Page 6 of Just Hold On

Chapter 5

When I reachedthe top of the stairs, I looked back just in time to see Cody smiling. Now that was a look that fit on her face. Much better than the petty defiance she'd been trying before I walked away. But I'd been right. Cody from Missouri matched up with the kid who made the first full ride last night. I'd just gotten to see what the hell she could do, and damned if I wasn't impressed.

She was just a little thing, weighing no more than a buck twenty, but she'd stuck to Disco Breakout like it wasn't a big deal. Then again, she might not know that he had a reputation for making most of us sweat. When the gate opened, I never would have guessed that the person on the bull's back was my girl. She didn't ride like most ladies. She was aggressive, getting right in there, and she moved with a natural grace that'd taken me years to figure out. But when she'd gotten her spur tangled up in her rope?

Yeah, in that moment I'd hoped she wasn't my girl, but the second her hat came off, I saw the braid. Most of us kept our hair short. None of the guys had a long blonde braid, which meant it had to be her, and there was nothing I could do. I'd seen enough wrecks in my life, but the only other time I'd wanted to climb into the arena and fight off the bull myself had been when it was my brother.

Which made no sense. I barely knew this girl. I shouldn't really give a damn if she got trampled. She was the one who wanted to play with the real bulls. The problem was that I did - I cared, and I couldn't make myself stop. Even thinking about it, I could imagine the way those pretty blue eyes had been afraid, and I wanted to turn back time and tell her to keep her leg back.

What I didn't want to do was tell her to stop. Nope. I wanted to cheer her on. I wanted to see her prove that this wasn't a sport reserved for the boys. I also wanted to help her celebrate if she scored as well as I thought she would. A very long, very private celebration, where I could finally tell her exactly what I thought of women brave enough to ride bulls. Preferably with a whole lot less clothes.

"Hey."

J.D.'s voice yanked my mind right out of the daydream I was enjoying. Taking a deep breath, I turned to find him leaning against one of the support beams. He was grinning like a Cheshire cat, which was never a good thing. The guy wasn't quite right, and that smile meant he was already on a roll.

"What the hell do you want?" I asked.

He tipped his head toward the arena. "You gonna tell me who the girl rider is?"

"Nope."

"Aw, man. I saw you lift her over the fence. Don't tell me you didn't cop a feel of that ass!"

I stepped into him. "I did not grab her ass. That was her vest."

"Yeah. So what's her name?" He flicked both brows up, still smiling like an idiot. "She a Canadian? Who's her sponsor?"

"Ask her yourself."

J.D. just nodded slowly. "Cody Jennings. I got that much. Just trying to figure out if she's one of yours or one of mine."

Oh, I didn't like how that sounded. "Trust me, J.D., she's not yours."

"So not an American. Ok. Didn't think she looked Brazilian, but I can always ask Renato. Maybe Australian?"

The bastard wasn't going to give up, and if I didn't tell him, he'd just keep digging until he figured it out. "She's from Missouri."

"Oh-ho! And how the hell did you figure that out, Ty?" He tossed a pair of fake punches toward my gut. "Already bagged that one, dude?"

"Leave her alone," I growled, shoving at his shoulder until he hit the beam again. "She doesn't need your shit, my shit, or any of our shit, ok? She's already convinced that we're out to get her."

His smile wilted. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Why? You trying to tell me that you weren't planning something?"

The confusion that flashed across his face wasn't at all what I'd expected. Slowly, he shook his head. "I was trying to figure out which country she's from, but that's it. Someone's been giving her shit?"

"Dunno, but she's already on the defensive. Get the real strong impression that she's trying to go unnoticed."

"Not riding like that she isn't. C'mon, Ty. You were watching! She stuck to Disco Breakout like white on rice."

"Uh huh."

"There's going to be like a zillion sponsors trying to get her to sign. I'm pretty sure the guys upstairs just realized that we finally have a woman in the ranks, too..." He trailed off when I kept staring. "What?"

"Trying to say it doesn't piss you off that some pretty little girl is showing you up?" I asked.

"Ty," he chuckled. "Oh, Ty. Let me make this real clear. There's five people I'm worried about stealing my check at finals. Yesterday, there were four. You, Renato, Emilio, and Austin. Now, I have to watch out for some newbie named Cody Jennings. Don't give a shit if she sits or stands to piss. I just wanna make sure that I'm the one going home with a million-dollar bonus. Get me?"

Yeah, I got him, but I also didn't trust the bastard. J.D. was not the kind of person whose bad side anyone wanted to be on. He was trouble in so many ways, from his attitude to his past, and I sure as hell didn't trust him with Cody.

"Well, let me make things clear. You try to run her out of this show, and it'll be me you're talking to next. Get me?"

"Yeah, dude. Someone's got a crush on the rookie. Coming through loud and clear. And if one of my guys tries to screw with her, you just let me know. I'll make sure the whole team hears about it." He winked. "Because I got a real weak spot for the underdog, and I'm thinking she might be just that. Now gear up before you're running late."

Glancing at the scoreboard showed he was right. There were only six guys until I had to be strapped in and ready to go. "Just leave her alone, J.D."

His grin reappeared with a vengeance. "Somethin' like that, Ty. How about we settle on me not fucking with her. The leaving alone? Well, you can't always get what you want."

"Right."

Trying to hold a conversation with that idiot was basically impossible. He never took anything seriously, always had a real good excuse, and didn't believe in either authority or manners. In other words, he was the kind of person my momma always warned me about. He was also the best rider around, and all of us knew it. His rabid band of followers would do just about anything he asked, and half the things not even he was brave enough to say out loud.

