Chapter 79
J.D. and I were late. Not officially, but later than we wanted to be. Part of it had been making sure Tanner's guys were there and waiting for him before we parted ways. Austin had lost yesterday, so none of us wanted to take the chance of him trying again.
Jorge and Isaac were loitering right inside the doors when we arrived, thanks to a few texts.
I managed to steal a kiss from Tanner before we split, making our way to draw our bulls.
When we got there, the line was nearly gone, but Rhaven was parked beside the window, clearly paying fines just like she'd promised.
She saw us and lifted a hand in a little wave. I did the same, adding a smile with it. Then we shuffled forward. When the pair of us finally got to the window, Rhaven was clearly in the habit of passing over her card.
"Their fines too," she said.
"Rhaven, we don't have any," J.D. reminded her. "We actually rode."
And the woman on the other side laughed, sliding her card back. "Bulls for both of you?"
"Yes, please," I said.
"All right, let me get that started."
Rhaven just lifted a brow. "Wow, everyone else had to show their ID."
"Benefit of being the headliner a few years in a row," J.D. told her. "Well, and my rookie."
"More like the only woman in the series," the woman said.
Which made me nudge J.D. in the ribs. "See, I have my own fame now."
But just as she was passing our paperwork back across, Austin came trailing in - and he looked the worse for wear. His face had a few scuffs on it, and the black eye he was sporting was honestly impressive. I had a feeling the rest of him looked just as bad, but the shirt he had on hid it.
Rhaven turned to smile at him, but I caught her arm, pulling her aside. "That one isn't safe," I whispered.
Sadly, Austin heard. "Hey, bitch! Haven't you already made enough problems for me with the sponsors?" Then he jerked his chin at Rhaven. "I play Deviant games, you know."
"Yeah?" she asked. "Which one?"
"Eternal Combat."
"Oh?" She nodded. "You any good?"
"I mean, not bad."
"Ever heard of QQ?"
"No?"
"Then you don't really play," she told him, turning to gesture for me to lead on.
J.D. chuckled and followed. "I didn't understand half of what you said," he told Rhaven, "but that's Austin. He's the one who tried to fuck with me and Tanner. Do not be alone around him."
"Heard loud and clear," she promised.
Then we stepped into the warm-up area. At least half the guys looked up with smiles for Rhaven. Well, clearly a little money went a long way with these boys. The thing that surprised me, though? Over where I usually set my gear, Jake had Braden wearing a glove and warming his rope.
"Thought you weren't riding," I teased as I set my stuff down.
"Something like that," Jake said. "But it seems our new friend wanted to play cowboy. Figured the worst he can do is get it real sticky."
"He's good at that," Rhaven mumbled, making me giggle.
"And Jake here seems to like me making his shit sticky," Braden said.
Which made J.D. turn away.
"My rope," Jake told us. "Rope. I'm not exactly sure how you all are twisting that, but I am talking about my bull rope."
"He likes it when you tug it," I told Braden.
That was enough to make J.D. snort. He couldn't hold it back, but the sound that came out was not the laugh he was fighting. And when I looked, his cheeks were much too tight.
"Didn't know you were into that, Jake!"
"Rope!" Jake said again, then sighed. "I'm losing this, aren't I?"
"Probably," I told him. "But, there's a rumor going around that Ty's going to sign with Deviant."
"Heard the same," he assured me. "Jackson too."
Rhaven groaned. "You do realize I'm not supposed to be sharing that information with you, right?"
"Riders talk," Jake assured her. "We're just not holding back in front of you, because you made sure we don't need to." Then he shifted closer. "J.D.? You two should know we can't send the bulls out without riders today."
"What?" Rhaven asked. "But we're - "
"We're still not riding," Jake assured her. "We're just bailing instead of giving Merrill anything else to use against us. So when you see guys climbing on..."
"Noted," I told him. "We're also going to need to work out who's pulling for us. Pretty sure we're all right in a row."
"I'd offer to help..." Braden said.
"I'd prefer not to break the rope," Jake told him with a teasing smirk. "But sounds like this was Wes's idea. He told Ty..."
"Where is Ty?" I asked.
Jake pointed across the room. "He's making sure all of this is going to work. We also don't want anyone getting hurt, so the bulls with a temper?"
"You know those?" Rhaven asked.
Both Jake and I nodded, but I answered before he could. "The bulls have patterns, habits, and personalities. We research them before riding, and we see a few of them often enough to know when we need to run fast."
"Like the one that took out J.D.," Jake said.
"There's a few," J.D. told her. "Most of them can come for you, but some always will. Those fuckers just wanna make us pay for darin' to sit on 'em."
Braden chuckled. "I mean, can't really blame - "
"Listen up!"
Donald Merrill's voice cut through the room, making me spin to see him. The man was glaring around like he thought that would intimidate us, but to his chagrin, the guys all looked pretty happy. And while we all did turn to see what he wanted, no one stopped working on their ropes.
"I hope you all learned a lesson from yesterday!" he snapped. "I was dead serious when I said you will be fined again, and more, if you refuse to ride. This is not the place for your protests, do you hear me?"
