Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Jesus, had it always been so fucking loud? Jason didn’t remember the unrelenting noise at a host hotel, the press of people that never let up for a second.
And he had to start back up in Dallas, didn’t he?
Damn.
Dallas was where every Tom, Dick and waiter knew bull riders by name, where fans hung out at the buffet line to try to invite the pick-up men and bullfighters to sit with them.
Bax was right there next to him, while Cotton’s girl was on his other side, giggling and carrying on like a buckle bunny, all the while directing him.
Emmy was a natural wonder, with subtle arm taps and shit, and announcing each newcomer so he knew who they were and what direction to smile. “Why, Mrs. Detmiller. Nice to see you here.”
He smiled and nodded, thanking the good Lord for the ten-thousandth time that he wasn’t known for being friendly and chatty with the fans…just polite.
“Good ride tonight, Jason,” she said.
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“We need to get on,” Bax murmured. “Good to see you.”
He tipped his hat and they got to the elevator.
Emmy was a sweet-smelling and solid beside him, holding his arm. “I got adjoining rooms for y’all, Dillon and Gramps, me and Cotton, Nattie.”
“Got us battened down, did you?” Bax sounded tickled. Jason got it. It was nice to know who was around.
“Yep. Reduce exposure, increase the joy.” Emmy cackled, the sound bright and smart. Could a laugh be smart? “And you can disappear, if you need to.”
“Thanks, lady. You’re amazing.” He stood, waiting for Bax to let him in. He did a lot of standing around.
“I try. I brought this game—you follow the sounds, follow the pattern. I know it’s silly, but I love it, and it’s fun. You and Andy can play for blow jobs.”
“Emmy!” Bax sounded so shocked, but Jason just hooted, his shoulders coming down from around his ears.
God. God, he howled with his laughter, tickled shitless. He’d needed that, something to release the tension, ease the fear that was growing on him like kudzu on a South Carolina road.
Emmy hugged him. “I’ll leave you to it. Y’all holler if you need anything. I’m on the job.”
“Thank you, ma’am. We’ll have a powwow tonight.”
“You got it. I left your earphones here. Dillon has theirs.”
“Good deal.” When the door closed behind her, Jason pulled in a deep breath. “Dallas, man.”
Why couldn’t he have chosen an event like…hell, Mars? New Jersey? Somewhere that no one would know him but the people he needed to help him. This was like being thrown into the ocean without knowing how to swim in the lake.
“Yeah.” Bax blew out a breath. “We can do this.”
“We ain’t got much choice, Bax.”
“Nope.” Bax laughed a bit. “I guess that means we’ve got desperation on our side.”
“Well shit, we ought to be right as rain then, ain’t we?” He rolled his eyes, but damn if he wasn’t excited and more than ready.
They were fixin’ to do this…in the big show. And he had Andy Baxter with him, all the way.
Jason groped out with one hand, and Bax took it, settling his jangling nerves in a heartbeat. “We’re gonna ride, cowboy.”
“If you keep your goddamn eyes open, yes.”
“Shut up.” He grinned, though, didn’t he? His eyes were wide open right now, moving, trying to see Bax. He hated that the most, that he couldn’t see that face.
“I’m right here, Mini. Stop it. I’m right here.” Bax put one of Jason’s hands on his face.
“I want to. I’m trying.” He took one deep breath, then another. His hands mapped Bax’s face, tracing the familiar shapes, giving his brain something to ‘see’.
“I know. It just looks like it hurts.” Bax always wanted to fix things, even his eyes.
“It’s…stressful. Like there’s no rest.”
“Well, we’ll take a few days off after, huh? Just take the travel trailer to the lake.”
“Then to Oklahoma City. I want the title, Bax. I want to go out on top.” He wanted the money. Now he had it in his heart, that he had a goddamn plan, he wasn’t letting it go.
“We win it, then. God knows, you know how to ride.”
“Yessir.” He knew, dammit, and he didn’t need to be all wishy-washy about it, either. It was time. He either needed to cowboy up or get back in the goddamn truck.
He nodded, because that was that, and Bax chuckled at him. “Made up your mind, have you?”
“I have. All the way.”
“That makes it better.” Bax lifted his hand to kiss it.
It was stupid as all get out, but true.
Now he just needed to ride like he meant it. That much he could do.
“Let’s sit a minute.” Bax pushed him down on the bed. “Gramps and them’ll be here in a second with all advice and shit. I need to be with you a sec.”
“Okay.” He slid his fingers over Bax’s wrist, his breath coming in sharp when Bax bent to kiss him. He did love this—more than anything, more than riding, more than life.
Bax was his damn everything.
“When you’ve won the championship, we’re gonna buy a piece of land and settle. Have a house and shit.” Bax sounded so goddamn happy.
“I’ll keep telling myself this every damn day.” Now that he had that goal… Well. “I want dogs.”
“Anything you want.”
He chuckled. ‘Anything’ was a big field. “Big bed?”
“Yep.”
“A spider monkey?”
“Monkeys are scary, man. And dogs would eat it.” Bax was laughing so hard.
“How about a lemur?” He was managing a straight face, but damn, it was taking all he had. He remembered playing with Bax, and having it back made his heart friggin’ soar.
“Nah. No weird eyes. If we got to go exotic, I say llama. They kill coyotes.”
“Llamas are cool.” He made his eyes go wide. “Ooh. How about camels?”
“They smell bad. You remember when Gramps rode one at that fair?” Bax made a sound that Jason could so relate to the way a camel moved with someone on its back.
“Dude, that was funny as fuck. He looked uncomfortable as hell, didn’t he?”
“Shit, yes. He was all worried it was gonna bite him.” Bax chortled.
“Shit, you remember those huge nasty teeth?” It had been like a deformed horse’s mouth or something. The teeth had looked like George Washington’s dentures… “The feet were cool, though.”
“And those eyelashes.” Bax leaned on him, their laughter dying gently.
“So no camels, but llamas are on the table. I approve. The dogs can herd them.”
“There you go.” Bax fiddled with his fingers, loving on him. It wasn’t perfect—he couldn’t see, he was having to figure out more shit than was reasonable, and he was caught between a rock and a hard place—but goddamn, it was good.
“You want to listen to the TV, Mini? Just float together for a bit?”
“Sounds like heaven, man. We’ll enjoy the calm before it comes up a storm.”
Bax’s chin dipped against his shoulder, letting him feel the nod. “Come on then, and settle. I got the remote.” They snuggled back against the pillows, but neither one of them bothered to take off their boots.
Someone would be knocking on their door soon enough.
Someone always did.