So I might not be able to keep the Americans from giving her a hard time, but they weren't the only riders on this tour. Heading for my gear, I saw just the person I wanted. Well, one of them.

"Emilio?"

He turned with a friendly smile. "Ya?"

"Where's Renato?"

He made a point of lifting both shoulders with his hands held out and open. "Não sei."

I nodded, responding more to his gesture than the words. "Ok. Tell him to find me?"

He nodded emphatically, proving he understood. While Emilio's comprehension of English was pretty good, he never wanted to speak it. Rumor had it that he was embarrassed about his thick accent, but I always wondered if it was more of a game for him. Listening to the guys yell slowly had to be amusing in its own way.

I didn't make it more than four steps before I heard him call out behind me. "Ei, ei, Ty!" Glancing back, I saw him pointing to the far side of the chutes. Basically right where I was headed.

"Thanks, man. Good ride!"

"Sim, você também."

From the tone of his voice, I could only guess that he was reciprocating the thought, but wasn't sure. I didn't speak a word of Portuguese. Thankfully, Renato made sure I didn't have to. He was also waiting for me to reach him.

"So?" he asked before I got there.

I hated him a bit for stealing my thunder. I figured he would have forgotten about our conversation the night before, but nope. I hadn't exactly spelled out my plan, but he wasn't a dumb guy. Sadly, that made this reveal a bit less shocking than I was hoping for.

"It's her."

"Nice." Then he pointed to my chute. "Gonna show her what it means to be a contender?"

"Did you see her ride? She's good, eh?"

He thumped my shoulder. "I saw. I also saw you hugging her on the big screen when you pulled her over the rail. Now stop thinking about the girl and start thinking about your ride. Can't get laid until you're done, my friend. If you break before you get the girl, well, I'm not going to name my son after you."

"Considering you weren't going to do that anyway?"

He just flipped me that signature Renato salute, but as I passed my rope across to the guys hovering around my bull, he stepped across the pipes without asking. As soon as the tail of the rope was in view, he grabbed it and started pulling. I hadn't even made it inside, but I knew he'd get it right. He always did.

I returned the favor when I could, but lately, we'd been riding a little too close together. Sadly, taking a no score on the first night dropped me down far enough that I might get the chance. If I didn't get beat up too bad this time.

Trying to get my mind back on the game, I strapped on my helmet and stepped into the chute to start warming the rope. I didn't need to look to do that, which meant I could find that corner. She'd been wearing a sapphire-blue shirt with black and blue chaps and a pretty black hat. Sadly, I didn't see her. There were a million black cowboy hats on that side of the arena, and finding hers wasn't quite as easy as I'd hoped.

But I couldn't get distracted. Moving to the handle, I repeated the process, and Renato kept the rope nice and tight, but I was starting to get desperate. "Hey, you see her?"

"Bull," he reminded me. "Focus on riding, not flirting."

"She said she'd watch."

His grunt showed what he thought about that, but I wasn't fooled. I knew how stupid he'd been when he was trying to catch Hannah. This was nothing. It was just me setting up for my victory tonight after the event was over. When my gear was sticky enough, he passed over the rope, but he didn't leave. He just waited, probably expecting me to need a re-wrap, but I could do this in my sleep.

"There," he said, making me look up. He nodded toward the corner right across from the chute that let the bulls out of the arena. "Black hat, black tank, trying hard not to get noticed."

I lifted my chin, trying to see over the bars of the chute, and he was right. She was on the back side, barely able to see me in the chute, but she'd have the best view once I was out there. I thought about calling out, but that was when my bull decided he was tired of waiting. He humped up, and I couldn't ignore the very real possibility that he wanted to put my face into a wall.

"Next up, in the Stanley Tools chute, is Ty McBride, currently seventh place in the PBR world rankings. From Pekisko, Alberta, Canada, he's on Mamba Jamba."

The announcer was barely done before the pretty little blonde hooked a hand beside her mouth and yelled, "C'mon, Ty! Let's see how it's done!"

My heart hung, and my mouth curled up. I knew I had some stupid shit-eating grin, but damn. I kinda liked that. Nah, I really liked that, and it wasn't exactly a feeling I was used to. My girls were supposed to stay the hell out of my way until I was done, but her? Yeah, I was going to make sure she knew I could ride this bad boy into the ground if I wanted.

Renato just chuckled and moved back to the safe side of the chute. "You're so screwed, man. Good ride."

I didn't bother answering, just nodded. The gate swung open. The bull heaved, and I was all over this. For the first time in years, I had someone out there I wanted to impress, and she wasn't the kind to be watching the clock. Oh no. I had to nail this, and I had every intention of making sure I didn't get knocked out of this game early.

Mamba Jamba bucked the way we like 'em. His heels felt like they were nearly over my head. His rears were big and bouncy. Heaving my arm up high kept me right where I needed to be, and I had plenty of time to get a few swipes with my spurs before he went in for the spin. Sadly, that didn't last long before the beast decided it was time to mix things up. A few bounces, then a few more head- and snot-slinging bucks, and the buzzer was proving that I'd done it.

I jerked at the rope, releasing my hand from the death grip I'd been holding, and Mamba Jamba was even nice enough to hop out from under me before he was done. The downside was that I got a whole face full of dirt through the grill of my helmet before I found my feet, but right now, I didn't even care. I knew I'd looked good, and she'd seen all of it.

Well, that was what I thought until I searched the rail and found nothing. No Cody, no blondes, and certainly not someone waiting to smile when I walked out of the gate on my own two feet. Snagging my rope back from Isaac, one of the bullfighters, I didn't even bother listening to what my score was. It didn't matter. I was qualified; I'd stay qualified.

What I wanted was to see her again, but she sure wasn't making this easy.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com