Chapter 51
Huntingdown Renato wasn't as easy as I'd hoped. I checked with most of the Brazilian riders, but they all shook their heads and rambled at me in Portuguese. That language was freaky enough I just shook my head and backed away. It always sounded to me like it wanted to be Spanish, but it had done a few too many drugs. But Jake said he'd seen a few more of the Brazilians on the other side.
There, I found a group of their best all hovering around Hannah. She was sitting in a chair, trying to wave them off, insisting she was fine, but they were having none of it. Concerned, I tapped Emilio on the shoulder.
"She ok?"
"I'm fine!" Hannah snapped, clearly having heard. "I got kicked, ok? I said ow. That doesn't mean I'm in labor. Jesus, boys. I have a whole 'nother month or more, at least, to cook this thing."
Yeah, I didn't really blame her guys. Still, I was kinda on a mission. "Well, if you're fine, then can I borrow your man?"
She waved him away. "If you don't, I might just kill him and rip the balls off the other two. Guys, seriously. I'm fine. Dr. Stephens said I'm fine. What more do you want from me?"
"He didn't even check," Renato growled.
"Because I'm fine," Hannah said again before looking at me. "J.D.? I'm gonna stab him to death with this folding chair if you don't take him away from me."
"C'mon," I told Renato, tugging at him. "Man, when the chica says she's fine, any man in his right mind believes her. Trust me, women are fucking tough. Besides, Ty needs your help."
And that got through his thick brain. "Yeah?"
"Cody, myself, and Ty are all riding back-to-back. We need some rope pullers. I'll trade by saying that Cody's dad is watching the show, and there should be an empty seat beside him. Bullfighters kinda got him two for the weekend. I bet he'd love having Hannah with him. You good with that?"
The relief I saw on Renato's face proved just how much this guy cared about her. "Yeah. Where?"
"Right side, front row, wearing the pink shirt. Just around the corner. We're going third, fourth, and fifth."
He nodded. "I'll get some guys to help. Emilio for her, Dado for you, and I can help Ty. We'll be there."
"Thank you," I told him. "Owe ya one, man."
He nodded, the brim of his hat dipping with the movement of his head, then he turned to go right back to Hannah. Yep, I wasn't sticking around for that, but at least I had this much sorted. There was just one more thing I needed to deal with, and that could wait until I was off my bull.
Still, I made my way up to the rail, hoping to find an excuse to wave Tanner over. I didn't get one. After a few riders went through - all getting dumped just as fast as we'd been all weekend - Isaac noticed me. He lifted a hand, holding up a finger to prove it, and then the next bull came out.
This time, the guy actually held on for eight. It wasn't pretty though, and his score was a whole whopping 71.25, but that was better than the nothing he would've gotten for hitting the dirt. When the bullfighters had his bull back through the gate, the music started playing, proving they were moving the next set in while taking a commercial break.
Isaac jogged over and hopped halfway up the fence to get close enough that I wouldn't need to yell. "What's up?" he asked.
"Ty McBride's on Without Ado. He's in third."
Isaac nodded. "Thanks. We'll stay close. Who's Cody on?"
"Dunno, but Ty wasn't too worried about it."
For a moment, Isaac just hung there, looking at me as if he was thinking hard about something. Then he pulled himself up another rung, putting his face almost level with mine.
"Tanner talks to us, man. Just figured you should know."
My whole body felt like it shut down, like someone had just pressed pause on the entire world. I knew what he was saying. Tanner told them where he was last night, and with who. That meant they knew my secret, just like my crew knew his. It was fair. It made sense, so I just nodded.
"Yeah, well, tell him we need to talk. She's got the wrong impression."
Isaac's face scrunched up. "She? You mean Cody?"
"Yep. He should understand after what happened this morning. Just tell him he needs to tell her."
"Man, I won't get a chance. Not without the cameras on me."
"Well, try," I hissed. "And keep that fucking bull off Ty."
"Can do!" He hopped down, landing much too easily, then tossed a fake salute at me to prove the point.
It only helped so much. That Cody was still hanging out with her father said she didn't want to deal with Ty's mood any more than I did. Granted, I didn't blame her, but still. This whole event was nothing but a damned clusterfuck. Tulsa had been nice and laid back. St. Louis felt like it was falling apart at the seams. I knew half of that was this stock string. The bulls were badass, and kicking our behinds.
Down behind the chutes, tensions were high. That probably wasn't helping Ty too much, or me for that matter. Neither did the fact that I was about to out myself. Cody already knew. Ty sounded like he'd be ok with it, but I couldn't help but think that he might change his mind about sharing Cody. But he was one of those damned liberal Canadians. He should be ok with it, right?
And Tanner.
I kicked a foot up on the rail and had to work to keep my face in that patented J.D. calm expression. While my eyes were on the arena, my mind was replaying last night. That shower had been real fuckin' nice, even without any fuckin'. There'd still been a little touchy-feely shit going on, and he was anything but shy. Just like I liked 'em.
