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I just nodded at that. "Yep. I have this theory that if we're chasing more than a check, it gives us a reason to ride a little harder."
"Yeah, it does," she breathed, just as my phone started to ring.
I had the thing clipped to the dash, so glanced over. I half expected it to be Ty, wanting to check in on our girl. Instead, the screen simply said, "Max," so I reached out to swipe at it quickly, wondering what my sponsors wanted.
"Hey, Max," I said.
"J.D.!" he greeted me, sounding as cheerful as ever. "When are you getting to Cheyenne?"
"Tonight," I told him. "We're in Nebraska right now. Why, what's up?"
"You've decided you're Cody Jenning's mentor, right?"
"Mhm," I agreed.
"Well, since Tillman is her main sponsor, I've had a few other reps asking me about her. They aren't convinced yet, but they wanted to have a sit down with her on Thursday. I'm guessing you'll want to give her a head's up, right?"
"Or you can," I joked, glancing over at Cody, who was completely silent beside me.
"I just want to take care of her," Max said. "That woman's going to end up winning Rookie of the Year at the rate she's going. I just need you to keep her out of the wrong kind of trouble, ok?"
"And what kind of trouble is that?" I asked.
"Pushing too hard and getting hurt," Max began listing, "not taking the time to heal, saying the kind of stuff the sponsors wouldn't like - "
But I cut him off there. "And what kind of stuff is that? Max, you know they're gonna pull out that lady-like shit soon enough."
"I meant things like disparaging the product," he assured me. "C'mon, J.D., you know how to play this game. And with her being a woman, it's opening up some opportunities for other companies to finally break into the PBR. So, I'm going to give her a call, see if she needs me to fly out there, and I can set all of this up for Thursday, if you think she'll be there?"
"I dunno..." I said, looking over at Cody. "You think we'll be there by Thursday?"
On the phone, Max groaned. "She's sitting right there, isn't she?"
"Oh yeah," I promised, "and you're on speaker. We should hit Cheyenne around eight tonight. Later if we stop too long."
"Cody?" Max asked.
"Yeah?" she said, her voice just a little higher and softer than normal. I was starting to realize that meant she was nervous.
"These are sponsors wanting to know about patches on your vest and chaps," he said. "Would you like me to show up and run interference?"
I nodded at her, so she said, "Yes, please. Max, I really don't know what I'm doing yet."
"Don't worry," he promised. "You just ride the bulls. I'll handle everything else. Also, this is your first paying weekend, so I was planning to show up anyway and give you the chaps and vest." He chuckled. "The green rhinestones look nice, too. Good call on that. I poked Ariat for you too, so they'll be there. Pretty sure they aren't quite ready to make a deal yet, so ride good this weekend."
"Ariat pays good," I assured her. "They're also on all the top riders. It's like a seal of approval."
"I'm wearing their boots," she pointed out.
"Perfect," Max said. "So, I'll get in around noon tomorrow. I figure you should be awake by then, or close. Right now, you're sitting at eighteenth in the world standings, up from thirty-four at the start of Tulsa. If you can bump up a few more spots in Cheyenne, I'm pretty sure we can close a few of these."
"So, ride good," she said.
"Ride safe," he clarified.
I grunted at that. "Ride hard," I told her. "Get in there, get 'er done, and get the check, babe."
"I can do that," Cody agreed.
