Peter shifted on the bench, nervous despite his best efforts to relax. He had no idea what to expect. He’d only been in Calgary for a month now, and he didn’t really know that many people. Which was why he was headed to the rodeo for the whole day. He needed to do something to get out and mingle. This was supposed to be a huge pride event in the area, so he was looking forward to it. Should be fun, right?

“Time to leave, folks.”

Glancing up, Peter noticed the bus driver waving for them to get on. Stepping up behind an older gentleman wearing a white cowboy hat, Peter brushed a hand down his shirt. Should he have gotten a cowboy hat? No, he didn’t think he could pull it off. It was bad enough he’d had to go out and buy a plaid shirt. That’s what you wore to a rodeo, right? Hell, he had no idea. This could be bad.

He stifled a snicker when he boarded the bus. The outside was typical yellow school bus, complete with rust spots, but the inside had been made over into a party bus. Banquet seating had replaced the old double seats, and three stripper poles shone down the aisle.

Sitting down beside a short redhead, he gave her a quick smile, trying to be friendly. “Do you know how long it will take to get there?” he asked.

“About 45 minutes, give or take. This is my first year,” she said, smiling.

“Mine too!” Oh, good. He wasn’t the only one. “I just moved to Calgary.”

“Where are you from?” she asked.

“Vancouver.”

“Must have been a bit of a change.”

He snorted, unable to hold it in. Yeah, it was a bit of a change for sure. One he wanted, though. He had made the right choice, he knew he had. Didn’t make it any easier though. Things had been bad back home. All the guys around him had been so gossipy, so flighty. His alcoholic roommate hadn’t made things any easier either. No, Peter was looking for a change. The Calgary scene was smaller, quieter, just what he needed right now.

“Yeah, Calgary takes some getting used to. I can’t believe how flat everything is. I mean, compared to Vancouver. It’s nice to still see mountains though.”

“Wait until we get further out of the city. Strathmore is to the east of us, and it’s pretty much flat all the way to Winnipeg from here.”

“Really?”

They chatted back and forth for the rest of the bus trip, Peter thankful for her company. There were only a handful of others on the bus, but they all seemed to know each other. As the kilometres rolled along, he couldn’t get over the scenery. He kept looking for a pump jack out in the fields but was a little disappointed that he couldn’t see one. Wasn’t this oil country? He’d figured they’d be everywhere.

Before Peter knew it, they were pulling into the fairgrounds where the Alberta Rockies Gay Rodeo was set to drop. With a wave to his bus partner, he nervously made his way through the booths lined up just past the entrance. He blushed when a guy handed him a free cock ring with a wink. He grinned back at the big guy, putting a little more swish in his walk when he brushed past him.

There weren’t a whole lot of people here, but maybe a lot of them came later. Peter grabbed a hot dog from a vendor, moving toward the covered stands. On his way he took in the booths set up everywhere. There were gaming booths for charities, including a crown toss to aid domestic violence awareness, which was pretty cool. He spotted Miss IGRA, representing the International Gay Rodeo Association, and drooled over her outfit for a moment, especially her crown. Hot damn, he wanted to steal her blinged-out crown. Three cheers for drag queens wearing crowns. Jealous, him? Naturally.

Peter finally made his way to the stands and spent the next few hours people watching like crazy and entertaining himself with the rodeo.

The crowd was such an eclectic mix… families and couples, twinks flirting with everything that moved, big, burly cowboys who moved with casual grace, butch lesbians who hugged each other and yelled out that their tents were on Butch Bay. He grinned, enjoying himself.
He was especially enjoying the events. He’d never been to a rodeo, but this was fun. Still a little depressing that he was here by himself, but there was so much to watch he wasn’t too upset.

But, the events were insane. He’d thought it would be a lot more campy than it was. Maybe he paid too much attention to the stereotypical portrayal of gay rodeos, but this had actual cowboys. Sure, there were the odd bright hats and sequins, but he saw more people in plain denim and plaid shirts, with dusty cowboy hats and boots than he’d originally expected.

“This seat taken?”

Peter startled at the deep, bass voice coming from his left. He glanced over, taking in the cowboy with his hat pulled low, blue shirt stretched across his colossal chest with the words Calgary Eagle scrolling over his left pec. Hmm. Peter might not have been here long but he knew what the Eagle was. It was a popular series of leather bars that stretched across North America. Hello, Daddy.

“No, feel free.”

When the cowboy brushed past him, Peter glanced up, checking out the guys ass and spotting a rodeo number pinned to his back. Yay, his cowboy was a real cowboy, then.

He tried not to fidget, but he wanted to stare at the man, just take him in. He was exactly Peter’s type. Not that he’d ever admitted that before. Geez, his friends back in Vancouver would have pissed themselves laughing if they knew he was lusting after some Paul Bunyan type. Okay, so that might not be the best comparison. But, Paul Bunyan if Paul had been a cowboy.

“Hey handsome, I bet I could stick on you for eight seconds,” a voice cooed.

Peter couldn’t help but smile at the drag queens standing at the bottom of the stands.

“Ladies,” Mr. Cowboy drawled, causing a few flutters in Peter’s belly as well as a flurry of giggles from the queens.

“Catch you later, stud.” They sashayed away, stopping every now and then to wave at someone. Peter watched them go, glancing back just in time to see his cowboy watching them too. Well, well.