Chapter 38
Maybe I'd pushedCody a little too hard. Maybe going from the garbage those dicks back home had been spewing at her to my new-found acceptance of her right to do whatever she wanted to was a bit of a shock. Still, there was no better time for her to hear it than right now. She'd already had her ride, we hadn't, and her father was still in the stands watching the show. Right now, she'd have time to actually think about what I'd just said.
And, since J.D. was the one who'd verbally beat it into my head, I had a funny feeling he was going to be on board. Still, as I collected my rope and headed up to the chutes, my eyes sought him out. There, over in the corner, I found him in his typical all black, her pink so vibrant against it. Side by side, they made an oddly nice pair. Something about J.D. helped Cody look a little less innocent, and something about her made him seem a lot less dangerous. I almost hoped she'd go for the guy. I also hoped she'd go for me.
Just as they bent their heads, their matching black hats shielding their faces from view to keep their conversation private, I reached my chute. High Water was napping, proving he really was the pet everyone said. Supposedly he'd give me a good ride, but his placid manners kinda made me want to reach down and give him a scratch first.
Not that I was complaining. A glance at the scoreboard showed that almost thirty riders in, we'd only had four of them stay on for a full eight seconds. The string of bulls this time wasn't easy. Sometimes it happened like that. Sometimes it was worse. So far, every rider had made it off the dirt without a stretcher. As I swapped out my hat for my helmet, I hoped I wouldn't break that streak, then I handed across my rope.
Before I'd even swung a leg over the rail, Renato was there, taking the tail of my rope to crank it tight. "Wanna tell me what's going on with you two?" he asked.
"Cody?" Because I couldn't think of who else he'd be talking about.
"And J.D.," he said.
I groaned and started warming up my rope. "Do you really think this is a good time to talk about it?"
"Well..." He pulled a little more, getting the cinch good and tight. "I figure this is the closest thing to a private chat we're gonna get. So?"
"So I told her to talk to him," I grumbled. "Look, Cody isn't a prize to be won. She's a woman who deserves to play the field a little, and so long as I'm still in that field, then I'm ok with it." Then I eased down to get my hand in the rope and to start my wrap.
"You know she thinks it's sexy when you score high, right?" he asked, planted in place in case I needed a re-wrap.
I glanced up with a smile. "Thanks, man. Kinda what I needed to hear."
He patted the top of my helmet just as I got my hand strapped in. Renato climbed over, I eased myself down on my sweet bull, and glanced up to make sure the arena was clear. With a bull this calm, I was right on time. As soon as the chute attendant gave me the thumbs up, I nodded, and the gate burst open.
High Water immediately showed how he'd earned his name, coming out with the biggest buck I could remember. All four of his feet were off the ground, he kicked out in mid-air, and landed just to spin nicely to the right. His rhythm was so consistent that I got in a couple of perfect licks with my spurs, racking up the points. Then he tossed me two straight bucks and changed to the left.
High Water was powerful. He was showy, too. This was the kind of bull that made a rider look good. Half of our score was based on the bull's performance, and he was doing his best to break records. His pattern was almost choreographed, and while he was a big beast of a bull, he made proper technique look damned good. I decided this bull was perfect just as the buzzer sounded, making it clear I'd stuck to him for a full eight.
A tug at the tail of my rope, and High Water knew the game was over. His bucks relaxed as the tension around his chest loosened. I hopped off the side easily enough to land on my feet, and he waddled his slightly overfed ass right through the gate. Smiling, I turned back to see the scoreboard and damned near shit myself. There, for everyone to see was an impressive 96.5!
Ninety-six point five.
That was the highest ride I'd ever had in my life!
I whooped loudly and jogged for the gate. When I passed Tanner, he slapped my shoulder in congratulations. Jorge gave me two thumbs up. On the far side of the arena, Isaac was just grinning. Scores like that didn't come along often, and they knew it as much as I did.
But even better, when I made it off the arena, Cody was right there. I pulled off my helmet and dropped it, but didn't slow down until I had her around the waist. Lifting her up, we spun in a circle.
