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Lifting my eyes – but not my chin – I saw Isaac waving both of his hands before me. That was the sign that my ride was over. I'd completely missed the buzzer and the fireworks. I'd been so far into the zone that I hadn't noticed anything else, but it seemed I could get off this wild ride now.
Flipping the tail of the rope around my hand, I felt the first bit of slack. I had to do it again, because I'd wrapped myself in there good. The bull also felt the rope releasing. The moment this guy's head went down, however, Tanner was rushing in. I yanked my hand free and went off the side a second before Tanner tapped the bull's forehead, taking its complete attention.
To my right, Jorge pointed, giving me a hint of which way to go. Across the arena, Isaac was running to assist Tanner. The group of them were between me and the chutes, so I made for the side, but the bull saw my movement.
It charged. I ran faster. Jorge tried to intercept, but a flash of purple appeared out of nowhere. Just as I reached the closest panel and hauled myself up, I heard the crowd groan. Glancing back, I was in time to see Tanner in the air, but he landed easily on his feet. He'd also just confused the animal enough that Jorge had it trotting back to the chutes.
The moment the bull gate closed behind it, Tanner made his way towards me. I released the panel and hopped down to meet him halfway. That ride had been amazing. I knew it, just like I knew it was exactly what I'd needed, and yet my guts were starting to twist again. Tanner knew about Ty. He had to. I'd made a big decision this morning, and now I was waiting for the fallout.
"Hey," he panted, throwing an arm over my shoulder to guide me back to where my rope was laying in the middle of the dirt. "Ty said you dumped him? He full of it?"
"No," I said softly, trying to release the buckles on my helmet.
He nodded. "You ok?"
I shrugged.
"Are we ok?" he asked next.
I pulled off my helmet and leaned my head against his shoulder. "Yeah, I hope so."
"Then we are," he said. "And that? That was one of the best rides I've seen in the history of the PBR, Cody." He paused, shifting to face me. "Know what that means?"
"I might get a sponsor?" I guessed, since that had been my goal all weekend.
He wrinkled up his face and shook his head. "Nope. It means that no matter what, yougot this."
I had just enough time for his words to relax the knot that was taking over my insides. A second, maybe two, of feeling the euphoria of knowing I'd made the right decision. J.D. believed in me. Tanner did too. I wasn't fucking this up!
And then the announcer called out. "And that wild ride gives Cody Jennings a score of 81.25."
"What?!" Tanner roared, spinning back to the board.
"That's bullshit!" J.D. was screaming from the far side.
A few people in the audience were booing, but the numbers were right there. I hadn't scored that low in my entire time with the PBR. Watching my name slide down the list, I was surprised I didn't feel sick.
No, I felt pissed. This weekend was turning out to be complete shit! So far, I'd watched my scores slip lower and lower, the sponsors hadn't come begging like I'd wanted, and now I'd even lost Ty. I'd given my everything this weekend, only to feel like I was going to end up losing it all, and there wasn't a damned thing I could do to stop it.
So yeah, pissed might be an understatement, but I'd also just learned how to deal with that. I pushed this feeling down into my boots.
Chapter42
I snaggedmy bull rope from the ground and stormed out the gate. There, a set of stairs led me back up to the catwalk behind the chutes. I barely spared a second to toss my rope over the back railing before turning for the second chute at the end. Bracing my hands on the top bar once I got there, I leaned over and pushed out a pissed-off breath.
"You deserved a better score than that." The words made me look over to see Jake. He offered a weak smile.
So I gave him one back. "Thanks. I thought I was going to break ninety with that ride."
"Shit. Should've been a ninety-four," he grumbled just as J.D. reached my side, shoving his rope at the chute attendant.
"You good?" he asked.
I looked over and met his dark eyes. "No."
Fuck it, I was done hiding my feelings. If he wanted to know, he could have a little raw honesty. What surprised me was that he nodded in understanding. He didn't try to talk me out of it, say shit to make me feel better, or any of that. J.D. just accepted that I was pissed and rolled with it. Oddly, that made me feel... good? I wasn't sure if that was the right word, but it was the best I had.
"Let's see if it's you or them," he told me before stepping over the rail and into the chute.
