Chapter 73
J.D. had a point about avoiding Austin, Eli, and Derek. That didn't mean I had to like it, though. After Jaxon gave J.D. his apology, he then explained to me what he'd thought gay men did. That J.D. wasn't gay didn't quite make sense to him. J.D. was fucking a guy, so he had to be gay, right?
Yeah, and I had no room to talk, since I'd made that same mistake with Tanner.
But when it was J.D.'s turn to ride, Jaxon headed up to the chutes with him.
Kaleb? He was busy running back and forth, keeping us informed of where we were in the riding order.
It felt fast, though. Too fast, but Cletus was cracking jokes and the fans were laughing.
I heard cheers and groans, so maybe it was just the difference of being back here, where time didn't slow down for those eight seconds?
After Jaxon came the other Jackson. After him was Ty, who told me how he'd found J.D. and Tanner that morning. Jake traded out with him, then hung around for a while. Since my score yesterday had me in sixth place, I had a real long wait before it was my turn.
Eventually, J.D. made his way over with a shit-eating grin. "So," he said. "Tanner just pissed off Austin. That prick tried shoving him out in the arena. Jorge dropped his ass bad."
"And?" I asked.
"And he tucked his tail and ran back to his mama," J.D. said, giving me a confused look.
"But what's the Pbr going to do to Tanner?"
"Not a damned thing," J.D. assured me. "Mostly 'cause he didn't do shit. Jorge and Isaac did."
Which made me feel a whole lot better. And finally, Kaleb came running into the warm-up area, waving back at the chutes. He was panting hard enough he could barely talk, but this meant it had to be time.
"Cody!" he gasped. "You're next. I fucking looked away for a second..."
"Shit," I breathed, grabbing my rope, helmet, and tape. "Who's pulling?"
"Go!" J.D. said, shooing us. "Kaleb and I will catch up!"
I jogged that way, knowing they sure as shit wouldn't wait for me.
I was next? Fuck, would I even have time to strap in?
Dammit, I'd known waiting back there was a bad idea.
I should've at least been watching the stream or something.
Dad had the subscription for that, so I could get the password and shit.
But nope, I hadn't even thought about it until now.
With Jake right behind me, I hit the stairs and slipped through the crowd of men up here.
Most moved, making room for the crazy rider who was clearly in a hurry.
Others watched, but I was mentally counting my chute.
I was sixth, which meant the second in the next to last set of chutes. Thankfully, that put me on this side.
When I stopped, the chute attendant was looking around. His eyes landed on me, and instead of saying a thing, he simply held out his hand for my rope.
"Right-handed," I said.
Which made him lift a brow, but Jake was already climbing across. "I'm pulling for her," he told the crew around this bull.
"Gotcha," the man said.
But me? I was busy taping on my glove. Shit, I hated being late, but whatever.
I had this, and it wasn't like they'd score me fairly anyway.
So, the moment it was good enough, I traded my hat for a helmet, passed the hat to the closest man, and then climbed into the chute and started warming my rope.
"Yeah, tug it just like that," Jake taunted.
I looked up, not surprised at all that his dick was level with my chin again. "Like it rough, do ya?"
"I'm easy like that," he assured me. "I mean, if you're going to the bar tonight, maybe I can sit around, buy you a few drinks, and trade stories with a trio of bull riders, hm?"
"Could," I said, finally seeing the rosin string out. "Now hush, Jake. I need to focus."
"Bullshit," he said. "What you need, Cody, is to ride this bad boy like you picked him up in a bar, want to use and abuse him, and aren't ashamed of it. Trust me, it'll make him buck for you."
My hand paused on the handle. "Oh, is that so?"
"Worked for me."
I yanked at my handle again, aware he had a point. He had bucked real nicely. Then again, J.D. said to ride 'em like I fucked. Maybe he was on to something. Hell, maybe Jake's taunting might do me some good.
But the handle was warm now, and the chute beside me was silent. That meant the whole Pbr was waiting on me. "Tail!" I ordered.
Jake passed it over, waiting until I had it wrapped the first time before he climbed over. As he passed, he patted the top of my helmet.
"Ride 'em, cowgirl," he encouraged.
I heard him, but only barely. My mind had already shifted to nothing more than this bull. Just this time. I found the spot behind his withers where I wanted to be, watching until the bull shifted to give me some room between the wall and my leg.
Then I dropped down onto his back, locked my knees against his armpits, and nodded.
The gate clanked. The door swung open, and my pretty black bull came out ass first, with his heels in the air. Ok, that was a new move, but I had this. Using my wall-side leg, I heaved him over the same way I'd tug a man to line him up, and then let him loose.
The bull plunged, leaping through the air like a dolphin.
My left arm was up and swinging. My right was curled, holding me exactly where I wanted to be, and I had this.
With my chin tucked and my weight up on my thighs, I was secure enough to start spurring even as this fucker decided to do a tight and crazy little spin.
My black chaps, with the pink logo on them, flared out with every buck, and for a moment, I stopped thinking so damned hard and just went with it. They said to ride 'em like I fucked? Well, I didn't tend to do a whole lot of thinking in the moment, so maybe it was time to stop.
