Chapter 58
The riders were moving through quickly. Even better, quite a few of them were riding for a full eight. Oh, sure, there were a few buck-offs, but compared to the last few events, this was amazing - and the crowd was eating it up.
Since I was the twenty-second person to ride - counting from the bottom - J.D.
and I had taken our time in the warm-up area.
I'd sent a text to my dad, making sure he was watching tonight.
He'd assured me he was. Even better, it seemed J.D.
's and Tanner's kiss had made it onto the stream.
Cut off once the cameramen realized what was happening, but still.
And my daddy was proud of the boys.
That put me in a better mood. It was just enough to counteract Austin's bullshit earlier, but J.D. was a little too quiet. When we made it up to the pathway behind the chutes, it was in time to see Kaleb go. J.D. locked onto that, pausing me where we were.
Then Kaleb hit the dirt. Tanner moved in. Jorge moved to Kaleb. For a moment, I was holding my breath, and then everything worked out. But when Kaleb gave Tanner a back-thumping hug, J.D. let out the sort of sigh that made me realize he wasn't doing as well as he wanted me to think.
"What?" I asked, giving him a look that made it clear he should fess up.
"Was worried about the kid." And he turned, clearly intending to keep walking.
So I crossed my arms and rested my hip on the railing beside me. "Nope. I'm not fucking moving, J.D., until you tell me what the fuck has you in a mood."
The muscle in his jaw clenched hard enough to bounce. For a second, he looked away, making me think he was going to tell me off, but then his eyes came back.
"Jaxon." He shoved a hand over his overly crisp beard. "He said I'm sick."
"And he's a dick," I soothed.
"He's my fucking friend!" J.D. snarled, struggling to keep his voice down at the same time. "He was supposed to be on my side, dammit!"
"Yeah," I said, clasping his arm. "But he's not.
J.D., I can't fix that. I can't change his mind.
I can't make him see sense unless he wants to.
" And I shifted over, moving before him and a little closer.
"But you knew this wouldn't be easy. Not everyone's going to like it, but at least now you know, right? "
"Yeah," he mumbled.
"And all that?" I gestured at his chest, making a circle with my finger.
"It goes down into your boots. Use it, J.D.
Don't waste it. Use it to make sure you remind these idiots calling you names that you're ten times better than them.
Not a little, but a lot, and they will never be able to keep up. "
And finally those dark brown eyes of his raised enough to hold mine. "Yeah," he said, sounding relieved this time. "That's what I needed."
"It's why I'm your rookie," I reminded him.
"So let's make sure you don't miss your bull," he said. "Gonna be interesting to see how you score, too."
"Yeah, it is," I agreed.
But the moment was over. He lifted his chin, rolled his shoulders back, and stopped looking like someone had just kicked his puppy. This time, when we walked down the path together, people moved. They looked up, stepped back, and dipped their heads at J.D. the way I was used to.
When we reached the far set of chutes, we paused at the second from the center in our block.
I was getting used to my ranking. I knew where I'd be, and the truth was, I was sick of it.
I wanted to start placing well again. I wanted to worry about my rides, my technique, and my scoring instead of knowing I'd end up stuck in the middle of the pack at the end of the night.
"Hey," J.D. said, tapping my arm. "That's Mama and Isabella." And he pointed.
I followed his finger to the front row on the left side.
That was the side where J.D. would be riding tonight, since first place always came out over there, but at first I didn't see them.
My eyes scanned the people - and stopped hard on a girl in neon pink.
That was Isabella, and she was wearing my colors!
Beside her, Maria was in red and black, clearly supporting her son. But around them were other fans, leaning down and carrying on like they were all having a good time. Yeah, this crowd was a lot better than what we'd had in North Carolina.
"So..." I said, nudging J.D. with my shoulder. "Looks like your sister likes me more than you."
"Hell yeah," he agreed. "Babe, Isabella knows the real deal when she sees it. And I got the right bull for tonight. Speed Bump's gonna do me some good, and my mama's gonna see me win, gonna see Tanner doing his thing, and she'll watch you come in second place."
"Hey, I could win," I taunted.
He chuckled. "Should is different from could, Cody."
"True that," I agreed as another bull came out of his chute with a bang.
The music playing was the same down and dirty sort of stuff they always used for our rides. I watched just long enough to know this guy should stay on for eight, then started looking for Jackson. He'd decided I was his mentor, so the least I could do was cheer for him, right?
First I checked the scoreboard, surprised to see a lot of riders making high seventies and low eighties. Ok, so the scores were a bit lower than normal, but Jackson's name wasn't up there yet, so I started looking at the chutes.
My eyes had just found him when Ty moved to claim a spot on J.D.'s other side. A moment later, Jake appeared, making me think those two were spending more time together than I'd realized.
"So, that shit earlier wasn't cool," Ty told J.D.
"Nope," J.D. agreed.
"He means the Austin part, not the Tanner bit," Jake clarified.
"He knows what I meant," Ty assured him.
"I do," J.D. said.
Ty just nodded. "So, big question, J.D. How are you really doing? You've been off for weeks now, but you were a fucking mess in Iowa, so are you honestly good to ride?"
"Doc cleared him," I said.
Ty just shook his head, never looking away from J.D. "We both know you can fool Doc. What I'm asking is if we need to be close to the rail to help you over? Do you need someone to pull your wrap because your ribs are still weak? I'm not trying to stop you, J.D. I'm offering to help."
J.D. flicked his eyes over to me, then back to Ty. "I wouldn't bitch if someone pulled for my rookie."
