AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I glanced away, but I could feel my eyes welling up. Trying to hide it, I chugged a bit more of my beer, draining the last of it. Then, the best I could do was stare out the window for a bit, trying to let my eyes settle back down.
Beside me, Max waved down the waitress. "My friend needs another," he told her.
When she made it back with that, I pushed out a heavy breath, sniffed, and reached for the beer. What I didn't do was drink it. Just holding it helped me get myself back under control.
"J.D.," Max said gently, "I can't imagine what this is like for you, ok?"
"Yeah," I mumbled.
"But you were there for me when the rest of the cowboys in the PBR laughed because I didn't fit in. You pointed me at the people who I might get to sign with Tillman, and you had my back. Now, I really don't care who you're sleeping with, so long as it isn't me, but there's one thing you need to know."
I cleared my throat. "What's that?"
"You are the best damned bull rider the PBR has ever seen. Who you love doesn't change that. Who you sleep with doesn't either. Most of all, you had my back when I needed it, so I swear to you, J.D., that I will always have yours. If anyone comes after you for being bisexual, we'll fuck 'em up together, right?" And he lifted his pudgy fist over the table.
I tapped mine against it. "I've never come out to anyone before, Max. I'm kinda makin' a mess of it."
"You're doing damned good," he assured me. "I'm also very proud of you. I know this can't be easy."
I huffed out a laugh. "You're makin' it a hell of a lot easier."
"Good," he said. "So, I'll go through your contracts and make sure I know them backwards and forwards. I'll also keep an eye out for anything in Cody's that could cause her problems. If one of the others has an issue, you send them my way, and I'll do what I can. But, most importantly..." He leaned closer. "How the hell does this mess work for you? I mean, are you dating all of them too?"
Something about his honest curiosity and Max just being Max made me toss my head back and laugh. It was exactly what I needed, so I nodded my head, pushed my beer to the side and leaned closer.
"Well, we're all crushing on the girl. Cody doesn't really have a lot of experience, because guys don't like a woman meaner than them. I mean, 'cept us. Ty's about crazy for her, but he was going full stupid, and I had to back him off. And somewhere in St. Louis, I kissed Tanner, Cody caught us, and yeah. So, we agreed to all work on a thing, but we don't really know what the fuck this thing is."
"And Ty's cool with it?" he asked.
"Fuck," I grumbled. "Max, he's a Canadian. Ty's all liberal and shit. I mean, he tries to say he's not, but yeah. Like LGBTQ stuff, and race stuff? He's all about the equality. Kinda makes him cool, ya know? So when I tried to apologize to him, he cracked this joke about not being worried about me because I wouldn't just slip and fall in his ass."
Max chuckled. "Maybe you can push him to get a little more serious about his rides while you're busy not slipping, hm?"
I laughed. "Shit, that's Cody's job. She's about to put his ass to shame. And that girl?" I tapped my chest, right over my heart. "Man, she's fuckin' amazing. On a bull, off a bull, and all of it. She just needs someone to teach her how to give as good as she gets."
"I think she did that today," Max assured me. "But tell me about all of them, J.D., because this? It looks good on you, and I like to see my friends happy."
My eyes jumped up to see if he was joking, but Max was completely serious. He also had that childish smile back, and something about it made me feel like I was exactly where I needed to be, so I started talking. When my glass got empty, Max ordered me another, and outside, the sun slipped down under the horizon, but that was ok.
Max got me. He was on my side. Together, we'd make all of this work, and fuck my sponsors if they had a problem with it. Because this wasn't really something I got to choose. I could hide it, I could fake it, but there was no way I could change who I loved - and I didn't fucking want to.
Chapter12
When I got backto my room after the meeting with the sponsors, Ty was headed out. He paused to give me a quick kiss, saying he had something to do real fast. When I asked what, he promised it was no big deal. Just a trip to the arena to check things out. It would only take a bit.
I was a little bummed, because I'd wanted to tell him about the sponsors. J.D. had disappeared too. The pair of rooms we had for the weekend were unnaturally quiet, so I sent off a text to Tanner, letting him know I'd had a nice time last night. Nice? Ha! That certainly did not do it justice, but it was the best I had.
Then, I flopped down on the bed and called Shelby. The phone rang and rang until I got sent to voicemail. That meant my best friend was probably working, so I left her a message, updating her on all of my insanity. No, I didn't tell her that Tanner and I had gone at it all night long, even waking up in the middle of the night to jump on each other. I did, however, tell her that my "official" boyfriend had taken me on a date that ended very, very well.
Then, needing someone else to talk to, I decided to call my dad. He should be at work, so I was going to just remind him that I rode tomorrow, I was fine, and all of the basic stuff. But to my surprise, he picked up on the third ring.
"Cody?" he asked. "Everything ok?"
"Dad!" I greeted him. "Hey, I was just gonna leave you an update. We're in Cheyenne, everything's good, and I ride tomorrow."
"Oh, I know," he promised. "Gerardo and his boys are coming over so we can watch."
"Dad!" I groaned.
