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"Keep up with what?" Tanner asked as he joined us from the side.
J.D. met my eyes again and smiled. "If she decides to stop being so good and just does what she wants. With us, I mean."
"Shit," Tanner laughed. "I'm not gonna dump her if she ends up holding your hand - or kissing you."
"But people will talk shit about you," I told him. "I mean, isn't that the problem? Isn't that why we started doing this in the first place?"
"No," he assured me. "You wanted to be my girlfriend so no one would beat my ass. If J.D. and I are cool, no one's gonna dare beat my ass, and believe it or not, I can hold my own. This thing we're doing, Cody? We're doing it because we can. Because I like these people, and I think they like me back, and it works. Fuck what those cowboys say about me. Talk doesn't hurt. Not unless I let it."
I nodded, taking all that in. "Ok."
"Which means she needs to think about it a bit," J.D. pointed out.
Tanner gave him an incredulous look. "Yeah, I got that." Then he offered a hand to me. "And now it's my turn to dance with you. Go drink whiskey, J.D. Make yourself useful."
"Asshole," J.D. grumbled, but it was with a smile.
As one man headed towards the bar, the other escorted me back to the dance floor. Tanner's hand was around my waist again, but lower and in a way that made me feel pretty. Then he tugged, pulling our hips together before he stepped off, daring me to follow.
Just like riding a bull, I tried to remind myself. For every move he made, I had to match it. I also couldn't miss the way he was looking at me. It was sexy, sensual, and seductive. All the anxiety that had been crushing my guts into a ball began to relax, and I gave in.
This was my boyfriend. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I let my chest press up against his, and we were so close there wasn't any way I could miss his steps. When my fingers found the back of his neck, I let them play, toying with the hair there.
"I didn't see Ty," he told me as his eyes dropped to my lips. "Found my guys, though. Isaac said he's here, but this place is big, and it's pretty damned packed tonight."
"And I'm not sure I'm ready yet," I realized. "I got all dressed up, and I dunno if it was really for him."
Tanner fought back a smile. "Then who was it for?"
"My boyfriend," I decided.
He laughed. "Which one?"
So I shrugged. "I'm still figuring that out."
"Or maybe," he said, "it was for you. Because, believe it or not, that is an option too."
And that was what I needed to hear right now. That was what Ty hadn't done. This was the feeling I'd been trying to unravel all day. Sometimes, I was allowed to choose me, and these two men were just trying to tell me I could. They were saying that if I did, they weren't going anywhere.
The same hadn't been true for Ty, and that was why I'd dumped him. I had to hold on to that, because tonight, I was going to listen to Tanner.
I was going to choose me.
Chapter46
I did exactlywhat Tanner suggested, and went to get myself some whiskey. The bartender wanted to give me another shot, but I made it clear I needed a glass. A big one, not some inch in the bottom of a tumbler. Tossing a twenty in his tip jar made it clear I was serious.
While I'd been out there twirling around with Cody, spilling my heart out to her, Tanner was supposed to have been doing his best to track down Ty. The problem was that this place was packed. Then again, Tanner didn't know how to find the bull riders. He'd been used to being all subtle and shit until Cody showed up.
Me? I knew. So, scanning the waitresses wandering around with their little trays, I looked for bottles. Champagne, wine, hard liquor - it didn't matter. Tonight, Ty would be nursing his pride, and that meant a lot more than a few fun drinks. He'd also have some friends hanging around him, and they'd feel the need to keep up. Kinda like the financial version of a pissing contest.
Then I saw it. A girl had not only a bottle of something clear, but also a half dozen nice glasses. Not the shitty plastic ones they passed out to the dollar drinkers. Nope, these were real glass. So, pushing away from the bar with my own little whiskey crutch, I made my way in the same direction that waitress was going.
A couple of girls smiled real sweet at me as I squeezed past them. A few guys shot warning looks my way. Yeah, I'd let 'em have their moment. How were they supposed to know that I only had eyes for one girl? I was pretty sure at least one other bull rider in here had scooped a girlfriend away from her man by now. We did have a reputation to uphold, so if a jealous man wanted to glare, that was safe enough. I'd just keep on movin'.
Then I saw him. Ty had come straight from the arena, it looked like. He had on his riding shirt, the black one with the Wrangler patches up the arms. His jeans were just dirty enough to prove he was the real deal. That was all expected. The sexy little brunette in his lap was not.
But I was pretty sure I'd seen her before. Wasn't that the same girl he'd been talking to the other night? The one he'd said he was trying to ditch before his ride? Wait. Hadn't he also said he'd met her here too?