And when I'd woken up this morning with him pressed up against my back? Yeah. I liked being held. Wasn't nothing wrong with that. We hadn't done more, though, because I really wanted to talk to Cody first. I wasn't gonna cheat on her, and yeah, I was walking a real thin line, but she'd said it was ok. My problem was that I couldn't stop worrying that maybe she'd just written me off.
If she thought Tanner was gay, then what about me? Did she think that the time we'd spent together had been me using her as a beard? Damn, but I wanted to just pull her around a corner and have a long heart-to-heart talk with her. I wanted to explain to her that she meant something to me, because she fucking well did. Yeah, I liked Tanner, but Cody? She'd crawled right under my skin and taken up residence somewhere in the middle of my chest.
And it had been one fucking week.
I blew a couple of hours standing and thinking. When the twelfth-place rider came out of the chute, I headed back to my gear. Ty was still there, but he looked a hell of a lot better. Cody showed up not long after, and the three of us went through one more check of our stuff. We didn't really talk. It wasn't that kind of night. Then, all too soon, she was going off to find her bull. Because of the way the chutes worked, she'd be in the set before me.
I caught her before she could walk off without a word. "Hey," I said, pulling her closer. "Ride safe, ok?"
She bit her lower lip and looked up. "Tell me I didn't fuck things up?"
"Naw," I promised. "Just a little tense today. He's getting dumped, remember? Play it out, baby. And take out that stress on your bull. You're less than a point behind me. The guys in first place? They won't stay there. That means some real money for your dad if you can just hold on for eight, ok?
"Yeah." Then she glanced over at Ty. "See if he's willing to have a talk tonight? Like, all of us?"
I leaned closer. "He is. Already talked to him."
Not exactly, but he'd basically said something close enough for me to feel safe saying that. When she turned to find her bull, yeah, I gave her a swat on the ass. It was kinda hanging out there, framed by those pretty black-and-pink chaps. The skip she did after, and the way she grabbed at her butt cheek? So worth it.
"C'mon," I told Ty as I unlaced my own rope. "We're gonna watch her. You're gonna get outta this funk you're in, and then we're gonna ride the shit outta these bulls."
"I'm fine," he insisted.
I kicked up an eyebrow at him. "You're brooding. Yeah, you can pull it off, but it makes her tense. What she needs is for you to smile, cheer her on, and be her big ol' hero. Now..." I popped him in the arm. "Activate sexy-Ty."
Right on cue, he chuckled. Then he yanked his rope from the panel and followed like a very good and well-trained puppy. Together, we made it around the first corner of the arena, planted our asses in front of some fans, and both of us looked over to watch while Emilio climbed onto her gate and tried to cut her bull in half with her rope.
On the big screen, they had a view right into her chute. Cody was in the zone. Her bull, not so much. Every time she got close to getting her handle placed, it would squirm enough to twist the placement.
Then Ty lifted a hand to his mouth and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Girls do it!"
And from the other side, Hannah heard. "Better!" she yelled back.
Ty jabbed his elbow into my side and lifted his hand again. This time we both called out, "Girls do it!"
"Better!" a group replied from the other side.
Cletus, the PBR's clown, hopped up on the bullpen, pointing at us. "Girls do it," he said in time with our chant. And he pointed at the other side. "Better!"
More and more people were joining in with each pass. Each side was trying to yell louder than the other, and in the chute, Cody had her hand wrapped, her complete focus on her bull, and then she slid into place. The beast gave her a little shaking around before he settled into her weight, and she shifted one last time.
She nodded.
The gate came open, the chant died at "Girls do it!" and Cody Jennings proved just what that meant. Her bull came out plunging like a dolphin - but not as gracefully. When he kicked his back end up, she raked her heels up his side. He broke to the left, slung his head, trying to dislodge her, and doubled down. Around and around they went, but Cody had this.
She was balanced right over her hand. Her chaps were flying up around her thighs, her rhinestone belt catching every light in the arena, and her little green and black boots moved right in time. This was how it was done. This was what the judges wanted to see. This was what all of us wanted to be, and that right there was our girl.
Halfway through her ride, the bull flattened out, and I thought she was going to lose all that perfect she had going on, but she ran her heels over his side again. He jerked right up, kicked out with all four legs, and made a lap to the right, just in time for the buzzer to go off. From where I was standing, that ride had been fucking perfect. I was looking at a new record holder, and only on her second show.
She yanked at her rope, hopped down, crashed to her knees, and then was moving again. Like clockwork, the bullfighters turned her bull to the gate and shooed it out. Cody was peeling off her helmet when Tanner made it to her side, daring to press his hand to her lower back. Both of them were looking up at the scoreboard, which meant she knew she'd cleaned up.
It didn't take long before the numbers flashed onto the big screen: 91.75.
Ninety-one point seven five.
"What?!" Ty snapped beside me. "She just outrode me, and they gave me a ninety-six!"
And inside, I was raging. "Yeah, but you got a dick."