Chapter 83
"We did it!" I yelled as I made it back to the warm-up area. "I won!"
"Yeah," Wes said as he tossed his glove and helmet at his gear bag. "And that'll show the judges, but don't take this wrong, Cody. It also means that being gay is worse than being a woman."
"Naw, don't do that," J.D. said, reaching up to rub my shoulders. "It means she outrode me. And y'all? She did."
"And your scores were fucked!" Wes snapped.
J.D. lifted a brow. "You're real pissed about it, bro."
Wes's mouth snapped shut. "Fuck."
"What'd we miss?" Sonny asked.
Wes pushed out a heavy breath. "Guys?" Then he pulled one in, straightened his shoulders, and turned to face the rest of the men in here. "I'm married."
"What?" Kaleb asked hurrying over. "So that means you finally popped that cherry? When?"
"Two years ago," Wes said. "Well, almost. And um..." He shoved a hand over his mouth. "His name's Wyatt."
From the back of the room, someone tittered. "I won!"
I looked to find Gustavo with his hands up in celebration. I wasn't the only one, and once he realized everyone was looking, he eased his hands back down.
"What?" he asked the stunned looks. "Statistically speaking, there should be at least three men here who aren't straight. Anyone else wanna come out? Will earn me an extra five hundred and I'll split it with you."
"Fuck off," Renato grumbled, proving who'd lost.
"I like men?" I offered.
"Yeah, and men like you," Djalu said, lifting an ice pack off the side of his face. "So, does this mean we get to see your pretty version again? I'm rooting for lipstick."
"Shit," I breathed. "I'm going on the bullpen."
"Rookie," J.D. told me, "you just won. Means you get to make a whole damned speech."
Shit. I did. I also had to make it clear this wasn't my win. It was all of ours. I should probably mention something about teamwork being overpowered, and saying Deviant would earn me some bonus cash. But I had to do one thing first.
"Ok, where's the bathroom?" I asked. "I need a mirror."
J.D. pointed. "Right across the hall. Means you won't even need an escort."
So I dropped down beside my bag and started rummaging. Shelby had made up a makeup bag for me. I didn't use it often, but tonight was going to be the night. I wanted to make sure I was memorable, because what I was going to say? This was going to ruffle a whole lot of feathers.
Mascara, powder, a little concealer for the stress circles I probably had, and I picked a pinkish gloss to finish the look.
With those in my hand, I left everything else behind and hurried across the hall to the pair of doors.
Finding the one with the skirt, I walked in, not surprised to find it empty.
That was the thing about being the only woman around here. Sure, there were other women involved with the Pbr, but they were never here, where the riders were. They were in the offices, or ticket booths, or even with the livestock because they'd brought horses. But me? I was the outlier.
And tonight I wanted to use that. Being the only female bull rider was going to make people pay attention. When I said this was still a part of our strike? I hoped they'd take it to heart. But I couldn't say "who we fucked." That was a bit too vulgar for the kids in the audience.
I didn't want to soften my words too much, though. So, while I hid the blemishes on my face and started working on some mascara, I tried to come up with the best way to make this hit just right.
My goal was to call out the unfair judging.
I would take a page from Ty for that and point out how low J.D.
's scores had been after he'd kissed his boyfriend.
I needed to make it clear that none of us wanted a free ride.
The point of riding bulls was the challenge, and the pride came with actually earning our win, and I hadn't earned this one.
I also needed to make it clear I was here to represent all the bull riders. Not just the women or the minorities. Every man who held the same values, maybe? Good, honest people? Yeah, I liked people.
I'd just finished the top lashes on my second eye and was about to do the lower ones when the bathroom door creaked softly. I shifted so I could use the mirror to see who was coming in, but the angled hall made that impossible. Still, the sounds of the cowboys outside grew louder.
And sounded pissed.
Then the door thumped closed and someone took a step. A big, heavy one. Jerking upright, I spun to face the entrance just as Austin came around the corner, and the look on his face? It made my blood run cold.
"I warned you," he said, coming closer.
I stepped back. "Get the fuck out of here!" I screamed the words as loud as I could.
But he kept coming closer. The slow pace was almost maddening. "They won't hear you," he said. "Derek just called J.D. a fucking pussy."
Which meant he'd planned this. That meant no one was coming to save me, but I was used to that. Long ago, I'd learned how to save myself. I also wasn't unarmed.
"So what do you want?" I asked, moving away from the sinks so I'd have more room.
"I told you to leave," Austin growled. "I made it clear you'd regret it. Now you're corrupting everything. You've ruined it!" The last came out as some kind of crazy scream.
And the look in his eyes? He wasn't trying to scare me this time. No, I was pretty sure he'd snapped. That meant trading words was about the dumbest thing I could do. My only chance was to get the fuck out of this bathroom where someone might have a chance to see what was happening.
"Yeah?" I asked. "Well, fuck you, Austin."
And I rushed him. He grabbed for me, but I shoved him to the side, hoping to slip around him. It almost worked, but he caught a fistful of my hair and slung me back, around, and down.
My back hit the tile floor, and he was on me. His fists came first. Stars exploded behind my eyes with the first hit. The second made my ears ring, and I was pretty sure my eyes were watering, but I didn't give up. I kicked. I scratched. Most of all, I tried to curl up in a ball.
And the whole time, I was screaming as loud as I could.
When I tried to slide away, Austin slung me back down, under him again. I lashed out, struggling to punch with my vision filled with tears, but my fist skipped off his cheek. He hit me again for that, and this time I didn't even see it coming.
In desperation, I slung my head forward.
My brow crashed into something, making my entire world spin, but Austin cried out in pain.
Blinking the tears away, I took the chance to reach into my boot, grabbing the hard metal handle.
My fingers were almost on it, then Austin slung me sideways, right into one of the metal pillars between the stalls.
But I didn't let go. The knife slid out of the holster, and while it was still in my boot, it was also between my fingertips. I pushed my hand farther down - and got it.
The split second it took was too much, though. He grabbed my throat and shoved, cracking the back of my head on the tile floor. Needing to get away from him, I lunged again, but something held me back: my shirt.
Austin pulled. Fabric tore. Everything was moving so fast, I couldn't keep up, but I was still holding that knife.
"Die, you fucking bitch," he snarled.
Something wet was trickling down my cheek. Tears? Blood? I didn't know and didn't care. Scrambling backwards on my ass and hands, I needed to get just far enough away to switch hands. I had the knife. I wanted it in my right hand!
He grabbed my leg and pulled, but that was the one second I needed. Passing the knife from my left side to my right, I hit the button and kicked with my free leg.
"Touch me and I will make you stop!" I screamed. "I will kill you if you don't stop!"
He didn't stop.
"I'm going to rape your dead body and let that queer boy find it!" he roared as he lunged.
And I lifted the knife right into his gut.
The first stab made him gasp. His eyes went wide, but that didn't mean he stopped fighting. A fist slammed into my throat. Another punched me in the gut. The air rushed from my lungs, and his hand closed around my neck, but I stabbed again, higher this time.
Stop, I was begging in my mind, unable to make any more words come out. Just stop. I don't want to do this. I don't want to be here. I won't let you kill me!
And I kept stabbing and stabbing, pretty sure I wasn't hitting the right places, but not caring about that. I just needed him to stop!
He wasn't.