Ridge by Em Petrova

socked Kashley in the stomach. She swung her gaze back to Ridge.
    “Oh shit,” she said just as the chute opened and the bronco shot out. The animal took two steps and started bucking. Wildly. And spinning. Ridge clung to it for four seconds, and Kashley bounced up and down, this time screaming in excitement. He had a chance. He was going to make it.
    Wynonna gave a cry too, but for a whole other reason.
    He tipped in the saddle, tried to overcompensate and hit the dirt.
    Right on his knees.
    Before Kashley looked at his face, she knew he was hurt. That angle he’d fallen…
    “Shit, he’s hurt!” Wynonna voiced it before she could find the words. Two cowboys ran in to help him up while the bronco continued to buck away from where Ridge lay.
    He pushed onto his knees and collapsed. Kashley leaped down and slipped under the fence to rush to him. But by the time she’d reached him, he was on his feet, leg dangling and telling off the people who were trying to help.
    “I got it. Let go of me.”
    “I think you’d better see Doc,” the guy holding him up said.
    When Ridge looked up, his brow was creased with pain, but as soon as he spotted the cameras aimed his direction, he masked it.
    Kashley jogged alongside them as they led Ridge out of the arena to the yelling of fans. As soon as they got into the hall, two Calhouns were there. “We’ll take it from here,” Buck said.
    “You know where Doc is?”
    “We’ll find him.”
    “It’s a her, but okay.” He relinquished his hold on Ridge to his brother, West, but Ridge shoved him away.
    “I got it. Leave me be. And I’m not going to a damn doctor.”
    “Bro, you can’t even bear weight on that knee.” Buck looked hard at Kashley, and unfortunately, Ridge picked up on it right away.
    “Cut that shit out. Kashley, I thought you were on my side.”
    She met his gaze, her heart tumbling. “I am, but Buck’s right. Let the doctor check you out.”
    With West holding his brother up, Wynonna led the way to the doctor, waving aside fans extending papers and pens at them. Kashley felt helpless as she followed. Soothing Ridge didn’t seem likely—she’d seen him in more than one fit of temper, and he was about to erupt. She couldn’t blame him—rodeoing was his life, and he’d likely be told to sit out the season. Maybe even see a surgeon.
    “What happened here?” The familiar voice gave Kashley an instant stomachache. She glanced away from Ridge’s tightly set features to see the guy everyone loved to hate—Chip Johnson. All around asshole.
    As they all walked by him without responding, he grinned at Kashley.
    “Asshole,” Ridge muttered and pulled free of West’s hold. He took two limping steps and paused.
    “I got him,” Kashley said, slipping under his arm to support his weight. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d hauled his injured body somewhere, but he’d packed on a lot of muscle since then.
    West and Wynonna let her take over, probably relieved to be out of Ridge’s line of fire. They didn’t have far to go. The makeshift triage was a few steps away. With Ridge’s arm weighting her shoulder, she assisted him behind the white curtain.
    “Looks like a knee injury,” the female voice said immediately.
    Medics stood by in the arena to help in emergencies, but it was quiet back here, with only the doctor and a nurse standing by.
    “I’m Doctor Bullers. Get him on the table,” she said. This woman with the exotic appearance was far from what Kashley expected. Her rich light brown skin revealed a mixture of ancestors, but her eyes had a slight slant at the corners that hinted to Asian descent. Her average height was draped in loose pants and a gauzy white top, and she had a piercing in her nose. Along with the small braids in her dark brown hair fastened with metal beads, she looked more like a new age hippie than a doctor.
    “I’m in the room, and I can take instructions,” Ridge snapped.
    “Just let her do her job, Ridge,” West