar over to ours for her warm up?” Jase nodded, “Cool. We’ll use Sam’s truck to pull the goose-neck trailer and take them all together.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Sam grinned, “Rhyder, be a star and beg Moreta to make us some lunch yeah?”

“Sure thing bud.”

It wasn’t a long drive back, the truck filled with companionable silence and the soft whisper of the radio, and Rhydian enjoyed being able to cuddle up to his boyfriend in the cab. Moreta gave them coffee and pastries when they got back to the ranch, and two short showers later she had agreed to make extra lunch for the boys when everyone got back. It would take Jase a couple of hours to ride Sugar over, and despite their late night activities, it was still eight in the morning. Not all the guests were up yet and most of them hadn’t even started to think about getting out their horses.

Rhydian got the horses in from the paddock, leading Samson and Indi on head collars while Shura simply followed with his nose on Rhyder’s shoulder, and Bryce cleared the school of jumps and rolled a few barrels into place.

“Barrel racing?”

“I thought it’d be a nice little warm up.”

“I feel bad. I never actually asked what events you were in.” Rhydian put the last horse in the stall and pulled his boyfriend to his chest, “I’m sorry babe.”

“Oh don’t be silly. Actually I’m in roping too, but not in Jase’s class. Barrel racing because this is the last year I can do it, next year I’ll be an adult and they don’t allow men in the adult barrel racing category, and bull riding. They use much smaller bulls in the adolescent category.”

“You ride a bull?”

“Yeah, normally I do bronc riding too but mum drew the line at three events this year.”

“See, now I’m scared.” Rhydian had watched the men at the local rodeo riding bulls with his heart in his mouth the entire time. The idea of watching the boy he loved doing it was terrifying.

“It’s not as bad as all that. We wear helmets with face guards and body protectors. No way would I do it just in my Stetson.”

Bryce showed him the route around the barrels he’s put up in the school and Rhydian rode Samson first, walking and then trotting to get him warmed up before they did the whole thing twice in a canter. Bryce raced Indi around the course like it was the real deal and it made Rhydian smile to see that his boyfriend was a good rider too. Samson’s gallop was a lot jerkier than Shura’s, but he did it well and his turns were nice and tight. He was a great second horse.

Sam and Caleb showed up with Boy-Latte in his head collar just as Rhydian was bringing Shura into the school, and even though riding Samson was nice, it was not a patch on being with the big dapple grey quarter horse. With Shura between his thighs, Rhydian barely had to use the reins, just held them one handed against the saddle horn as they worked their way around the barrel course. Shura rode like a wave, and after the warm up they flew around the barrels, leaning into the corners as Shura raced and turned in his own hoof prints. Rhydian found himself not really seeing the course or hearing his friends, but listening to the beat of Shura’s heart, the rhythm of his own breathing, the pounding of Shura’s hooves. They cantered, then trotted, and finally walked their way around the edge of the school to cool down. Rhydian took his feet out of the stirrups as they walked, and clicked and whistled to his horse. When Boy-Latte and Caleb came up beside him, just starting their ride, Rhydian fell silent to realise he’d been singing little scraps of silly songs to his horse.

“Hey.”

“Hey Rhyder. You’re looking thoughtful in there.”

Rhydian took a breath.

“I wanted to thank you. For yesterday. For everything…” Rhydian wondered how he we going to explain to Caleb that the last few weeks had been the only time in his life when he’d actually felt alive. “Cay…”

Caleb’s hand landed on his shoulder, warm and firm.

“You’re one of us now Rhyder.” Caleb smiled gently, “And you’re gonna make us proud tonight. Now go give those two horses of yours a massage and a bath eh?”

“Yes Caleb.” Rhydian turned Shura with a knee and a thought, “And Caleb?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you!”

He and Bryce rubbed down the three horses together, sharing Samson’s huge chestnut flanks, using rubber toothed curry combs on all the horses to massage their hard working muscles. Out in the sun they washed the horses down from the hose, got water everywhere, and dried them off with the rubber sweat scraper. The horses munched on the green grass that grew around the edge of the school while they dried, and Rhydian combed Shura’s mane and tail until his hands ached.

Jase arrived as they were settling all the horses back into their stalls, and he rubbed his favourite girl down with a stiff bristled brush and hung her tack over the door of her stable. They were late to lunch, and crowded the end of the table and ate loudly while the other guests stared at them. Caleb would normally be being a good host, but today of all days, rodeo and talking shop was more important.

He ran Rhydian through his process for cutting deep in a herd, for his timing and technique with the steer. Jase quizzed him on outriding, made sure that Rhydian knew that if he screwed up Jase wouldn’t be all that forgiving. Rhydian made a mental note to try and beat whatever time Jase set. The other guests listened in and asked about the fair, a number of them were going to be going, and Pal and Moreta were bringing another truck so that there would always be someone with the horses. Rhydian wasn’t the only one who didn’t much like the idea of leaving Shura alone the whole evening.

The goose neck trailer was an ancient looking brown thing, but it matched nicely with Sam’s strong, sturdy but rust touched vintage Dodge.

“We got it second hand when the business expanded,” Caleb explain as he and Rhydian lowered the ramp in the side, “It was made in the seventies, but it’s still good and sturdy and there ain’t a better way to haul this many horses around.” They moved one of the dividers out to make five stalls rather than six, and Rhydian swept out the trailer of old chaff while Caleb checked on all the stalls, furnishing each with full hay nets and checking that the water buckets were in place. They would get filled when they arrived. It wasn’t a long journey to the county fairgrounds. “You wanna start grabbing the tack Rhyder?”

