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Max lifted his beer and took a polite sip. "You dating someone?"
"Workin' on it," I admitted.
"Congrats," he told me. "A 'he,' I'm guessing?"
"They," I clarified before waving him off. "It wasn't supposed to happen, ya know? Like, I was just lookin' out for her because she's good. Ty stepped up, and I figured it'd all work out with them. Damn, but he's crazy about her. And then one thing led to another, and we hit her hometown, and shit went down - "
"What shit?" Max broke in.
"Cody's ex," I explained. "Bastard fucked her to run her out of bull riding. Well, he and his buddies were all trying to slut-shame her, ya know? But those of us on her crew all stepped up, and then we all started talking, and next thing I knew, I was kissing a guy, and Austin was trying to spread rumors that he's gay, and yeah."
Max was slowly bobbing his head, but the look on his face made it clear none of that made sense to him. "So you're dating Ty McBride?" he asked.
I scoffed at the insanity of that. "Naw. Ty's with Cody."
"J.D., if another rider is looking at the same thing, it'd be good for him to talk to his rep," Max warned. "If he's ahead of the game, we can make sure he's covered."
"He's not a rider," I said.
"How do I help?" Max asked next.
"Fuck," I breathed. "Shit, I dunno, Max. I just know that I'm about done. I hurt more days than I don't, and now that there's someone who can show these idiots how to ride, I'm kinda hoping that maybe my time in the sun's about over."
"Cody," he realized. "How does she fit in?"
"I'm her mentor," I told him. "Thing is, I'd also really like to be her boyfriend too, and I think I got a real shot. But there's a guy too."
"What guy?" he asked. "Now, I'm not wanting you to out anyone, but if you want me to cover this up, I'm going to need to know."
I grabbed my beer and chugged back half of it, hoping like fuck that Tanner wouldn't kill me for this. "His name is Tanner, and he's one of the bullfighters."
"Tanner Burns," Max said, proving he knew who I meant. "The guy who kissed Cody."
"Because she wanted to make sure he had a beard, but he's into her. They're workin' on a real thing - and I'm pretty damned sure he's further in the closet than I am. I mean, my mama and sister know. Him? Sounds like the other bullfighters know, and that's about it."
"Not going to breathe a word of it," Max promised. "I'm just curious how Cody got in the middle of this."
"Because we're bi," I explained. "And fuck, Max. Just look at her! You can't tell me that you didn't do a double-take the first time you saw her. This pretty little thing that's tough as nails and rides like she was born up there? Yeah, half the PBR was chasin' her from the moment she came off Disco Breakout. She just didn't realize it."
Max dropped his head and began to chuckle. "So you met the man of your dreams because you were both chasing the girl of your dreams?"
That made me laugh, but just once. "Yup, sounds 'bout like how it went down."
"Good for you," Max told me. "And a bullfighter? That boy might just be mean enough to keep up with you. So does Cody know?"
"Considering she's datin' Tanner to kinda take the heat off him? Yeah."
"Kinda?" he pressed.
"Well, I say kinda because she wants to jump on his dick."
"So she's not with Ty?"
"Oh, she's with Ty too," I assured him. "And Tanner. And I'm kinda workin' my way up, but I'm kinda freakin' out about fucking that up before I can get in good, ya know?"
"Boy, do I ever," Max assured me. "Asking out my wife was the scariest thing I'd ever done. I can't even imagine if she was dating someone else at the time."
That was enough to make me choke up again. Max said it like he meant every fucking word - and like he wasn't judging me at all. It was dumb as shit, but this man's easy acceptance of me - as fucked up as I was - meant a lot more to me than I would ever be able to explain.
