Chapter 4 #2
He could only imagine the stares and smiles that would draw. The laughter, not the other. There were always fans sitting around watching.
“Come on, y’all. We’ll go have a cup of coffee at the Denny’s. It’s across the parking lot.” Coke stood and stretched, the soft moan pained.
“Sure. You okay, Gramps?” He kept his voice low, but that groan worried him a bit.
“Fine as frog hair.”
“He pulled a groin in Decatur.”
Dillon was always willing to tell on Coke.
“Then he’ll have to be careful here,” Bax said. Jason could imagine the stern stare.
“Y’all don’t worry on this old man. I’m on it.”
“You always are, Hoss. Where are y’all headed?” Nate’s voice hit him at the same moment as the smell of tacos. “I brought the food.”
“You’re early, bud,” Coke shot back. “We were heading to get coffee.”
“They got that Starbucks thing in the lobby,” Nate said. “Dillweed?”
“Right. Coffee for all. Lay it on me.” Dillon could rattle off a coffee order a mile long without blinking.
Emmy squealed. “Venti light mocha Frappuccino with two extra shots and no whip!”
“Done. Drip coffee for Coke, Nattie and AJ. Jason?”
“I want one of the vanilla milkshake deals, please.”
“Big or small? Andy?”
Bax answered. “He wants the medium one. I’ll take a venti mocha with double whip.”
“Cotton wants a grande latte with a shot of hazelnut, please, Dill.”
“Rock on, Em.” He heard Dillon’s whistle disappear.
“Well, then, we ought to find us a more private place to sit.” Nate sounded a little wore.
“Miss Emily got us a conference room,” Jason said, and suddenly everyone was moving, Bax right there at his elbow.
The heavy tread of cowboy boots on tile, then carpet, made him smile. A herd of turtles, this bunch.
Still, they were herding for him, and he knew it. They were all counting on his skinny ass to make this work. No pressure there. Then again, nothing about his fucking job had ever been easy, and now he had Bax. Had him in every way.
He was a bull rider. He’d been born a bull rider and he’d never be anything else, so he’d better take it while he could.
“Mmm. God those tacos smell good.” Bax guided him to a chair, and he heard paper crinkling. “You want salsa, Mini?”
“Yeah, please.”
“So, catch me up,” Nate said, and one big hand caught Jason’s, guiding him to the pack of three tacos.
“Emmy has an earpiece for me and Dillon will call the shots. So far that’s it.”
“So they calling you up to the big show?”
“Ace asked damn near a month ago,” Bax murmured.
“We’re fixin’ to practice. Maybe I can ride around on the rolling chair.” He rolled his eyes.
“Very funny. Maybe you can ride Nate.” Bax was getting snarly.
“Nah, I’m wore out. You know they got me doing that microphone thing for the televised show, right?”
“Shit. Yeah, you’ll have to be careful, Nattie.” Coke chuckled. “Not that you ain’t always.”
He closed his eyes and focused on the food. He was already fucking tired.
Bax touched his wrist. “Sorry, Mini. I think I need food.”
“It’s all good. Tacos, then I’ll figure this out.”
“We will. We got tons of help.” Bax chuckled low.
A fuck ton, even. “Yessir.”
“It will be easier. You have someone to tell you. I won’t have to shout so much.”
Not that Bax couldn’t holler. Lord have mercy.
He grabbed a taco, knowing Bax had put salsa on. He could smell it.
Time to eat, then learn this new thing Dillon had dreamed up.
Seemed like all he did these days was learn shit.
It really did make a man tired.
“All right. Head down the center aisle, Jason. Two steps to your right, then straight on.” Dillon gave Jason directions like he’d been born to it. Boom. He could tell Jase exactly what he needed to do in as few words as possible.
It was kinda magical.
It sorta pissed Bax right the hell off, too. Seriously, how did it come so fucking easy to the clown? He and Mini, they could try for an hour and all they’d end up doing was snarling.
“Good. Now turn right. Right. Now!”
Jason turned, his eyes searching for something to land on.
“Now, run.” Dillon wasn’t letting up on Mini at all. Not one bit.
Jason took off and Gramps caught him right before he hit the wall. “Gotcha.”
A bark of laughter burst from Jason. “Sure, but this ain’t real.”
Emmy snorted. “Then let’s take it to the hall, gents.”
“What? No.” No, his Mini wasn’t going to be running around like a fool in public.
“No drills,” Dillon said. “Just direction. I’ll go ahead and tell him who all is coming.”
“Okay.” But he was staying right there.
“I’ll take the back and keep folks from sneaking up,” Coke said.
“I think Gramps needs to rest,” Bax whispered to Jason. The old man was looking peaked and rough around the edges.
“We can break it up if we need to.”
“Dillon seems to think you need more training.”
Bax sighed and nodded. Coke Pharris would do what he would, and damn the torpedoes. The man was a force of nature, and his man Dillon was a freaking machine.
He was pretty sure he wasn’t. He just felt worried and tired.
Jason touched his hand. “Let’s go.”
“I got you.” Always.
“I know.” And that was that.
They all moved out into the hall, and Bax felt like they were in some movie about really stupid spies. Seriously, anyone would take one look at them and know they was up to something.
Of course, Dillon looked confident, sure, like they weren’t trying to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. That Emmy lady, she was something else too. She didn’t look a bit guilty. Mini looked worried and Coke looked tired. Bax didn’t know what the hell to do…
“Ace! Ace is coming. Go go go.” Dillon’s voice came through the earpiece loud enough that Bax heard him.
