Page 45 of Just Hold On

I grunted at that. "Probably. Thing is, Ty's got it bad for her. That don't mean we're not both trying to get her attention for long term. Difference is that we're doing it different with her. Cody needs to play a bit, to figure out that her sexuality isn't a bad thing. I mean, I've done some things that'd make my mama faint if she knew. So, Ty and I agreed that we won't stop the other from trying, or anyone who has her best interests at heart. Hooking up is just fine. Screwing her over will get ya hurt bad."

"Yeah," Tanner drawled. "Pretty sure she wrote me off the other day. I think I got friend-zoned, man."

"Never know with Cody," I assured him. "See, she hasn't really figured out yet that she's gorgeous. Shelby said she's always been told she's not pretty enough, and Cody believes it. She didn't wear dresses, didn't have time or money for makeup - because she put it into her gear instead. Then those boys taunted her about it."

"Wait," Tanner said, leaning onto the arm of his chair closest to me. "She didn't have every boy in school chasing her?"

"Nope, because she's been riding sheep, steers, and bulls since she could walk. So have they. Problem was that she kept beating them, and they didn't like how that made their pee-pees hurt. So they trashed her. Called her an ugly cow, told her they weren't into boys, and shit like that. Her best friend said she spent a lot of time crying it out, but she wouldn't give up on riding. Kinda why I'm wanting her to have a little victory lap, ya know?"

Tanner nodded. "I grew up in a place big enough we didn't have that crap. If one group hated you, there were always five more who didn't even know them."

"Where you from?" I asked him.

"Ames, Iowa," Tanner said. "You?"

"Nashville." I shrugged that off. "Basically the country version of the ghetto, man."

We sat there shooting the shit about nothing at all important for a while. No talk of bull riding, no discussing women, just that calm, casual bullshit that kinda felt nice. Tanner smiled easily, but it wasn't the wicked type learned to mask everything else a man didn't want seen. He was just nice. Not the weak kind, either. He seemed more like the type of person who didn't really care if anyone else liked him, because he liked himself just fine.

And it kinda made me want to get to know him a little more. Unfortunately, that was when the physical therapist decided to come play with my leg. The guy's name was Anthony. I knew him a little too well. He was big, Black, and took no shit from us. We used to have a woman in the position, but the guys had made a few too many crass jokes and she'd quit. Doctor Stephens hired Anthony to replace her, and this guy scared even me.

"You ready for this?" he asked, kneeling down by my feet.

I leaned back and gripped both arms of my chair. "Not really, bro. Gotta stick for me to chew on?"

"You got this, J.D.," he said, then he lifted my foot, pushing it up to the ceiling a bit, and toward my chest so my knee had to bend.

Ice shot straight up my spine. Yep, that bull hadn't just hit my knee brace. It had done a job to the knee beneath. Clenching my jaw, I focused on digging my fingers into the leather upholstered arms of this chair. Then the dick turned my foot just a bit. I damned near shot out of the chair.

"Breathe," Anthony told me. "You have to stretch those scarred muscles, J.D., or you won't be riding that long."

"Fuck!" I gasped.

And then Tanner was beside me. He shoved a hand onto my shoulder, the other clasping my hand. Both of our elbows were propped up like we were arm wrestling, but it gave me something to hold onto, and when Anthony twisted my leg again, Tanner's hand helped me stay in place.

I was panting like a dog, struggling to breathe through it. I could hear Anthony trying to talk to me, but damn. I'd fucked that shit up bad this time. I also knew that it would feel a whole lot better when he was done, but I hadn't exactly been following his instructions lately. I didn't have time to do squats and tension exercises. Nope, I'd been chasing a girl.

"You're doing good," Anthony promised. "Just some easy bends for a bit."

That gave me the chance to catch my breath, which was when I realized that Tanner was supposed to be under ice. I opened my eyes to say something to him about it, and found his eyes watching me, filled with concern. They were almost green.

"Which one's your bad arm?" I asked instead.

He smiled and wiggled the hand holding mine. "This one, so don't push. Pulling's fine."

"Yup." And my physical therapist bent my knee again.

It really did get easier each time. Unfortunately, I'd had so much work done to that leg in the last five years that everything was tight, scarred up, and filled with arthritis. I preferred to baby it, which only made it worse, and our sports medicine team wouldn't let us get away with that.

The three of us were like that when whoever Anthony had been with before finally had his clothes back on and walked through the room to leave. I was gripping Tanner's hand with a passion when I heard the asshole laugh. My eyes flew open and I found Austin shaking his head.

"Careful, J.D., looks like Tanner's gonna take advantage of you. Maybe that's why he's never been seen with a girl, huh? He chasing you?"

"Fuck off, Austin," I snarled.

Anthony just pointed at the door. "Out!" he ordered. "Because you were pawing all over me when I worked on your hip, so don't act like this is a gay thing."

Still, Tanner pulled his hands back, and bowed up at Austin. "You haven't seen me with a girl because we don't go to your shit-ass bars. And if you're going to bitch when we give a shit about our riders? Well, let's just say I'll remember that the next time your damned suicide wrap won't come loose. I mean, wouldn't wanna get too close to you. Might look kinda gay, right? Especially when I'm all pressed up against your ass trying to get your hand free? Can't have that."

"Out!" Anthony said again. "We are not patching you idiots up if you decide to throw down." Then he stood, proving he had quite a few inches - and at least fifty pounds of pure muscle - on all of us. Glaring at Austin, the big guy just pointed at the door again. "Now, Austin. Don't need your bigotry in here right now."

With a huff, Austin left, slamming the door behind him. Tanner returned to his chair, pulling the ice pack back onto his shoulder. Anthony knelt before me again, but from the look on his face, he was honestly pissed. Livid, even.

"You ok?" I asked him.

"Fucking racist piece of shit," Anthony grumbled. "You know he asked me if I was the only nigger in my field? Nigger. He said that right to my face like he couldn't understand how it might be offensive."

"Or he was trying to be offensive, knowing you can't do much about it," Tanner pointed out.

"Nigger," Anthony grumbled again.

"Hey," I told him before he could put me back in pain. "Want me to beat his ass for you later?"

That made the guy smile. "Nope. Means we'd have to do this all over again, and I don't really like your feet that much, J.D." He slowly began lifting my foot again, then paused. "But thanks."

"File a complaint with the board," I told him. "Seriously, Anthony. They ran off the girl who used to do this. Don't let them run you off, too. He's just trying to hide how much this hurts."

"I just wanna make sure my patients stay in one piece for as long as possible. Deep breath, J.D., and don't forget to let it out. You got this, man."

And then he bent my knee again, but this time it was even easier. I still kinda missed the supporting hand on my shoulder, though. When I looked over at Tanner, he was watching back with a little too much worry on his face. That was all it took for me to remember to breathe.

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