Free Thrown: Studs in Spurs, Book 6 by Cat Johnson Page B

mother. Don’t forget, she only has me.”
    “Yeah, I know. I’m lucky my parents have each other and my sister to bother. And now Garret too.” Aaron laughed.
    “I think you’re enjoying that a little too much.” Skeeter shook his head.
    “What? That the main topic of conversation at every family dinner is when Garret and Silver are going to give them a grandchild? Oh, hell yeah, I am. You should see it. Garret gets all red in the face and Silver gets all pissy about how she has a career and kids will have to wait. It’s great. I sit there and love every damn minute of it.”
    Skeeter laughed. “You’re so bad.”
    “Eh, they’d laugh at me if the situation was reversed.”
    “Yeah, they would.” Skeeter flipped on the directional and, slowing for the exit, signaled for the turn off the highway.
    His mother’s spaghetti and meatballs weren’t far away now. He’d have to call her and tell her he’d be home very soon so she could put the water on to boil. Boy oh boy, would he be happy to get out of this truck and put some of his mother’s good home cooking in his belly.
    “Well, I’ll let you go. I gotta meet Garret and Silver at the bar. Talk to ya later.”
    “Later.” Skeeter disconnected the call with a heavy feeling in his chest. Would they all stay such close friends now that Skeeter was off the tour?
    Even if they did, things wouldn’t be the same. Garret and Aaron would ride together to the events without him. They’d probably both room with Chase whenever Chase’s girl or Garret’s wife wasn’t with them, just like the old days. Back a few years ago, when they were all starting out, they’d been so poor they couldn’t afford their own room. It had been four in a room for every event and Skeeter had been one of them.
    Now, they still shared rooms even though they were making a pretty decent living riding. No need to waste money, and it was a habit for them all to be together. All of them except for Skeeter. He wouldn’t be one of the four anymore.
    The familiar scenery did nothing to soothe him this time. This trip home and the sight of the town where he’d been born was only making Skeeter antsy. He needed to do something to shake up his riding. Hell, to shake up his whole damn life.
    Yeah, the guys had talked about that bull-riding boot camp, but who knew if it would ever happen. They all had lives to get back to during the break. And Butch Davis letting a bunch of riders camp out at his place and hop on his championship bulls, or even his green stock, seemed like a long shot at best.
    No, Skeeter couldn’t count on anyone else to fix this. He had to do it himself.
    He saw the sign for the exit to Cooper’s place and, making a spur of the moment decision, he flipped on his directional and swung the truck into the turn. If anyone could tell him what he needed to do to get back on top, it would be Cooper.
    It didn’t take long to reach the start of the Holbrook property. The first thing Skeeter noticed when he turned down the road was the section of fence that had fallen down. More than the broken fence told him things had changed quite a bit since he’d been here last. The grass was so high in the pasture it was clear there were no animals grazing on it.
    Maybe Slade had been right. It sure looked as if Cooper had gotten rid of his stock. There was one way to find out. Skeeter steered the truck into the drive. It had been too long since he’d visited his old teacher. The man had been almost like a father to him for the five years he’d taken lessons from him, and Skeeter hadn’t seen him in nearly as long. It was embarrassing to realize how long it had been. His only excuse was that he’d been busy traveling and competing. Still, when Skeeter was home visiting his mother, he should have made time to stop by here too.
    He was here now, and he wouldn’t let this much time pass again.
    The gravel was mostly missing on the drive, leaving big holes that rocked Skeeter nearly out of