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Chapter 53
The next tworiders ate dirt. One guy stayed on a whole three seconds. The other was off in less than two. It really wasn't pretty, and I had a feeling the fans weren't going to be happy about the show they didn't get. Still, seeing my name at the top of the rankings on a PBR scoreboard? It felt damned good.
It also meant that I was most likely going to end this night in second place. Yeah, Tanner was right. The judges would never score me as high as the famous bad-boy, J.D. Adkins. The fans loved him. He sold tickets. And while they might say that the scoring was impartial, it wouldn't take much more than a feeling to push him up just enough to knock me out of place. Still, coming in fourth at my first event and second at the second? I could handle that.
But when it came time for J.D. to get on his bull, both Ty and I tried to step across the chute. I wagged a finger at him and gestured for him to get out of my way. The smile I got made it worth it. Ty stepped back, bowed his head, and acted like he was allowing me to walk through a door first. Yeah, it was cute. It was also a little silly, which was probably why he did it.
"I got his rope," I told the chute attendant.
He cocked his head, but he passed it over without a word. J.D. noticed my boots, and his head jerked up. "Hey, you," he said. "Thought you were planning to get pretty."
"After I see how I place."
He grabbed the rail with one hand, right between my shins, and leaned closer. "That score you got was total shit."
"So I've been told, but I'm still sitting in first right now."
He leaned back so he could see the scoreboard around me. "So you are." Then he started warming the tail of his rope. "So, you know I don't throw rides, right?"
"What?"
"Say 'right,' Cody."
"Right, Cody," I parroted.
"Good, because you did me a favor, and I'm gonna do you one back. Just because of my bum knee, you know." He looked up, meeting my eyes through the grill of his facemask. "I just wanna make it clear that this evens things up, and I'm only doing it because you got screwed."
"What?" I asked.
"Trust me," he said as he moved to the handle.
After that, he couldn't talk, not without everyone around us hearing every word. Considering that the chute attendants were there to keep things fair, I wasn't sure if he was thinking about breaking a rule. Considering this was J.D., I couldn't exactly rule that out. Still, there was one thing I wouldn't tolerate.
"You'd better not throw your ride," I warned him.
"Fuck no. Pull."
Just like that, he'd moved on and hit the zone - both at the same time. I pulled the rope as tight as I could. J.D. gestured for more, so I put my legs into it. When he felt it was good enough, he took the tail, bent it over, and started his wrap. I didn't know the name of his bull, but after this weekend, they were all starting to run together. When he had his rope how he wanted, I reached out for Ty and got the hell out of J.D.'s way.
It took a minute for J.D. to get his bull standing up straight. He spurred at its shoulder, the chute guys pushed at it, but the thing was tired and done. Still, the moment someone pulled out the wedge, the animal knew and stood himself up right.
This time, I got to watch J.D. get himself set. He didn't mess around. In one smooth motion, he dropped down, slid forward, and locked his legs into place - then he nodded.
By the time the bull knew it had something on its back, the gate was already swinging open, giving it somewhere to go. I was honestly a little impressed at that. It made such perfect sense, but to get it right? If the bull shifted at all before he locked in? He was taking a real risk of a buck-off with that little trick. Then again, with the way this beast took off, he would make up for it with the bull score.
The bull plunged, kicking its heels well up over its head just to rear up like a monster. A few times, it did those flying kicks where all four feet were in the air at the same time. Then it set up for the spin. The whole time, J.D. just rode.
What he didn't do was spur. Not at all. He kept his feet locked in at the bull's sides, bleeding away those points with each missed chance. His form was amazing. He kept his free arm up and tight, his head down, and his hips right up by his glove. J.D. rode like he was a part of this animal, sticking with it as the bull whipped his haunches around with a vengeance, but his feet didn't move an inch.
Ty dropped his hand on my shoulder - the one closest to him, not around me - and leaned toward my ear. "If he scores higher than you, I suggest you give Max a call and file a protest."
"But he's locked in," I pointed out.
Ty just shrugged. "Cody, he hasn't used his feet once." He paused as the buzzer went off, signaling a full ride. "That should be high eighties," Ty finished.
But we both paused as J.D. freed his hand and took his dismount. I knew he had a bad knee. He'd been lame on it since that bull came down on him, and it sounded like this wasn't exactly a new thing. Thankfully, Tanner was being overprotective. When J.D. dropped into the dirt, Tanner shoved in front of him and yelled out a "Ha!" pushing the bull away.
The bull bucked for only a second more, spinning around to see that it was pinned in. The only way out was toward the gate, and with a visible huff, it turned and took the escape. Tanner immediately went back for J.D. who hadn't moved. They shared a word out there, then Tanner ducked under J.D.'s arm and helped him limp his way back toward the exit.
"Shit," I breathed. "That means he's hurt."
