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The line shifted again, and I found myself one person away from the window. Bending to get my bag, I pulled that over my good arm, then patted Ty's back. "I think I'm ok."
"Still not leaving," Ty said.
He opened his mouth to add to that, but a man in one of those overly starched shirts was walking up the hall. "What's going on?" he demanded.
"Mr. Merrill!" Austin said, sounding like they were the best of buds. "Seems tempers are high after the press swarmed the place this morning."
"There's like three cameras out there," I muttered, rolling my eyes.
"Four," Wes mumbled from my other side.
But the man Austin called Mr. Merrill simply pushed between Ty and Austin, effectively breaking that up. He didn't stop until he got to the check-in window, which was right as the guy in front of me left it.
"I need you to add this to Cody Jennings' record," he said. Then he turned to look at me. "You have been fined for unbecoming conduct."
"What?" I gasped. "For what?!"
"Striking another rider in the locker rooms."
Austin. The cameras had caught that yesterday. Damn it! I should've thought before I swung, but it had felt so good.
"You're fining her for that?" Jake asked, moving to my side and pushing me towards the window. "Really? Funny how you're not calling it fighting."
"It's a ten thousand dollar fine," Mr. Merrill pointed out. "We were trying to be lenient."
"Mhm." And Jake slapped his credit card down on the counter. "Use that, would you, Sheryl?"
"Sure, Jake," the woman on the other side agreed. "And Cody, how's J.D. doing?"
"He's walking today," I assured her. "So, I'd say better, but he's faking it."
"That's what he does," she assured me, passing back Jake's card with one hand and the paperwork to me with another. "Ok, and that's all cleared. I have you signed up, Cody."
I just turned and looked at the official, Mr. Merrill. "I'm not quitting. You know that, right?"
"Are you talking back?" the man growled. "Ms. Jennings, I assure you we expect some respect in this organization. You may be the shiny and flashy new thing, but that does not mean you're above the rules."
"No, but you'll use those rules against her, won't ya?" Jake asked.
"You trying to get her fined again?" Mr. Merrill asked.
Jake shifted so he was standing in the man's face, and held up his credit card between them. "I can do this as much as I need to. Is this really the fight you want to have? Because I think I'm equipped to make this one miserable for the entire PBR."
The men glared. Eye to eye, of matching height, and standing like this? Whoever Mr. Merrill was, he looked like the real type of cowboy. The kind who did a lot more than simply wearing the boots and hat. Jake, however, was a good twenty years younger and made it clear that while they were close in size, Jake had the advantage. Both financially and physically, if I had to guess.
"Do not cause problems," Mr. Merrill warned, his eyes flicking over to me.
"I'm just here to ride bulls," I assured him. "Would be nice if the judges treated me the same as the boys, but if you want me to ride twice as hard? Well, I've done that before. Kinda how I got here. I can keep on doing it." Then I stepped forward and lifted my chin the same way Jake was. "Mr. Merrill, I'm not quitting."
"And if you run her out, I'll make sure the whole world knows just how sexist the PBR is," Jake added. "Don't push me...Mr. Merrill."
Something passed between them. I wasn't sure what, but it was enough to make the man in the stiff shirt step back. His jaw clenched, then he stormed away without another word.
I wasn't sure if we'd just won or made things worse.
Chapter46
The momentmy father walked away, I pulled Cody's bag off her shoulder and onto mine. Gesturing with my arm, I made it clear we were headed to the warm-up area. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, which proved we needed to talk, but here was not the place.