There was a space for the tack which doubled as a dressing room in the front part of the trailer extending into the goose neck. Five saddles, headstalls, saddle rugs, stirrups and a bunch of spare bits took up a lot of space. Rhydian put together a box of curry combs, brushes and tail combs along with a handful of hoof picks and the saddle soap with some cloths in one corner.

“All set Caleb.”

“Right then, time to get changed and load the horses. Jase puts travelling bandages on Sugar, and Samson will want front wrappers but the others with be fine going naked. You go and change. It’s your big night Rhyder.”

It was easy to pick the clothes he was going to wear. The jeans that Sam had bought him, white wife beater and the reddest of the three check shirts with his new bolo neck tie. He dusted off his Stetson, found some thick socks and pulled on his boots sitting on the back steps of the house. It felt like a lot more than three and a bit weeks ago when he had watched Sam and Caleb bringing in six horses from the paddocks, one of which had become his. Rhydian couldn’t imagine his life without Shura in it. Bryce waved to him from where he stood with Indi by the trailer, and Rhydian jumped up. He couldn’t imagine his life without Bryce in it either.

Loading the horses went well, because they were mostly used to the trailer and Indi and Sugar ended up travelling in the slightly larger stalls which faced forwards. The others faced backwards, but they could all eat and talk to each other. Shura backed into his stall for Rhydian like they’d been doing it their entire lives together. Rhyder found himself petting the big horse as Shura stood with his face pressed against his chest.

“Going all out today bud.” Rhydian felt Bryce’s hands around his waist, “I’m so glad I’ve got you both.”

“We ain’t going nowhere babe,” Bryce’s voice in his ear made him shiver. “I love you, so does he.” Shura took that opportunity to snort in agreement, “Come on. Let’s go show you where to find more trucks than you’ve ever seen.”

*

The Plumas County Fair was huge. As rodeo competitors, the trailer and the two accompanying trucks used a different entrance to the show ground, but Rhydian stared as they passed row after row of big trucks and horse trailers. Most of them were smaller than theirs, two horses maximum, but nearly all of them were just as retro looking. It wasn’t at all like the horse show’s he’d been to in England with his sister. Men and woman in white jodhpurs and show jackets, looking stuck up and proud, trying to show that their horses were the best because their trailer cost nearly a million pounds. There were cowboys everywhere, denim and ten gallon felt hats for miles, and more trucks than cars. Rhydian grinned like a mad fool.

The horses snorted in delight to get water and fresh hay and a handful of pony nuts and molasses each. Moreta, Pal and Sam stayed behind to check them over and give each of them a walk around to stretch their legs while the competitors went to go and sign in.

Rhydian found his hand shaking as he handed over his competitors pass. Surely there would be something wrong. He had only been eighteen yesterday after all. Or maybe they would tell him he couldn’t compete because he was English. Bryce squeezed his hand.

“Thirty four, Rhyder Markey?” The girl behind the desk smiled at him and flicked through her paperwork.

“Yes.”

“Adult Open team penning and steer wrestling right? You’re outriding for number twelve?”

“Um…” Rhydian felt himself shaking.

“First time?” The girl handed him a shirt badge in the shape of an interstate shield sign, “Don’t be so nervous. You’ll do grand.”

Rhydian fiddled with his badge and tied the strings to sit the number on his back while the others got theirs. Bryce’s badge was the same shape, but pale green, and instead of ‘open’ on the top it said ‘category 2’. Rhydian helped his boyfriend tie his number to his back, mostly for an excuse to touch him.

“We have a bit of time boys,” Jase put his arm over Rhydian’s neck and walked him away from Bryce, “Time to explore the fair.”

“But… Shura…” Rhydian twisted in the direction of his horse.

“Rhyder,” Jase shook the back of his neck, “Me and Cay are going to go back to the horses, keep Sam company. Now you see that boy there?” He pointed to where Bryce stood, fiddling with his shirt cuffs, folding up his sleeves, “You have about an hour and a half until he needs to go warm up his horse and get in the ring. You got a fifty in your pocket,” Jase pushed a crisp note into his hand, “And the rest of us have been to the fair before. Go show your boyfriend a damn good time.” The big cowboy let him go and gave him a little shove in Bryce’s direction, “Meet you back at the trailer bud.”

“Thanks Jase!” Rhyder stuffed the money in his pocket and ran to where Bryce stood. He grabbed the other boy’s hand in his own. “Hey babe.”

“You ever been to a county fair before Rhyder?”

“Nope. You gonna show me around?”

The Plumas County Fair was a mix between a classic fairground with rides and flashing lights and children whooping and screaming with delight, a food market and a massive party. Everywhere was noise and light and music, good smells and things to eat, drink and buy. There was a show tent exhibiting art work and photography, and several equine and cattle areas. The showing of breeding cattle and horses happened in a different part of the showground, and Rhydian and Bryce spent a while hanging on the sides of the corral with cowboy and tourists, appraising horses whom they did not know.

People laughed and chatted, Bryce bought him a soda and Rhydian found a stall where a big Native American man with an easy smile fed them different flavours of smoked jerky and waxed lyrical about the merits of living outdoors the natural way. They had churros from a little stall which smelt like hot oil and sweet things and got each other covered in sugar. Bryce insisted they try out a shooting range and discovered that they both sucked at shooting with air rifles. They touched constantly and no one seemed to care, and Rhydian didn’t even notice that they went everywhere with their hands in each other’s pockets. They spent a long time making out on the Ferris wheel. When Bryce’s phone went off, Rhydian smiled at his boyfriend and pulled him close into his side.

“Do I really have to share you with people?”

Bryce looked at the text.

“Yeah, and with Indi. Time to warm up babe.” He smiled in a wicked sort of way, “And you need to come and meet my parents.”

“Oh god.”

“Don’t worry Rhy,” Bryce kissed him, tasting like sugar and donuts, “They’re gonna love you.”