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"Hey, you good, Cody?" Ty asked.
She sighed heavily, sounding exhausted with all this bullshit. "Yeah, I'm good, Ty. Thanks."
"Stay here and guard," I told him, tipping my head at Austin. "Pretty sure she doesn't need more help."
Ty just chuckled. "Yeah, I can do that." And he turned to Austin, crossing his arms like he was daring him to try something.
I hadn't expected him to listen, but it seemed Ty really was serious about protecting Cody. I'd wondered if that would still apply now that she wasn't fawning all over him, but he was starting to convince me he wasn't a bad guy. Horny and stupid, sure, but not inherently bad.
"Where exactly are we going?" Cody asked.
"Same place as yesterday," I assured her. "You're also lame, so I'm just helping. Being a nice guy, you know."
She rolled her eyes, and it wasn't in the cute and fun way. "You do know that's typically what assholes say, right?"
"Ok, good point." I pressed my hand between her shoulders, high enough to be polite. "Look, the last thing you want is to pick a fight with Donald Merrill, ok?"
"Who is he, anyway?" she asked.
"The president of the PBR." I felt my jaw clenching in frustration, because he was a hell of a lot more than that. "He was a bull rider for many years, helped start the PBR, and is now getting rich on the bullshit this place is putting out."
"Uh-huh..." She tried to grab for her bag, but it was with the wrong arm.
I saw her flinch, so I stopped, making it clear I wasn't keeping her gear from her. "Cody, quit. I'm not trying to pick a fight. You're also not in any shape to ride, but whatever. That's your call, and I get why you're doing it. I just don't agree."
"I'll be fine," she insisted. "I just don't get what you're doing, Jake. At first, you wanted nothing to do with me. Then, you decide I'm not that bad. This weekend, you've been all up in my shit. Why? And why is it the moment you're snooping around my business, the press is trying to say J.D. and Tanner are gay, huh?"
"Wait..." I had to huff in astonishment. "You thinkItold the press that?"
"No, I think Austin did. My question is how Austin got the idea." She hooked her good hand on her hip and lifted her head, that black Resistol making her blue eyes even more obvious. "You drove me to the hospital. You helped get clothes. Ty said you were in my room. J.D. said you were talking to Austin. And in the middle of all of that, you're now paying my fines? What the fuck, Jake? What are you doing, and why is it worth ten thousand dollars?"
Shit, I'd expected them to hit her much harder than just ten grand. To keep her going, I would've paid twice that. Still, she had a point, and while I couldn't tell her everything, I could give her at least a bit.
"I listen, ok? That's the best way to keep your head above water around here. If you aren't one of the favorites, then you have to play it safe, and knowing who is pissed about what? That's the safest way to live on this crazy circus."
"And?" she pressed.
"I'm the one who told J.D. that Austin was trying to call Tanner gay back in St. Louis. How did I know? Because Austin was bitching with his little friends about it. Said he heard Tanner in Sports Medicine."
Her mouth dropped open. "Heard what?"
"Something about Tanner talking to Anthony about hooking up with a guy. Austin's scared shitless of Anthony, so he was trying to figure out another way to make it stick. They came up with someone coming out of the room. A man, I mean."
"But Tanner rooms with the other bullfighters," she pointed out.
"And they didn't think about that, but they're sure of it," I countered. "Cody, I'm just telling you what I know."
"Butwhydo you know it?" she hissed. "And why do you care about everyone's bullshit?"
I glanced around, making sure we were truly alone down here. "You're not denying it, you know. Tanner and men? See, that's the thing, Cody. I was in your room. One bed. No one had slept on the couch. You and two men. Now, either they're spit-roasting you or you're the beard."
Her eyes flared. There was enough mascara and eyeliner on them to make it obvious when they widened. Nothing else about her face changed, but that one thing was enough to tell me I was much too close.
"And it's none of your business what I'm doing with them," she hissed.
But I wasn't buying it. There'd been just a bit too much of a pause. Her shock had been a little too real. Either she was truly mortified anyone might know she was into some kink - in which case she would deny the hell out of it - or she was covering for them.
"So they are gay?" I asked.