"Or playing it up," Ty countered, pointing up to the scoreboard.
There, in big, white numbers was a whopping 90.25. Seeing it, I felt like I'd just been hit by a truck. We'd only been a half a point apart before this ride. Now I had two whole points on him. No one else was close. The names moved on the leaderboard, but mine? It stayed right up there at the top. In first place. For the whole event.
"He threw it," I realized. "J.D. didn't spur so I would win."
"No," Ty said softly. "He didn't spur because you deserved to win. That ride of yours? It should've been at least a ninety-six. They ripped you off, we know it, and J.D. did something about it. He made sure you got what you've fucking earned, making it clear that we're not going to tolerate them ranking you down because you're a girl."
"Thank you," I breathed, turning to hug him.
Ty wrapped his arms around my back and squeezed me tight. "This time, I had nothing to do with it. I think he deserves one of these, honey."
"Yeah, he really does, but I've got fifteen minutes to look good enough for live TV. Can you tell him thank you for me? I need to..." Because if I was first place, this was going to be everywhere.
"Go get pretty, cowgirl," he teased.
I did, feeling like I was in a daze. First place? Holy crap. And my dad had seen it all. He'd watched me ride that bull tonight! Next, he was going to get to see me win a check bigger than he earned in a year. And I was definitely giving it all to him. He'd earned at least that much. Hell, never mind that next weekend I was going to get paid just to show up. Which meant I really needed eyeliner.
I was so lost in my own little mind that I didn't notice Austin and his friends until it was too late. Just as I rounded the corner for my gear bag, he stepped into my path, almost forcing me to run into him. Then his eyes dropped to my chest.
"So, which one of those guys are you fucking? Or have you decided to become the town bicycle?"
"Ugh," I groaned. "You are pathetic. Seriously? Do you think I haven't heard all these jokes before? Lemme guess, you're good for more than eight seconds, I should give you a try. You're wondering if I'm here to ride or get ridden. You'll be more than happy to teach me how to hold on, right to your dick. Did I miss any?"
Austin didn't bother saying a thing. This time, he just shoved. It wasn't hard. Well, not that hard, but when his hand hit my shoulder, it did make me stagger back. Too bad for him, I still had my helmet in my hands, and I was used to this shit. I caught myself, reversed, and "stumbled" right back into him, helmet first.
The hard plastic hit him right in the balls, and hard. With my face right up in his, I saw his eyes go wide, heard him gasp as the pain hit, and then he doubled over. I didn't bother backing up.
"Try it, Austin. I promise that when I'm not drunk, I can take care of myself. I don't need J.D. to protect me. Thing is, I also won't call him off, because that's his job as my mentor. And Ty? Well, he's just an overprotective, jealous ass. And you know what? Those are just my friends. So if you and your boys wanna go a few rounds? I'm down for it. I even have the money to pay my own fines now."
"You'll never make it to finals," he said, but it didn't sound like much of a threat as he tried to get it out around the pain in his little wee-wee.
I just looked down at the fool bent over his now-broken junk. "Think so? Because the last guy who tried this? He said I'd never make it to the PBR. The one before him? He said no one would want a girl who acted like a man. Guess what? I don't really give a shit what you think. Not anymore. My father is out there in that audience, and he just saw his little girl make first place in a PBR Tough Enough Series show. Oh, yeah, and then there's the part about how if you keep fucking with me? I'm pretty sure your sponsors won't like it much. You know, that whole #metoo thing going around. Let's fucking play, you inbred redneck hick."
He sucked in a breath, forced himself to stand up straight, and glared at me, but he didn't have a thing left to say. Oh, that didn't mean I trusted him, but I'd spent a very long time dealing with bullies. This part was easy. Trying to cut me with words? Well, they didn't hurt as much when I wasn't alone.
So I turned to look at his friends. "You guys want a little? Promise I can swing this helmet like a real bitch. And you know what? When I start screaming that four guys are trying to hurt me? How do you think that's really going to play out?"
"Let's go, Austin," one of them said.
Those words gave them the idea. Two of them moved to help Austin, but they were all clearly ready to end this. I was no longer the easy target they'd hoped for. Oh, that didn't mean this was over, but it meant they wouldn't try this tactic again. Hopefully, it would also mean that I'd be safe on my own behind the chutes.
But before Austin made it more than two steps, he called back, "I'm gonna make sure you regret this, bitch."
"Oh, Austin," I taunted. "You aren't scared of a girl, are you?"
Then I lifted my middle finger and waved it at him. He didn't bother saying anything else. He just left, and me? I'd lost at least five minutes for makeup. Well, that meant I really needed to hurry, because I didn't know what Tanner was planning, but I knew it was going to happen at the awards ceremony, right on the big screen.
And that meant I might be taking the target off of Tanner's back, but I'd just pasted it right on mine.
