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Chapter 54
With Cody busygetting pretty - not that she needed it - I had the chance to deal with the one thing that had been eating at me all day long. The area behind the chutes was being cleaned up, and quickly. Out in the arena, the clown, Cletus, was making a bunch of bad jokes, keeping the fans in their seats a few minutes longer. And me? I had just caught sight of a purple jersey.
"Tanner," I snapped, pointing off to the side.
He jerked his chin at me in acknowledgement. "Be right there, Ty."
"Now!" I barked.
He just slapped Isaac's arm, said one more thing, then jogged over. "Yeah?" he asked.
I pointed around the corner. "This is private."
"What the fuck?" he asked, moving toward the back, to a spot where we could both see all around us and still not be overheard. "We talked about this before the show."
"She thinks you're gay," I hissed.
He slowly nodded. "Yeah, um, J.D. kinda said something about that."
"You need to fucking tell her, ok?"
"I've been trying," he growled, pushing up at me. "Stop acting like I'm doing this to hurt her. It was her fucking idea. I was just fine saying nothing, but J.D. said Austin's got his sights set on me, and she wanted to do something. And you know what? I'm not opposed to kissing her." He lifted his chin. "I also know exactly what deal you two have going on."
"Us two?"
"You and J.D. With her."
I felt my muscles tensing, because the way he made that sound? But I didn't get a chance to make a comeback. J.D. shoved himself between us, pushing me back as he used his body as a shield.
"Calm your balls down, cowboy," he warned. "Yeah, I told him. Yeah, he's into her."
"And she's not into him," I pointed out. "J.D., she thinks he's not interested in her. She thinks he only likes guys!"
"I dunno," he said. "Look, she's definitely into it."
"What?!"
"Cody," J.D. clarified. "She kinda liked the show."
"What show?" I asked, feeling like I was missing a whole lot.
J.D. just sighed and scrubbed at his face. "She caught me kissing him, ok?"
My mouth flopped open and I just stared at him. How had I not even thought about how Cody had learned Tanner wasn't straight? I'd just assumed that maybe he'd let something slip, or that it had been someone else. She'd all but told me the truth, and yet I never would've guessed.
"But she's planning to date him?" I finally asked.
J.D. kinda huffed. I think it was supposed to be a laugh, but evidently I'd just asked the right question. Or at least one right enough to make him feel better. The relief wasn't just on his face. It ran through his entire body, almost like he'd just deflated a little and was verging on wilting.
"Yeah, she's dating him. I'm her mentor. You're her friend. Him? He got caught, Ty. Was a while back, but there's enough that Austin's looking to make a scene, and Tanner's an easy target. If he goes, all three of the bullfighters will be fucked over. So yeah. A little romance out there tonight makes Austin look like an idiot, keeps Tanner from needing to explain anything, and um..." He stepped back to lean against the wall. "You hate me now?"
"No." I shook my head. "Fuck no. Look, my only problem with this is that she doesn't know. Wait. She knows about you, right?"
"She fucking saw me with my tongue down his throat, so yeah. Granted, I don't know if she thinks I'm gay too, but that's easy enough to clear up. I'm just saying that we need to talk tonight, she wants to talk tonight, and, um..." He glanced over at Tanner. "I kinda plan to see if she's ok with me having a side thing."
"Do I get a say in this?" Tanner asked.
J.D. grinned. "Yeah, well, I was gonna get to that after she said it was ok. She will, too. Says it's hot, so... I'm thinking Ty's going to have to work to keep up."
I just held up my hands. "Sorry, guys. I'm straight. But I guess this just means I get more time with the girl, huh?" They both kinda laughed at that, but it was the type that proved they trusted me. It also made it clear that I needed to say one more thing. "Look, I don't care. Love is love, right? And no matter what, I'm not about to out you, because I've seen the shit these guys are willing to do. All I'm saying is that you need to tell Cody."
"Why?" J.D. asked. "I mean, I already kinda talked to her. Need to do more, but yeah, that's out there."
"Him." I pointed at Tanner. "She doesn't know he's into her. It's not because of who you like, Tanner. It's because her ex lied to her to get in her pants, then tried to chase her off bull riding with slut-shaming. I'm just saying that if she kisses you, and then finds out you liked it later? She's going to feel like the act was your ploy to use her. That's it."
"Fuck," Tanner growled, turning around to take a step away. "No, that's a good point. Look, there's no way I'm going to catch her before this deal. I got a plan, and it means I'm going to kiss her, but I'll make it clear we need to talk right after. That good enough?"
"Kinda has to be, huh?" I cocked my head, miming a shrug. "But it's really up to her. If she's pissed, she'll take it out on you, and I have a feeling that our sweet little bull rider isn't the kind of person you want to get on the wrong side of."
"Fuck," Tanner said again. "Ok. If one of you see her before we go out, let her know that I need to talk to her."
"I'm not doing this for you," I told him. "You need to man up."
"Just that I need to talk to her," he insisted. "I'll handle the messy parts." Then he looked at J.D. "We need to talk, too."
"Yup," he agreed.
But Tanner just stepped back. "I'm up first, guys, and I need to make sure my plan is in place." He jogged backwards. "I'll take care of it."
"And you just stole my girl," I yelled at him, because it didn't really matter if anyone else heard that part.
