Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The cast came off just about the time Bax was ready to take a chainsaw to it. Maybe a circular saw. Something that would get rid of it. Fast.
His leg looked all weird, too. Skinny, and pale, and squashed. And hairy? Christ.
Thank God Jason wouldn’t be able to see it. He’d get no end of shit about it as it was.
Bax grinned at Coke, who’d driven him in. “What do you think?”
“That’s nasty, Andy, no lie. How’s it feel?”
“Like a noodle.” Limp and weak as hell. If he’d been planning on going back on tour right away he’d be plumb scared.
“AJ says he’s setting up a weight deal in the spare room of y’all’s place.” Those gray eyes stared over at him. “I figure you can get Jason up on it, too.”
Blinking, Bax flushed a little, not thinking about a weight machine at all. He was thinking on getting Jason up, though. “Sure.”
Coke’s lips twisted, head shaking. “So. I got to go back on tour. You gonna wait till I’m back to get him up on a bull?”
“No. No, I need you here, Coke. We’ll get him on a level one bull before you leave. When are you going?” Shit. It shouldn’t panic him so much, thinking of doing this without Coke.
“I’m heading out Saturday morning and I’ll be gone ten days, then I’ll be back.”
“Then we’ll do it Friday. I should be used to the new center of balance by then.” That would give them a few days to put Jason on the barrel again.
“Yeah. He does good, if he keeps his eyes open. I want him practicing walking around the practice arena, too. Trusting his feet.”
“Okay.” Yeah, they could work on that. They could get him out with some calves in a pen, too, just to work on the bodies brushing up on him.
“How’s he doing, mood-wise? He’s been damn quiet.”
How did he tell Coke that they’d been busy? Damned busy taking advantage of having a locking door and a decent-sized hot water heater?
“Growly. I don’t know what to do sometimes, Coke. He just… He’s frustrated.” And God knew, they couldn’t talk for shit. Bax just ended up taking Jason to bed.
“I imagine. I mean, shit. I can’t even start to figure how he copes.” Coke pulled into a Whataburger, ordered them some food. “I mean, I keep waiting for the big meltdown.”
“Shut up. I don’t know if we can deal with that right now.” Grinning a little, Bax scratched his leg, glad to finally be able to.
Coke snorted, rolling his head a little, or trying to. It was less like rolling and more like watching one of them weird puppet dolls. Damn, that looked sore, some. “When it happens, let Missy deal with it. She’s a tough broad.”
“You think? She’s got all those kids.” No way was he gonna question Missy’s toughness—he just wondered about her time.
“Well, she knows about temper tantrums, huh? She’ll hand him a Popsicle and tell him to grow up.”
Asshole.
Teasing, laughing asshole. Bax had to laugh, too. He was gonna miss Coke’s solid, steady presence and silly jokes. “You got it, I guess. She’s not one for bullshit.”
“Can you imagine having to deal with AJ if she was?”
That man was all over her, damn.
“Nope. She’s a fine woman, though. Hank says he’d take her in a heartbeat.” He probably would too, if he swung that way.
Coke tilted his head, paid for the burgers and handed a Dr. Pepper over. “Lord, that would be something. Hank and Missy’d tie it up.”
“Don’t even think about it. Somehow AJ will hear just the idea out in the ether, and next time he sees Hank he’ll sock him in the nose.” Oh, that food smelled good. It was amazing, how dragging around a cast made a man tired.
“Lord, can’t you see that? AJ just jumps that poor old boy’s ass and Hank not having done a thing.”
Although they all knew Hank was a horndog of mammoth proportions.
“Might actually be worth putting a word in with AJ.” Grinning, he sucked down part of his drink, leaning back. His leg throbbed like a bitch, too.
Coke chuckled and drove on, warbling with the radio, tuneless as a cricket dunked in moonshine.
Lord love him. Bax closed his eyes and tried not to listen. When he couldn’t take no more, he whapped Coke’s leg. “What can I do for Mini? To pass the time?”
“Take him fishing? Take him outside? I’m fearing that the hard bits ain’t gonna be the riding, Andy. I’m thinking it’s gonna be restaurants and cameras and meet and greets and the locker room.”
“He’s just got to keep those eyes open.” And not panic. Panic made Mini’s eyes do bad things.
“Yeah. And he’s got to learn to look straight ahead or something. I don’t know. He’ll figure it. He’s not stupid.”
“No. I know that.” Bristling at the idea that he though Mini was a dumbass, he growled a little.
“Lord, what? You’re just twitchy. You not get your morning lay or something?”
Oh, he was gonna kick Coke’s ass.
“You got room to talk about that, Mister.” Sighing, he rolled his head on his neck. “Damn it, Coke, I’m scared.”
“I know. Shit, Andy. This was my idea. I’m in it, deep as you or Jase both, and I ain’t got sponsors to worry on.”
He looked over, surprised to see Coke’s cheeks flushed.
Oh.
Oh, he hadn’t thought of that, of how Coke could be putting a whole career on the line.
“Jesus, Coke. I’m…” He stopped. Coke didn’t need apologies. That wasn’t what the man was about. “Hell, I believe in him, too. Thank you.”
“Anytime.” Coke tilted his head, pursed his lip. “You reckon they make pool tables for blind folks?”
“I don’t know.” That was part of the problem. He didn’t know what they did do for blind folks, and they couldn’t let on that Jase was one for them to do this.
“Me either. We got to find us someone to do research on the computer.”
“We do.” That wasn’t his thing, even if his gnarled up hands were worth a damn for typing, which they weren’t, Bax wouldn’t know how to use them to surf the web.
“I’ll talk to Dillon. He’s all technical and shit.”
Bax hid a groan. Dillon was a great guy, but he could jabber like nothing going. “He has to know he can’t talk on it.”
“Andy Baxter, don’t you think for a second I’m stupid.”
Oh, man. Coke sounded damn near affronted.
“I don’t!” He smacked his hand against the dashboard, jostling everything and feeling like a fool for it. “I just don’t know what to do.”
“Well, I don’t either, but Jesus Christ, we got friends, you and me. We got lots of real friends and we got to cowboy up and make this work or admit we can’t and put Jason in some fucking state home so they can teach him.”
“No. No fucking homes.” Bax nodded, his mouth thinning down to a tight line. “We’ll do this. I just got to adjust my thinking. More folks will just have to know.”
“I’m sorry, Andy. God knows I am, but I don’t know how else to do it, ‘cept by going to our people.”
Bax reached over and patted Coke’s leg. “No. No, I just get ornery and protective.”
Coke nodded to him, both of them taking a deep breath for a second. “You want to stop at the beer store, get some?”
“Yeah. That sounds good. Something better than that shit AJ keeps.”
They both laughed at that. AJ had terrible taste in beer.
“You got it, buddy.”
He finished his burger, feeling like he might just make it.
And if he didn’t, well, who was he gonna tell? Jason was what mattered right now. They’d just have to suck it up and find their way.