Emmett McElroy is the cowboy horses hate. When his heir apparent brother dies and his father has a heart attack, he does his duty and steps up as head of the family ranch, but he wishes things were different and his life choices were his own. Just when he begins to get his legs under him, he arrives home to find his high school crush has been hired as ranch foreman.

Ex-rodeo cowboy Nathaniel Zachary desperately needs work. When Mrs. McElroy offers him a job while her husband recovers, he jumps at it. The only issue is Emmett... because Nathaniel has never been able to get his best friend's brother out of his mind.

Tensions only increase when, after drowning his sorrows, Emmett foolishly agrees to enter a bucking bronc contest at the local rodeo. The attraction that grows as Nathaniel helps prepare Emmett for the contest is something neither of them expected, but as Emmett's father's health improves, the happiness they've built may break faster than a cowboy thrown from the meanest bronc.