No one bothered to respond.
"This mess has gone on long enough. You are here to ride! Not tell the Pbr what rules to make. Not stop the show to get your fifteen minutes of fame. You will ride, or you will be penalized - and even suspended."
"Maybe go yell at your judges about it, then!" Kaleb yelled from the far side of the room.
"Don't tempt me, boy! I can fine you for that attitude."
"And I will pay that one too," Rhaven said, stepping forward.
Mr. Merrill's eyes snapped over to her, and his body slowly turned to face her. "Oh, is that what they were talking about? You were the one who paid all the fines?"
"My company," Rhaven said. "The same one who sponsors the Pbr, Donald."
"Damn," one of the guys breathed. "She's not even scared of him."
"He!" Mr. Merrill roared, hearing it too. "This?" He stabbed a finger at Rhaven. "This is a man, boys. This will be the result of all your bullshit. This sick man is what the Pbr's going to become if you keep going, and I will not let the sport I love be corrupted with this filth!"
"I am a woman!" Rhaven insisted. "And I expect you to respect that, Donald, just like I expect you to respect the Pbr's ongoing contract with Deviant Games. We paid enough to make sure the least you can do is smile and fake it!"
He turned to her and pushed forward. "Really?
Really! As you undermine my authority with these riders?
As you thwart the official punishment and encourage them to destroy the very sport I have spent my life making into a household name?
You want me to pretend like your sick and disgusting - " He got right up in her face, still screaming.
"- crossdressing, mentally twisted presence here isn't -"
"No!" Braden roared, shouldering past Jake and between me and J.D.
He didn't stop until he pushed Mr. Merrill back, making it very clear which man was the larger of the two, and it wasn't Mr. Merrill. The tendons in Braden's neck were standing out with rage as he bent down to point in Mr. Merrill's face the same way that man had been doing to Rhaven.
"You are out of line. You and your sick, bigoted views are not the official stance of the Pbr, and I don't give a shit if you like it.
I do, however, expect you to read that damned contract.
I also expect you to treat Rhaven with the respect her position deserves.
.." Then he smiled in a way that was clearly a threat.
"Because not only could I snap you like a dry twig, old man, but I will if you ever talk about her, to her, or around her in that way again! "
The entire room had gone silent. There wasn't even the sound of people shifting to get a better view. It felt like each and every one of these men were holding their breath, and all of them had just seen the president of the Pbr get put in his place.
Rhaven gently reached up to clasp Braden's arm, easing him back.
"Donald, bull riding is a sport based on American history.
It's filled with tradition and heritage.
Believe it or not, we do understand that.
We also know that hate is not good for anyone.
Not the riders, the fans, or the companies hoping to make a profit. "
But Mr. Merrill was still watching Braden. "I don't ever want to see you at another Pbr event, young man."
"No?" Braden asked. "Well, read your contract, bud.
You agreed to it. Rhaven will represent Deviant Games at any and all events she chooses to attend.
She will also bring an assistant from the company to aid her in her endeavors.
" And he smiled. "Yeah, that means me, because I'm not letting you push around my girlfriend.
My bosses won't either. My being here? Their idea, because you called her a fucking 'tranny. '"
"And I still have the freedom to say what I want," Mr. Merrill shot back. "You can't stop that."
"Nope," Braden said. "But I can make your life a living hell. And if you so much as touch her? I will put your ass in the ground. It's called self-defense, Donny boy. In most of these states you go to, the law's even on my side. Trust me, I fucking checked."
"Brae?" Rhaven asked. "Try de-escalating, hm?"
So Braden stepped back. "Not gonna tolerate this man disrespecting my woman, Rhave. Figured he'd get that, but clearly not. Figured it was one of those family values he says the Pbr's all about."
"Not my family," Mr. Merrill grumbled. Then he looked at the riders. "Do not think you can push me around just because they can. Takes millions to get that right." And he turned, storming out the way he'd stormed in. "And you will all ride!"
"Yep," J.D. said. "We will. Don't mean you're gonna like it."
"Shit," Wes said when the man was far enough away. "Starting to think he won't like anything we do."
"Well, someone dying got him the media attention he wanted," Sonny pointed out. "Fuck. Guys, this is not the gig I signed up for. I flew halfway around the world for the same bullshit I could get at home?"
"Which," I said, stepping forward so they could all see me, "is why we have to fix this.
Don't you see? This? It's our sport. We're the ones who worked to get here.
We're the ones who grew up daydreaming about being handed that gold buckle.
Mr. Merrill and the men of his generation?
They were still riding in the fucking rodeo! "
"And this?" Ty said, heading my way. "This ain't the rodeo. We don't rope the cattle, and we sure as shit don't chase cans."
"We ride the damned bulls!" Jake called out. "Today, we're going to ride them our way!"
Around the room, at least thirty voices all roared their approval. Yeah, we were doing this, and maybe Mr. Merrill had thought he could threaten us enough to make us fall in line, but he'd forgotten one thing.
Bull riders didn't get scared. We took our hits, ate some dirt, and always got back up. It was the only way to win.