"Ninety-six!" I crowed.
She was laughing. "Put me down, cowboy."
"Aww c'mon, rookie," I teased, easing her back to the ground. "You're supposed to celebrate with me."
And then I heard another whoop. Spinning, I barely had time to catch the dark thing flying at my face, let alone to realize it was J.D. His legs wrapped around my waist and he was punching the air. Now this was how to act when a number that high lit up the scoreboard.
"You tied the record," J.D. cheered. "Goddamn, Ty. You just beat my top score by one point two five."
I managed to pry him off me, but more guys were showing up, along with the cameras. "Go ride," I told J.D. Then I turned to Cody. "Help him strap in, and get my hat for me?"
She nodded, and J.D. grabbed her hand. He tugged, pulling her back toward the chutes, but a circus was quickly forming around me. Some woman shoved a microphone in my face, asking how I felt about that ride. The camera lights were bright. Somewhere behind me, I knew Renato was getting ready to ride, but I only wanted to know one thing.
"Does that put me in first?" I asked one of the cowboys beside me.
"Hell yeah, it does, Ty," he said.
And the reporter caught it all on camera. I didn't really care. They wanted to know about my style, how I thought I was doing as compared to last year, and a bunch of other boring things that no one really cared about. I wanted to watch my friends ride, so blew through it as fast as I could.
Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough. I made it back up to the rail in time to see Jake Cunningham come out of the chute. He was strapped to a big, black monster with a white face. The bull was slinging the rider around on his back, making the second-best rider in the PBR work for it tonight. By the time the clock reached four seconds, Jake's balance was off, and I knew he wouldn't hold on for eight.
He hit the dirt, stopping the clock at 6.9. In the last chute on this side, Cody stood with her shins braced against the top two rails on the gate. She was using her whole body to pull J.D.'s rope as tight as she could. J.D. was warming it, rubbing his gloved hand up and down on the sticky part that would go around his hand. He made no attempt to go easy on her. Granted, Cody didn't look like she minded, either.
I made my way a little closer. "You got that?" I called over the chute at her.
She lifted her head to smile at me. "I'll make sure I do."
"Don't emasculate her, Ty," J.D. snapped at me. "Just give short-legs here a hand when she tries to step back over. Tighter, Cody. Jesus, woman, I want this rope so tight my bull can't breathe. How the fuck do you think I stay on these things?"
She pulled even harder. It was the first time I'd honestly seen their dynamic. J.D. pushed her, and she rose to meet his expectations. She didn't want to be babied, and he wasn't interested in anyone who'd need such things. I was so amused at it that I almost missed something else. Something that could become a real problem.
Because when the view on the big screen at the other end of the arena changed, it made me look. Probably because most of the screen was filled with pink and black. Someone upstairs thought it would be funny to show off a closeup of Cody's ass. At my side, I felt my fist clench, but I wouldn't say anything. Right now was not the time to distract either her or J.D.
Then a face filled the screen, and a second. A moment later, there was a third. Evidently, the bullfighters had noticed as well, and they'd moved to put themselves in the way. Jorge, Tanner, and Isaac were currently doing some really bad version of a Rockette's routine, kicking their legs up in time to the song playing over the sound system.
That had the fans cheering. It also meant J.D. and I weren't the only ones taking care of her. Damn, but I was going to have to buy all three of them a drink. Still, they made such a production of being silly that Cody didn't even notice. By the time J.D. was ready, all of the proof was long gone.
I offered my arm across the chute, over the bull's rump. She clasped my wrist, stepping over as easily as the rest of us, and coming down beside me on the safe side. J.D. scooted himself up, settling into place, and then he nodded.
I loved that clanking sound as the gate unlocked. It swung open, and J.D.'s bull blew out of the chute with a vengeance. Beside me, Cody grabbed the top rail and leaned closer, almost like she was willing him to stay on. It wouldn't be easy. The bull twisted, rolling his shoulders with each buck. J.D. had to feel like he was stuck to a bucket of Jell-O.
