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Tanner shot him a look. "Right now, you need to shut the fuck up, J.D. You aren't helping."
"Gotcha," J.D. mumbled, dropping down to sit on the closest bed.
Sadly, I knew he was right. I did. That didn't make this hurt any less. Ty had exploded into my life in Tulsa. He'd made himself memorable at that stacking party back home. In St. Louis, he'd made me feel like I was on top of the world, unstoppable, and maybe even beautiful.
And now it was all crashing down.
Gently, Tanner guided me over to the bed, encouraging me to sit down beside him. "Cody, what happened? Not this morning. All of it."
I licked my lips as my brain spun out of control. All of it? How was I even supposed to make that make sense? Never mind whining to my current boyfriend about breaking up with my secret boyfriend. Didn't that break some rule of romance? Still, I owed these guys the truth. J.D. had stood with me through all of this. Tanner? I was terrified I might send him running next, but he deserved to know.
"Ty's been a little possessive," I tried, looking over to J.D. for some hint of whether I was fucking this up already.
J.D. just scoffed. "It started Thursday, with Ty getting pissed because she didn't fuck him fast enough."
"What?!" Tanner snapped.
"No..." I groaned. "I was in the shower, and it was the day after my date with you, you know? And I was washing my hair." Yeah, this was not easy. "I mean, I had conditioner running into my eyes, so I wanted to get under the water, and he took it wrong."
"Next thing I know," J.D. said, taking over, "those two are screamin' in that room over there. I thought Cody was about to cut his balls off, so I decided to help, and Ty's all pissed because he's used to those damned buckle bunnies. New girl every night, get me?"
"Fuck that," Tanner said.
"I know, right?" J.D. insisted. "But Cody stood up for herself real good. She made it clear she just wanted a little gentle, because sounds like you took her to pound town. And, well, with ridin' and all..."
I was dying.
Tanner ducked his own head, and I caught a little blush on his cheeks. "Yeah. Ok. So that got sorted?"
"Well, J.D. kinda reminded him that I need to think about some things the night before I ride," I mumbled. "And Ty got all sweet, apologized, and I thought it was ok."
"But?" Tanner pressed.
"Well, then he got weird at the events." Because Tanner had to have noticed that. "He didn't want to hang out with us at the bar because he thought people would think the wrong thing."
"Mhm," Tanner mumbled. J.D. made a noise of his own that sounded like these boys were on the same page.
"But when he got drunk and I took him home, he was sweet. I mean, he wanted to fuck, but he was too drunk. He kept saying something about how all men do is take. I thought he was trying to say he wasn't like that, but I guess maybe it was a warning? I don't know anymore."
"Then he had his way with her Saturday night," J.D. said. "I mean, we both heard that."
"But we talked about him being my friend," I reminded them. "I told him that he can't be all stupid about the guys talking shit about me. He jumped out of his chute to push at Austin!"
"Possessive," Tanner said, showing he was keeping up.
I nodded. "And then he wrecked that bad? When I saw him lying in the sand like that, I was sure he was dead. I hated thinking that he'd gotten distracted from riding because of my bullshit, so I asked him not to worry about the guys talking shit."
"And?" Tanner asked.
I shrugged. "I thought he was ok with it. He said he had to beat back the bullies because that's the only thing that works. I pointed out that I can't fight those guys and he won't always be around. I told him that giving them nothing - "
"Don't feed the trolls," J.D. said.
"That," I agreed. "And he sounded like he was ok with it. But he got it in his head that he was going to be my protector. Like Ineeda protector!" I tossed my hands up in frustration. "And then once we got into the crowd this morning, he was chasing off my fans. Any guy who looked at me got Ty all bowed up and ready to throw down, you know?"
"Which doesn't help with her sponsors," J.D. added.
I shook my head. "Thing is, I'd made it clear to him why I wanted a sponsor. Why I need more! I thought he understood, but he kept saying he'd cover me if I needed it, and how I shouldn't worry about the money."
