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"For you to either be super girly to make up for your sport, or to be super butch to prove that you're as good as the guys." He tipped his head at me. "This? There's something real about you. Something I can respect."
I liked that word. Respect. It wasn't the sort of thing I'd gotten a lot of in my life, and hearing him say it like that? Coming from a guy with a body like his, who was sitting across from me so casually, like we were already friends and nothing else mattered? I liked it a whole lot.
Chapter5
The restof dinner was comfortable after the conversation shifted to bulls. Tanner really did know a lot, and he was willing to share. Didn't matter if that was how Austin used the kind of suicide wrap that would one day get him killed, or how Cletus, the clown on the circuit, was about to get divorced yet again.
It felt like the moment we'd given up on trying to do this date the right way, everything fell right into place. It seemed the bullfighters knew all the dirty secrets. That even included when Kaleb had been chased out of his hotel room by some crazy broad he'd taken home. I got to hear all about him screaming and running naked down the hall with everyone trying to figure out who was dying.
Before I knew it, my pasta bowl was empty, Tanner was paying the tab, and the pair of us were giggling like old friends about all of it. Just as we made it to the truck, Tanner checked to make sure I was still interested in doing a little dancing. It actually sounded like fun, so we headed to a bar just down the road.
The music was loud, but playing songs I knew. In the middle was a dance floor with people slowly making their way around it. Tanner flashed me one of those sweet all-American smiles he was so good at, then led me out into the middle of it. When his arm found my waist, I grabbed his shoulder, putting us chest to chest, and then he started leading.
I really wasn't any good at this, but there was something about being pressed up against him that had me smiling. His hand shifted a little lower, finding that dip in my back, and he did his best to talk me through the steps. We didn't even make it all the way around before I shoved my foot right into his.
"Fuck," I breathed when he hopped.
But Tanner laughed. "Still not as heavy as a bull, Cody," he promised, grabbing my hips with both of his hands. "But I think you need more than a little help. Now don't fight me."
Hanging on to me like that, he showed me how to move, pushing each hip in time with the leg. Giving in, I tossed both arms around his neck and just went with it. There was now a little more space between us, but not that much.
"Just like riding a bull," he promised. "I move, you compensate."
"Oh, so you're the bull in this scenario?" I teased.
"Only one here with balls." Then he winked.
I couldn't help but laugh - but his little analogy actually helped. He moved, so I adjusted, and we started to move together. Once I finally had it down, Tanner caught my hand, pulling it away from his neck just to send me out in a spin. The moment I stopped, he was right there, even closer than before. I stopped thinking and just allowed myself to enjoy this.
"I wish I had your confidence," I told him.
That got me a confused look. "Fuck, I'm not confident," he promised.
"You seem like it to me."
He leaned in, putting his face beside my ear to be heard over the music. "I'm just trying to impress the prettiest girl in the whole PBR."
"The only one," I reminded him.
"Nope, still have the buckle girls." He leaned back to catch my eye.
Those buckle girls were stunning, though. They'd all been picked because of how pretty they were! For a moment, I felt my heart speed up a bit, and tried to tell myself he was just sweet-talking me. The problem was J.D. had called me pretty too, and Ty had been flirting with me.
Deciding I had nothing left to lose, I asked, "Really?"
"That first day," Tanner said, "when you were bent over by the rail? I leaned to see if you were ok and felt like I couldn't breathe. It was a damned good ride, and here was this beautiful woman with a bloody nose."
"Not exactly impressive," I pointed out.
"And I wanted to scoop you up in my arms and carry you out of there," he went on, shifting a little closer. "Figured that might get my ass kicked, though. Almost got into a fight with Ty the day we pulled out of Tulsa for saying you were hot."
I huffed out a laugh. "No!"
"Yep," he said. "Think it shocked him that I wasn't about to back off, either."
"Playing the long game, huh?"
His hand slid low enough to hook in my belt. "Was hoping to. Did not expect things to go the way they did. I mean, you catching me with - "