"Girlfriend," Jake corrected. "Pretty sure that's out there now too, man."
"Yeah, girlfriend," J.D. agreed. Then he leaned his head back, pulled in a deep breath, and pushed it all out with force. "Fuck, but this is harder than I expected."
"And you're doing it," Ty said gently. "You're making it look easy too, but we still got you."
Beside me, Jake was nodding, making it clear he was in full agreement. "My sponsor has this saying, and I'm starting to understand what it means. Teamwork is overpowered."
My head whipped around. "You signed with Deviant?"
"Yep," he agreed, kicking out his leg to show the doll on his chaps.
Where mine and J.D.'s were pink, Jake had the official blue and green color, just like the bullfighters. It worked well with his blue-and-grey riding gear. But I looked over at Ty next.
"Where's yours?"
"Haven't gotten the offer," he admitted.
"Did you sign with Max?" J.D. asked.
"Max?" Ty looked confused. "I'm sponsored by Wrangler, not Tillman."
So I nudged Jake - and hard. "You didn't tell him about Max?"
"Didn't exactly come up," Jake admitted.
"I mean, something was said the other day in the restaurant," Ty said, "but I thought he was…" He paused to shake his head. "He's truly independent now?"
Which had J.D. explaining to Ty all about how Max had started his own business representing the riders and was making sure our deals were good. He'd also made friends in the right places, and Deviant was buying up space like mad.
"Send me Max's number later," Ty told him. "Because yeah, I'm interested."
But Jake tapped me and pointed. "There goes Jackson."
"Oh!" I pushed to the railing just as his gate opened.
The bull came out hard, but when I started yelling encouragement, I wasn't the only one.
"Get your head down!" I barked.
"Spur!" Ty was yelling.
"Keep riding!" J.D. bellowed. "Keep spurring, Jackson!"
And Jake called out, "You got this!"
Together, we all whooped and hollered until the buzzer went off, proving he'd made a full eight. Then, collectively, we held our breath until my rookie's feet were on the ground, his bull was headed the right way, and the arena was clear.
But when Jackson went to get his rope, Tanner snagged it, carried it over, and then pointed up to us as he passed it over. Jackson turned. For a moment there was nothing on his face, but when he spotted us leaning halfway over the chute before us, a grin took over.
"That's my mentor!" he bellowed.
"That's my rookie!" I called back.
And then his score posted. A rather impressive 86.
5! The moment I saw it, I was cheering again, bouncing in place.
Jackson punched the air in excitement, then left the area.
I thought about going to congratulate him until the chute before me rocked, then clanked.
A moment later, the next set of bulls started moving in.
My set.
"Ok, I'm the second of this block," I told Jake.
"You good?" J.D. asked me.
"Oh, I'm so good," I promised. "I'm having a good day, and I refuse to let them fuck it up. No more secrets, nothing left to lose, and a whole lot of shit to burn down, right?"
"Then burn," J.D. said.
"And I'm taking him over here," Ty said as he pulled J.D over to the gap above the bull gate. I knew it would give them a better view. It also meant I was suddenly alone with Jake.
"You've got three more, then a break," Jake reminded me. "Don't tense up now."
"This is just weird," I said, pulling out my glove and shoving my hand into it.
Jake made a little noise like he didn't agree. He also took my helmet and rope, holding those so I'd have both hands free. While I focused on taping on my riding glove, he watched, staying silent for far too long.
Then, "Cody, I know some things."
"The sort of things I need to hear before I ride?" I asked.
He made that noise again, the one that basically told me nothing. "Merrill feels like he's being ganged up on. He feels threatened, and that's when he gets stupid."
"Does that help me or hurt me?" I asked.
"Dunno," he admitted. "But what I do know is that while the president hates you, the judges hate Tanner - and I can only guess J.D. now too."
"Fuck," I grumbled.
"Yeah," he said. "So Ty's helping me make sure at least one of you knows."
"How do you know?" I asked.
Which made him flash me a smile. A perfectly white, slightly crooked one - with those amazing dimples he had.
"I talked to the sound guy." Then he winked, reminding me that was his brother, Mr. Merrill's "real" son.
"Which makes me think there's more to it than you're saying," I told him.
But Jake shook his head. "No. I will, however, suggest you listen to the music playing while you ride. See, I heard a song on the drive to Tennessee. It made me think of you, but I forgot about it until today."
"Will I know it?"
"Maybe." He paused to look out at the arena where Cletus was telling jokes to fill the break. "If not, I have a feeling you can find it. If you don't know the name..." And those dimples appeared again. "Text me."
"What if I prefer calling?" I asked, finding my lips curling to match.
"Oh, I wouldn't complain about hearing your voice either. Just figured texting might be easier with two men trying to listen in - and probably willing to pick on you."
"Fuck off," I grumbled, snagging my rope off his shoulder so I could give it to the chute attendant.
"Why, because they'd be reading over your shoulder?" he asked, following me. "I mean, I'm good with it."
So I spun to face him. "What the fuck are you doing, Jake?"
He stepped in close enough to hold me where I was. "I am flirting, cowgirl. It usually works better when you flirt back, because if you don't, I'll take that hint loud and clear."
"Oh, I see." And I shifted enough to pass my rope over. "Right-handed, please?"
"Can do," the man told me.
And I looked back up at Jake. "Gonna put your dick in my face again?"
Jake just closed his eyes and groaned. "Yeah, you are definitely J.D.'s rookie, because you are not playing fair, girl." Then he rolled his head down, those concrete grey eyes finding mine. "And I think I like it."
My heart decided this was a good time to have its own rodeo.