“Come on, Mini.” Back to the conference room, close the door. Bax took Jason’s arm and Jason turned with him easily.
“Was that real, Bax?”
“I think so, but Dillon was out of sight at that point.”
“Well, one way or the other.” Jason leaned against the door. “Is this gonna work, Bax?”
“It is. You got this. Hell, Dillweed can remind you to keep your eyes open.”
“Shut up.” Oh, that made Mini grin.
“Make me.” He yanked Jason up against him, needing a kiss. Right now. Jason gave it up, easy as pie, smashing their lips together with a hum. Bax held on, all his worry dissipating with that contact. When Mini touched him like that, all was right with the world. This was his one true thing.
Mini leaned on him. “My head hurts, Bax.”
“Then you need a nap. Maybe a Coke.” He slipped off the earpiece Jason wore. “No more games today.”
“No. No more.” There was a loss, an exhaustion in those always-searching eyes.
“Come on.” He would find someone to give the tech to, and he and Mini would get some quiet time.
They could rest together, cover Mini’s eyes. Have an Advil, because Bax’s head was starting to pound.
It was Nate they ran into. “Y’all disappeared.”
“Yeah. Jase is beat. We’re going to the room for a bit.”
Nate opened his mouth to protest, but Bax just shook his head. He handed Nate the earbud. “We’ll give it another go tomorrow before the rest of the riders get to the arena.”
“I can do it tomorrow.” Jase was white as a sheet.
“Okay.” Nate gave Bax a sad look. “No problem, guys. You go on.”
Bax wanted to scream at them. No one got to feel sorry for Jase. Mini was the best of all of them.
Instead, he took Jason’s elbow and left. They needed space.
Funny, isn’t it? How spaces are getting smaller and smaller?
“Thanks, Bax.” Jason said it quiet, soft.
“Sure. I want you to come and lay down with a rag over your eyes, okay?” They had to hurt so bad.
“Yes, please.” Once they were in the elevator, Jase moved into his arms, leaning on him.
“Soon.” He’d turn off the phones and order up a pizza later tonight.
“Mmm. Feels better already.”
“It does, Mini. It so does.” He hugged Jason tight, not willing to let go, not even when the doors opened. Lucky for them, no one was there. One of these days, he was going to get them in trouble.
They hit the room, and he got Jason stretched out, boots off. “I’ll get that washcloth.”
“Thank you.”
“I know it has to help.”
“It does. It just makes everything less throbby.”
He believed it. Jason was always trying to see, fighting to make things make sense. The docs all said that was because his eyes still worked. It was his brain that didn’t process things no more. Still, he loved the way that just covering them could relax Jase to the bone.
The washcloths were nice and soft, so he wet one, then squeezed out the excess water. Bax took it back, sitting on the bed next to Jason. “Close your eyes, babe. I’m going to make it better.”
“Please.”
The washcloth folded, he placed it over Jason’s eyes, and his Mini relaxed, a soft sigh sounding. “There you go.”
He stroked Jason’s forehead. The first time he’d done this, he’d felt like all sorts of a girl, petting Jase’s head, but it had done wonders, so he kept it up.
“Mmm.” Jason’s happy little rumble kept him planted right where he was, touching, easing that pain. “I want to do this right, Bax, for us.”
“I know you do.” He took Jason’s hand with his free one. “You need to hear this from me right now. Ain’t no way you can do it wrong. You tell me today, right now, you want to quit and go do underwater basket weaving for a living? I’m with you.”
“I want to win the title, then retire. I want to learn to read and stuff so I can do better, but I got to do this first.”
“Then we do it.” He stroked the want line that had appeared on Jason’s forehead above the cloth.
Jason smiled, the look vaguely wondering. “Love the way that feels, man.”
“Good. I like doing it for you.” Bax hated how little he could do, but this made him feel useful.
“You do everything. I worry that my burden’s too big.”
“Shit, Mini. We’re just trying to make it through the day.” We’re both idiots, huh?
“No shit on that. I give thanks every day we wake up and we ain’t killed something.”
“Right?” He had to laugh at that. He wondered if everyone who got real hurt doing what they did felt that way. Coke. Sam Bell. It had to be the same, kinda.
The game changed them all, mostly for the worse, he thought. Still, they loved it and they played it, damn the consequences. It was an addiction no cowboy could shake once it took hold.
Bax finally kicked off his boots so he could settle next to Mini on the bed. His leg ached, and he wondered if there was rain in the forecast.
Jason reached over, rubbing the sore spot unerringly, just like he felt it too.
“Mmm.” Oh, that was fine. Damned fine. “Thanks.”
“Anytime. We’re going to do this, right? You and me? Like after?”
“Yes. You and me. Always.” He wouldn’t leave Jason for anything. He would figure out how to get him help. A dog. Braille lessons.
“Okay. I can do this, but I want you with me.”
“I’m not goin’ nowhere. I swear.”
“I bet we go lots of places. Hell, I’m prob’ly the most traveled not-supposed-to-be-blind guy on earth.”
“I bet you are.” God, Mini still made him laugh like a loon.
Jason’s laughter joined up with his and he thought, maybe, this was gonna be fine. Maybe.
He would just close his eyes and pray. That usually worked for him.