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"Thought she was Tanner's."
I murmured at that. "Tanner's mine too. The guy's a Friend. Cody's my best friend. No one fucks with my friends. They'remine."
"Gotcha," Jaxon promised. "I'll keep my ears open to see if anyone else is talking shit about her, ok? I mean, you know Casey and Eli have been trying to scare her off too, right?"
"Yep."
"And I know a few others joke about her," he went on, "but I don't think they're serious. I'll still let you know if I hear shit."
I nodded my head slowly. "I appreciate it. Next time I talk to Ariat, I'll make sure they know they haven't signed with you yet."
"Really?" he glanced over. "Fuck, thanks man."
"Call it payback for the quick ride," I assured him.
When we reached the arena, Jaxon pulled up right by the door to sports medicine. "Need me to stick around?"
"Nope, my truck's here," I said. "Enjoy the drive to Iowa, man. And thanks again."
"Any time, J.D.," he told me. "I'll be here another hour, so text if you need anything."
I climbed out, then patted the side of his truck. "You're one of the good ones, Jaxon. Don't change."
"Not plannin' on it," he said, flashing me a proud smile.
Walking into the arena complex wasn't easy. Once I was out of sight, I gave up on that shit and ran. Cody's little makeup bag clanked in my hand, all those girly tubes bouncing around in my grip, but the truth was that I was freaking out inside.
Someone had jumped her? How bad was she hurt? Was Doc taking care of her? What if she couldn't ride next weekend?
I slid into the hall, grabbing the corner to make the turn, then reached the twin doors for sports medicine. Pulling those open, I rushed inside in time to see Anthony standing in the middle of the room, talking to an older man in a very starched shirt.
"J.D.?" Anthony asked.
"Where's Cody?"
He pointed, the direction of his arm meaning jack and shit to me right now. "She's in the press room. Well, over there. Tanner's with her. They have the photo shit set up over there."
"Thanks," I managed before turning and running again.
I knew where the press room was. I'd been hauled in there a few times over the years. It was where the bean counters put us up for grilling by the sports channels. They slapped up all their fancy shit on the walls, let the press ask stupid-ass questions that proved they knew nothing about our sport, and shit like that.
But when I got closer, I heard the sound of Cody's voice coming from one of the rooms at the side. It was hard to miss, being the only woman in the building right now. Well, so far as I knew, she was. So I followed that, finding an outdated lounge where she had Tanner and Max crowded up around her.
"Cody?" I asked as I pushed between them to see her.
She looked up at me with the biggest, bluest eyes. "J.D." My name came out sounding like a prayer.
"Got your makeup," I said, offering that up like some kind of consolation prize. "How bad do you hurt, babe?"
That earned me a weak smile. "About nine hundred pounds worth."
"So steer not bull," I said, proving I understood her measuring method. Then I pulled the vape pen from my back pocket and held it out. "Not legal in this state, but hit that once."
"I got eye drops," Max said proudly, shoving a hand into his pocket to pull out a small bottle.
Cody took a long hit off my vape pen, then passed it back while still holding the breath in. Reclining in her chair, she let her eyes close for a moment, and then exhaled it all in a rather impressive cloud. Max waved the smoke away from his face before bending to press the eye drops into her relaxed hand.
"You'll want a few drops of those to hide any redness," he told her.