Tanner grinned, but turned and just kept going. Beside me, J.D. sighed. It was the kind that a man let out when he was working up to something. I shifted over to lean beside him, our shoulders almost touching.
"Not how I planned to tell you about this," J.D. admitted.
"Not really any of my business, is it?" I asked him.
"Kinda is if we're gonna be with the same girl, isn't it?" He glanced over. "And so you know, I didn't sleep with him. He spent the night, and Cody knows that, but I didn't… you know."
"J.D., man, I don't care. It's not me you need to be talking to."
"Kinda is." He pulled off his hat and ran his hand over his hair. "Ty, Friday night, things were getting a little hot. I know you slept with her. That means it ain't a big stretch to think she might decide that two is better than one, and I'm so down with that. The question is if you'll be, and you kinda need to think about that beforehand."
I couldn't help it. My timing couldn't have been worse, but this image popped into my head and a laugh started building in my chest. I tried to stop it, aware that J.D. felt like this was a big fucking deal, but I just couldn't. The more I tried to suppress it, the worse it became until I just shoved a hand over my face and started chuckling.
"You saying you might slip and fall in my ass?"
The look of complete shock he gave me only made it worse. "No!"
"Get confused and try to gag yourself on my dick?"
"Ty! Fuck. No!"
I waved him off. "I know." But damn, those were the only reasons I could think of for why someone would be worried about it. To me, the whole thing was just so stupid that I simply couldn't take it seriously. I did, however, manage to get my laughter under control, simply because J.D. didn't deserve that.
"Man, I honestly don't give a shit. I mean, what's the downside? You might check me out? Oh no. I kinda grew up in a place where being gay - or anything else - isn't a big deal. Maybe it is in your neck of the woods, but not in my house. Look, I've never met anyone that's as straight as they pretend, so it's really not a big deal. I figure that between us this doesn't change a single damned thing."
"Gonna let me suck your dick?" J.D. teased.
"Prolly not."
He just lifted a brow. "Prolly?"
I just lifted my hands, offering nothing. "Not my thing. Not grossed out. Sorry to disappoint."
And J.D. looked away. I wasn't quite sure what I'd said, but when he choked back a breath, I realized something had hit him hard. Pushing off the wall, I moved before him to grab his shoulder. He just shook his head, all but denying that anything had happened, but I knew better. He was trying to cowboy up, and I wasn't about to let him get away with that shit.
"What?" I asked.
He finally looked back at me, and his eyes were a little too shiny. "You know, in Tulsa, I woulda told you that I didn't have a damned friend in the world. The people who liked me just wanted a cut of my check. The ones who hung out with me were waiting to see me fall, and then along came Cody." He took a breath, but it shook a little. "And now you."
Hell, those words punched me right in the gut. Without asking, I pulled him off the wall and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pounding him on the back. Somehow, he'd kinda put my feelings right into words. Yeah, I'd had Renato, but we weren't as close anymore. We'd fucked together. Now he had Hannah, and I'd kinda felt like we were growing apart.
"Yeah, bro," I said softly.
J.D. just sighed. "And you really do smell good."
"Old Spice deodorant," I told him. "Cody likes it."
With a laugh, he stepped forward, his arm still around my back, and started leading us back to the lineup. "You think they're going to penalize me for throwing my ride?"
"Nah. Your knee's been bad all weekend."
So he looked up at me. "You think she's going to be pissed at Tanner?"
All I could do was shake my head. "Not really. Not if he comes clean tonight. It's her own fault for jumping to conclusions, but that doesn't mean she'll be happy about it if he hides it. I just think we're all walking this tightrope, and I'm kinda waiting for it to break."
"And what's the downside?" J.D. asked. "What's really the worst that happens?"
I patted his back and then let my arm drop. "They slut-shame her out of the PBR. She ends up pregnant and doesn't know how to tell her father? We fuck this up, she decides she hates us all, and we're back to being three idiot guys with nothing at all in common?" I paused. "Well, I will be. You and Tanner won't have that problem."
"Mm," J.D. said. "And if it works out?"
I blew out a breath. "Then we can make it up as we go along. I'm in this for the long haul, J.D. I don't know if she's a fling for you, but there's something about that girl that I just can't shake."
"Yeah," he agreed. "Me either. It's just gonna be weird if it doesn't fizzle out."
"And riding bulls for a living is normal?"
"Ok, you kinda have a point." Then he pointed up the line. "Go find your place. Up there with the scrubs."
I punched his shoulder lightly. "I'll remember that. You can't always be at the top every event."
"Next to the top," he said, just as Cody walked up. "Because that pretty little thing? She kicked my ass. Careful, Ty, she'll be bumping you down a few rungs before you know it."
"Just means I need to up my game." I turned, making sure my path to the front of the line brought me right beside Cody. "And you look beautiful. Maybe I can talk you into signing a poster for me?"
She just grinned. "Sure, Ty, because I know you don't have one."
I winked at her. "I have five."
Maybe I'd asked her dad to buy them for me, and maybe I'd paid for him to get ten more so he could send them to his family and friends, but yeah, her on Without Ado? For me, that said everything. It was the proof that if Cody wanted to, there wasn't a damned thing in the world that could throw her off.
Hopefully, not even me.
