AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Which felt a lot better than thinking the guys thought I was weak. "You really are good at this, Max."
He chuckled again. "Yeah, so are you, Cody. Just worry about riding. I promise I've got your back."
Chapter33
Tanner showedup in sports medicine first, carrying all of our gear. A little over an hour later, Cody snuck in to check on us. We weren't the only people in the main room getting iced down, but she still made sure all three of us were being good. She also demanded to know how we were doing – which was bruised and battered – and how she could help.
I passed her my keys and told her to go back to the hotel and order some food. She tried to resist, which made the other guys in the room chuckle. Yeah, that was one sound she heard a little too loud. Cody hated getting laughed at, so I joked that my balls would hurt if she treated me like I couldn't handle dancing with a bull. She still hesitated for a moment longer, until Ty promised he would give us both a ride home.
After she left, the three of us got a couple hours of torture. The ice wasn't too bad. It was what came after that sucked. Ty had to get a full check for a concussion. He didn't have one, or if he did, it wasn't bad. Tanner had his back poked and prodded because the bull had kicked hard enough to leave a bruise through his padding. As for me, I had a half hour session with Anthony.
Getting run over by a bull wasn't real good for my knee. Or my arm, my shoulder, my back, my hip, my ankle – well, pretty much all of me. Nine years of being on this wild ride had done a number on my body, and I was now paying for it.
When I was finally released, Tanner and Ty were the last pair in the main room, and clearly waiting for me. Ty had his gear slung over his shoulder. Tanner had mine, but when I reached for it, he gave me a warning look. Since there was no one around to think the wrong thing, I let him have it, but it was a bit of a kick to my pride.
As the three of us headed out to the parking lot, we discussed our injuries. That was a nice, safe topic in case someone was listening. But once we were alone in the darkness found at the back of the arena's parking lot, something shifted, and I could almost feel it.
"I called for sports medicine because you were out cold," Tanner said without any preamble.
Ty scoffed, making it clear that was for him. "Yeah, figured that out."
I just gave him a look. "Isthatwhy you shoved him?"
"Well, partly," Ty admitted.
"And the other part?" Tanner asked.
Tossing his bag in the bed of his truck, Ty stopped at the tailgate. "Look, I started with a hangover from hell. Had to make Cody walk in alone, then saw those pricks fucking with her."
"What pricks?" Tanner asked, because he'd missed that part.
"Austin's boys," I explained. "keep-away, thinking she'd jump to get her rope back."
"Fuck," Tanner growled, the one sound I could agree with.
Ty grunted as if Tanner had just proven his point. "Yeah, that. So when she was pulling for me, the same fuckers started talking about her jacking off the bulls or some shit. Like joking about her going through all of usandthe cattle. Well, she didn't like it none, so I put a stop to it."
"And she don't need you jumping out of the chute like that," I told him.
"She damned well does!" Ty snapped. "Don't you two get it? You're her boyfriend, Tanner. J.D., you're her mentor. Me? What excuse do I have to be close to her at all? She's a damned rookie from America. She's cute. If I'm chasing her around and hanging out with her, Tanner needs to be putting his fist into my face."
"Already handled that," Tanner told him. "I made it clear that all the guys behind the chutes want to fuck her, so if you think being her friend will give you a chance, then great. If I think keeping her from having friends will keep me in her life, then that shit doesn't work."
"Really?" Ty asked.
Tanner pressed his lips together and nodded. "It's true too. I mean, all her friends are guys. How well do you think she'd take anyone telling her she can't talk to us?"
I chuckled. "She'd pretend like she didn't hear it and do her own damned thing."
"And Tanner should still be trying to beat my ass," Ty pointed out.
"Only if I want to get dumped," Tanner said. "Strong women aren't into that, Ty."
"Oh."
Ty sounded honestly surprised, but also willing to accept that. Still, I had a feeling there was more to this than he was saying.
"So how do you think that picking fights is going to explain you hanging out with her?" I asked.
