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Chapter 55
While I waited behind J.D.,I rubbed his shoulders. It gave my nervous hands something to do, and from the knots I found, he needed it. Still, it felt like something had changed. He seemed a lot less anxious than he'd been before his ride. That in itself almost made me not want to tell him about what had happened, but I thought he needed to know.
"Hey," I whispered, leaning up to his ear. "Austin tried to give me shit when I was alone again. Pushed at me, but I kinda stumbled my helmet right into his balls. Just figured you'd want to know."
"What?!" he asked, turning back to see me.
And that was when the lights went out and the big finale started. I pointed up the line, making it clear that he should do his part to shuffle forward, but kept talking.
"Yeah, I showed him that I'm not scared of him, but I have a feeling he's not going to give up so easily. Just wanted to make sure it was out there."
He nodded, his black hat bobbing right along with it. "Well, I talked to Ty. You need to talk to Tanner."
"Already wanted to."
He glanced back. "No, Cody. There are things you need to know."
"Right now," I assured him, "I'm going to be swept off my feet, probably blush like an idiot, and make a point that I'm still bad-ass, and fuck Austin up a little more."
"Cody, he wants to do this," J.D. whispered.
I just leaned forward to his ear one more time. "And he's pretty damned cute. We both agree on that. Relax, J.D. I'm an idiot, but I promise I'm not suffering. Something about knowing you and Ty are on my side makes me feel..." I had to pause to find the word. "Empowered."
And J.D. sighed. His shoulders no longer felt like steel cables, but the line was moving fast tonight. Out in the arena, I could hear the constant litany from the announcer. He was calling out names and towns without a break in between. That meant they were really blowing through this. But when they got to the last five of us, one of the staffers lifted a hand, blocking the path.
He had a set of headphones on, most likely giving him cues on how to space us out. After a couple of seconds, he let the fifth-place rider go, then held up the next. Fourth moved out, then another pause. Third left, and now it was just J.D. and me.
"Don't choke up," J.D. said, barely a moment before the guy signaled for him to go.
Then I was alone. From where I stood, I could see through the gap in the curtain. The entire arena was dark, except for the spotlight on the rider. That was glaringly bright. Enough that I felt my insides twist up with nerves, and for a split second, I debated turning around and running away.
Then the guy waved me out.
"And our PBR Tough Enough Series St. Louis Champion of the night. This little gal here is local, from Spring Creek, Missouri. Let's hear it for Cody Jennings!"
To my right, I heard a man yell at the top of his lungs, "I knew you could, Cody!"
Yeah, fuck this show. Fuck the rules. I pulled my hat off my head, turned to where my father should be and blew a kiss that way. "Love you, Daddy!" I yelled back.
"And that," the announcer said, proving I'd been heard, "is about as All-American as it gets. Next thing you know, she'll start showing up with some apple pie!"
I ignored it. The man probably didn't realize that he'd all but told me to get back in the kitchen, so I just pretended like I hadn't heard, following J.D. up to the bullpen. There, we all moved out, spacing ourselves somewhat easily, but I was all the way to the side. The far side. The place where the winners stood. And yes, this was all being televised.
Next, the lights dimmed and the announcer said a prayer. It was a little different from the one in Tulsa, but the point was about the same. They prayed for those who'd been injured, prayed for the rest of us to stay safe both in our next show and getting there, and most of all, they prayed for all the viewers to have a safe trip home, thanking God that we'd all been blessed to see this event.
And when that was over, the man started calling out names and the prize money they'd won, along with their overall ranking in the PBR. The awards started with tenth place, and the local scores were shockingly low. The overall, however, made me feel like a complete newbie. When he got to J.D., it was even worse.
"Sitting at first place in the overall ranking, but coming in second here in St. Louis, J.D. Adkins has just proven that even the mightiest can fall. But he's still going to take home a check tonight for twenty-five thousand dollars! Let's hear it for our number one PBR rider!"
Beside me, J.D. just lifted his hat and basked in the glory of it. Well, if that was how this game was played, then I could do it. After all, he was my mentor, right?
"And coming out in first place here in St. Louis, Cody Jennings has moved up to eighteenth place in the overall rankings. Not bad for a girl whose first ride was just one week ago. How about we give a good ol' Missouri round of applause to her, although that won't be quite as good as the check she's going to get for fifty thousand!"
Well, hot damn. Yep, I could live with that. I lifted a hand, using the other to move my hat from my head to place it over my heart. On the big screen, I could see my face up close, so I made a point not to look. If only it were so easy.
Cletus just had to hop up on the bullpen beside me, pulling his idiot routine. He leaned up in my face and smiled. "Well, you don't look near big enough to stay on a bull. How do you manage to ride those things?" he asked, passing me over a microphone.