And I rode. My ass pushed the bull forward. My legs made his antics bigger and showier. This wasn't the most impressive animal I'd ever been on, but he was mine for this moment. A cute little thing I'd decided to spend the night with, and I wasn't gonna be ashamed.
Nope, I was gonna work him good. I wanted to make him sweat. I had every intention of riding him hard and putting him away wet, so when he doubled back, I rewarded him with one whole buck on his own, and then doubled down.
Harder, faster, and wilder, we rocked together like nothing else in the whole world mattered. I felt him grunting with the effort, and I knew I was all hot and sweaty, but that was how it went, wasn't it? But just when I had him exactly where I wanted him, the explosion went off.
Lights, sound, and a sexy man waving to get my attention. That was my sign this wild ride was over. I'd also completely lost track of where I was in the arena, so as I flipped the tail of my rope over to free my hand, I tried to get my bearings.
The rope came loose. The bull stopped trying, and I got one happy little hop to help bounce me off his back and down to the sand. Immediately, the bullfighters moved in, taking over while I stepped back, ready to run if this went sideways.
But instead of leaving, my bull wanted to go for a little adventure. He darted past the gate and around the wall of the arena, heading to the back. There, the outrider was waiting, swinging his rope as he moved his horse forward. That was all it took for this bull to decide it was time to go!
"Nice," Tanner said as he brought my rope back. "You make that look easy, Cody Lane."
I groaned. "With the middle name again?"
"Only when you ride better than either man you were named for," he assured me. "And Cody? That was a damned good ride." And he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and turned me toward the big screen. "Let's see if the judges agree."
But my eyes jumped to the scoreboard, since the big screen was taking too long. There, I saw a whole fuckload of no-scores. Yeah, there were a few numbers out to the side, but a lot fewer than I'd expected.
"Bad night?" I asked. "Oh, and what happened with Austin?"
"He pushed. Rhaven yelled to do it - which makes me think Deviant's got our backs - so Jorge did. Shit, if I'm honest, he was just the fastest, because I wanted to punch that prick."
"And you're ok?" I asked. "I mean, after this morning."
"Beautiful, I'm fine," he assured me, holding up his hand so I could see his knuckles.
"Same shit as when they tried to jump you.
I've taken them down before. I just didn't block the fucking tire iron that hit J.D.
in the head. They also ran before I could kill them.
" He shrugged that like was to be expected.
"But J.D.'s supposed to be tough enough to handle his own fights."
"Only when he's not halfway healed from being run over by Without Ado," Tanner countered. "But he tried. Shit, he was doing just fine until Austin hit him with a bar of steel, and it was not a light tap."
"Yeah," I said. "I'm just sick of this shit."
"Same," Tanner said, flicking a finger to the scoreboard. "But that's at least better."
It was. Today's score was an 87.75. Hell, that was almost normal for me! I wouldn't bitch about that score if I didn't already know the judges were fucking me over, so I'd take it. It might even put me back on the bullpen at the end of the weekend!
"Holy shit," I breathed, looking back to Tanner. "Yeah, I'm good with that."
"Good," he said. "Now go check on our boyfriend."
"Yes, dear," I teased, heading for the gate so I didn't hold this whole thing up.
At the exit, Jackson was waiting like an obedient puppy. Maybe it was wrong for me to think of him like that, but he had the same sort of cuteness going on. I also really appreciated it, and J.D. gave me a whole appreciation for puppy boys.
"Hey, you got a good score!" he said.
"Yep." But I paused as the crowd groaned. There was no way someone had already been bucked off, had they? "Was that Wes?" I asked, turning to look.
"Yep," Jackson said. "Big ol' no score. Also means the last set is about to go. You're pulling for Jake, right? He's second."
"Yeah," I agreed, turning that way.
I was halfway up the stairs when the next bull came out. Again, the crowd groaned. What the fuck was up with the rides today? We'd hardly had any buck-offs yesterday. Then again, that'd raise my ranking by default, so I shouldn't complain.
But at the top of the stairs, Jake and Ty were waiting, grinning at me. "What?" I demanded.
"Nice ride, rookie," Ty taunted.
"Looks like you're almost back to a fair score," Jake pointed out.
"Yep," I said, turning to Jackson. "Can you find my hat?"
"Yes, ma'am," he said, hurrying off to where I'd left it.
But things were moving, and that meant Jake should be strapping in. "I'm ready to pull," I told him, heading for his chute.
But he chuckled. "Cowgirl, I think I'm good this time."
"What..." And he gestured at someone on the ground.
His chute opened, and a big tan-colored bull rushed out, taking a few steps before he bucked a few times, knocking off the rope that had been tied to him. I saw it. I knew what it meant, and now my mouth was hanging open in shock.
"What the fuck?" I hissed. "Why are you throwing your ride?!"
"Because," Ty said, watching the arena as the bullfighters got the bull to head out, "if the judges are going to rig the game, then we riders are too."
"Wait, what?"
But Ty leaned over his chute and nodded. Just like with Jake's, his bull came out alone, wearing nothing but Ty's rope. And that was when my eyes jumped over to the scoreboard. This time, I looked at who had earned those handful of scores I'd seen earlier.
J.D., Derek, and me.
"Yeah," I said. "Someone has some serious explaining to do."