Free Extreme Bull by Catt Ford Page B

relieve himself and splashed water onto his face. It didn’t help rouse him although he did feel cleaner, so he decided to catch a nap there and get back on the road whenever he woke up.
    When he walked back to his rig, he stopped short when he recognized the one pulled in next to his.
    Fucking Clay. Was he following him? It just seemed a bit too pat that they would choose the exact same rest stop.
    He had to have been following him. Jeff wondered if he could make it inside his trailer without Clay noticing. Looked like he was going to have to drive a bit further tonight after all.
    He wasn’t going to be chicken about it; he walked around his trailer and came face to face with Clay coming around the corner of his.
    Jeff touched his hat out of habit but didn’t say anything.
    “Jeff—”
    Jeff stopped but didn’t look at Clay. “Yeah.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    Jeff nodded and continued to the door of his trailer.
    Clay followed him.
    Jeff turned to face him. “Get lost.”
    “I just wanted to explain—”

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    “It doesn’t matter.”
    Clay couldn’t see Jeff’s face. It was a black night although stars were bright in the sky. There was no moon or clouds to brighten things up. He couldn’t read him, but the stance of Jeff’s body was wary.
    “I don’t want to be queer. My dad—he’d have a heart attack—and when I saw that guy at the pumps—” Clay stopped short, aware he was making a mess of it.
    Jeff remained silent while Clay stewed.
    “I want us to be friends,” Clay finally said.
    “I don’t expect my friends to turn on me without warning,” Jeff said.
    “Look, I’m having a hard time with this. I’m struggling—”
    “Then leave it alone, Clay, all right?” Jeff opened his door, stepped up into his trailer and slammed it shut.
    Clay could hear the lock snick. “I gotta take a leak,” he announced to the empty sky.
    Hoping a brief respite would give him some idea of what to do next, Clay went to the restroom. When he came back, he hovered around Jeff’s trailer, pacing back and forth and chain smoking, wondering what he had to do to at least regain some semblance of normalcy between them. Even if Extreme Bull | Catt Ford
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    they never… did things… again, at least they could speak to each other.
    Jeff’s door opened suddenly. “You’re making me nervous. You’re like, stalking me.”
    “I’m not stalking you!” The idea that he was after Jeff!
    Jeff was the one who started it! “I just wanted to explain why I went off like that.”
    Jeff sighed and came out of the trailer, firmly shutting the door behind him before walking to a nearby fence. He lit a cigarette and leaned against a post. “All right, spill your guts and get it over with.”
    “When we got to the restaurant and saw BJ and Caleb there, I just got to thinking how they would start to wonder if they always saw us together.”
    “They hang out together a lot. Did you ever wonder about them?”
    Startled, Clay said, “No! I never did.”
    “Maybe they’re getting it on at rest stops too.”
    “They would never do that!”
    “That’s what people think about us, Clay. We’re just two cowboys. We know each other. We hang out sometimes,” Jeff said patiently.

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    “But we never did before. We were rivals. We were always pissing each other off!”
    Jeff sighed again and took a drag on his cigarette. “Sam told me to quit ruffling your feathers and grow up. We’re still competitors in the ring, but we can have a civil conversation outside of it. Maybe I grew up. Maybe it’s time you did.”
    “What do you think is going on with us?”
    “Maybe we’re just horny, and this is a quick easy way to get our rocks off on the road.” Jeff knew he was lying when he said it, but it seemed to make Clay feel better.
    “Yeah, that’s probably it. Less complicated than romancing a girl at every stop,” Clay agreed eagerly.
    “I can quit it any time,”