Next came a couple of hard hits, the animal pounding the ground with all its weight, and J.D. could feel it. The guy's body jerked each time, his free hand waving just a little too much. But when the bull doubled back, dropped his shoulder, and kicked his haunches sideways, there was nothing J.D. could do. His hand slipped, his legs came up, and the next second and a half was just the crashing and burning.
When the grill on J.D.'s helmet collided with the bull's horns, Cody yelled. When his body flew off the bull but his rope didn't release, she leaned back, knowing this wreck was going to be bad. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, and together we watched in horror as J.D. slammed down into the dirt - and didn't move.
His bull spun, head down, to make the thing that had been on its back pay. Thankfully, the bullfighters were right there. Jorge was yelling to get the animal's attention, but Tanner was committed. Jumping over J.D.'s body, he shoved himself right into the bull's face, slapping right between its eyes. Still bucking, the bull turned, but not soon enough.
Its feet hit the ground all around J.D.'s body. Isaac darted in to shove at a hip, changing the trajectory of the bucks, but when the bull's head came back around, he nearly took a hook from a horn for it. Yet it was still too close, and Tanner wasn't about to budge. Another tap on the face, this time to the bull's nose, and he finally had its attention. Tanner zigged, the bull zagged, but J.D. was no longer under its feet.
Everything looked good until the bull saw the open gate. Rushing for it, it blew past Tanner, tossing out one last good-bye kick on its way out. The sound of that hoof colliding with Tanner's shoulder echoed out in the arena, and the bullfighter was forced back, landing on his ass, rolling back over his head before he finally stopped.
Jorge went to J.D. Isaac went to check on Tanner. Cody wanted to jump the rail, but I wouldn't let go. The sports medicine team was on their way in, and there wasn't anything she could do but make a scene that J.D. didn't need.
"Cody," I told her, "stop. You can't go down there."
"He's hurt," she hissed.
"And you aren't a doctor." I gave her a little shake. "Stop. We need to get down to the gate and see where he's going, because we won't hear a damned thing up here. C'mon."
Grabbing her hand, I wove between the onlookers up by the chutes. Mostly because moving meant less time worrying. But getting through this was easier said than done. There wasn't a whole lot of space, and a man down always brought a crowd. Still, I was willing to force the point if that was what she needed. Then, just as we reached the stairs, the crowd all started clapping.
I hit the ground and pulled Cody in front of me just as J.D. limped in with an arm over Jorge's shoulder on one side, and one of the sports medicine guys on the other. Right behind him was Tanner, but he was walking. Instead, the guy checking on him was looking at Tanner's arm.
"Damn," J.D. groaned, dropping onto the closest bench. "I gotta get this brace off." Then he started pulling at his pant leg, trying to get it up to his knee.
"Look at me," the man from sports medicine told him.
"Fuck that." And he got the pant leg up high enough to reveal the twisted metal pressing into his leg. "This shit hurts enough I can't think to get checked for a concussion, doc. Take it off, then you can shine all the lights in my eyes you want."
Cody breathed a sigh of relief, looking over at Tanner. He was making faces as his own medic checked his shoulder, making sure he had full range of motion. From the looks of it, he did.
"You're both ok?" she asked.
J.D. just bobbed his head. "Nothing a long hot bath, couple of beers, and a good night's sleep won't fix."
"And you, Tanner?" she asked.
He chuckled once. "I've been kicked worse, Cody. Kinda part of my job description. Stop acting like a girl."
She just stuck her tongue out at him. "See if I worry about you again!"
"Hey!" J.D. yelled at her. "You know what this means, rookie?"
"No..."
"We're tied right now. I mean, for this event. Ty's in the lead. Means tomorrow is anyone's game." Then he grinned. "Dare ya to beat me."
She pointed at him. "You are so on, J.D. I'm going to show you what it means to ride like a girl." Then she caught my hand and pulled me back away from the arena. All I could do was follow.
Behind us, J.D. said, "That's my rookie." The words were clearly intended as praise.