"Aw, Cletus," I said, "I just cowgirl up. It's a thing we country girls are good at."
He flashed me a smile, and it looked like an honest one. "Yup, yup, you've proved that it is. Now tell me, is there anything you wanna say to your fans out there? Because I've seen more pink this weekend than the PBR knows what to do with."
"Well, my shirt's been saying it for me all weekend." I flashed first one arm at the camera, then the other. "I know I'm not the only girl who's been told I couldn't, shouldn't, or wouldn't. Doesn't matter if that's riding a bull or anything else. Believe it or not, once a girl puts her mind to it, she can do anything she wants. I think I've just proven that."
"Yes, you have." He looked up at the crowd. "How about a round of applause for this lady's spunk, huh?"
Yeah, they clapped. A few cheered, but it felt a little forced. Almost like Cletus was biding his time for something. Then I realized that he spent a whole lot of time hanging out with the bullfighters, and whatever Tanner was planning, they'd probably roped him into helping.
And then a spotlight flared up across the arena. Tanner was jogging toward me. In his hand was a single red rose. He was still wearing his bullfighting gear, easy to identify in that bright purple jersey and straw hat. I just had no idea what I was supposed to do next. Subtly, Cletus stole the microphone from my loose fingers.
"Hey," Tanner said, jumping easily up onto the bullpen, his eyes locked on me. "Cody, I'm serious. I want this to be something real, and after all last week with you, I can't just let you leave here without saying something." And he lifted the rose to me.
"What's this?" Cletus asked, when I timidly accepted it. "Do we have a brewing romance?"
Tanner just waved him off, acting like the man was in his way, but Cletus's mic was picking up a bit of what he said, just enough that everyone could hear. "Look, I know you're not into the public thing, but..." He reached up to palm the side of my face. "I'm not letting you just walk out of my life without saying something." Then he moved closer. "Without this."
And right there in front of God and everybody - including my dad - he kissed me. Not a little kiss. Not a timid kiss. Definitely not a subtle one. Tanner stepped into my body, his other hand pulling my hat from my head so his didn't collide with it, and his mouth took mine. I could feel his arm against my back, knew my hat was just inches away, and my own arm made its way around his neck as if it had a mind of its own.
He was kissing me the way he'd kissed J.D., with the kind of passion that only existed in movies. I didn't care if this was just for show. It didn't bother me at all that someone laughed, because for just a moment, the rest of the world slipped away. I felt like there should be some camera, slowly panning around us in a circle, because this, it took my breath away.
Slowly, he leaned back, pausing to look into my eyes for a moment before he leaned in toward my ear. "We need to talk," he breathed, the words so soft I could barely make them out - but the microphone didn't get them either.
I turned slightly to meet his eyes and nodded. That made him smile. He planted another kiss on me, then pressed my hat onto my head. Without looking, he stepped back, then hopped off the edge of the bullpen and jogged away. Like an idiot, I lifted my fingers to my lips.
"Well, well," Cletus said. "And do we get to hear what our purple bullfighter wanted so bad?"
Tanner just yelled back, "I got myself a girlfriend."
"Ohh," Cletus howled. "Well, now you folks have had another official first. Ain't every day that a bullfighter falls for a bull rider, but this one seems real special." And then he started closing out the show.
With the formality done, most of the guys began wandering back to the chutes. J.D. just moved a little closer, snapping me out of my trance. He gently took the wrist that held the rose and eased it down, then rubbed my shoulder.
"Yeah," he said softly. "Kinda how I felt too. C'mon, you really do need to talk to him."
I walked with him down the ramp, then halfway across the arena before my brain finally caught up. That was when I started to giggle. I shot a glance over at J.D., but I couldn't get rid of the stupid grin on my face.
"What?" he asked.
"I think my life is perfect," I told him. "I have no idea how this happened, and now here I am. I feel like I'm going to wake up any second." I lifted the rose up to show him. "J.D., no one has bought me flowers before. Not even my dad! And fifty thousand? I can probably buy a used truck with that, and then I won't need to - " I quickly closed my mouth.
"Don't do that to me, Cody," he begged. "Let your dad have it. You know you wanna make sure his bills are paid, right? Because that's what I did with my first one. And I'm gonna take care of all the rest, ok? You and me? We're besties. Well, I'll share with Shelby, but still."
I moved my rose to the other hand, and then wrapped my arm around his waist. "Yeah, J.D., we kinda are. And we have a whole lot more in common than I expected. I'm ok with this. Damn, I am so ok with this."
"Don't say that until after you've talked to Tanner," he begged me.
