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I chuckled at that. "I dunno, maybe?"
So Dean pointed at the arena. "Down there, it's all real simple. We know the rules for that shit. This? The living parts? Ain't so easy, boy, but it's worth a hell of a lot more, ok? Now, you're just gonna have to trust me on that part, because you ain't old enough to have lived through much, but I promise it's the truth."
"Yeah," I breathed.
"And," he went on, "you got this whole damned crew here to stand with ya. That means something. Don't matter what the news or the announcers or even the other guys say. That shit's just boys running their mouths to hide their own fears. This?" He tapped my chest. "That's the part that matters, and you're the only one who knows what's in there. So you two think real hard about what you wanna do. You talk about it and use your noggins a bit. Rushing in only works down there on the dirt, ok?"
"Promise," I told him. "Max needs a week, after all."
"Yep," Dean said. "And I need my little girl to not scream at me for letting you two fuck it all up. So we're all in this together now." Then he looked over at Jorge and Isaac. "And if we get yelled at, we'll make sure you suffer too."
"Shit," Jorge said. "My wife is already on Cody's side, so I'm one of the good guys here."
"I'm outnumbered," Isaac promised with a sly little smile. "And Tanner's one of us. What was that saying? All for one and one for all?"
"Fake it until you make it?" Jorge offered instead.
"Naw," J.D. said softly. "I mean, those are good and all, but this?" He lifted those dark eyes of his to mine. "Be the change."
And from the look on his face, I knew he was all-in. The pair of us would face this together. I wouldn't have to do it alone, and I sure as shit wasn't doing it today, but we were going to tackle this.
Because it wasn't just Cody changing the world. Well, it didn'thave to be. The two of us could do our own part of it, lightening her load a bit - or making it worse. But that part didn't matter. The end result would.
I may not have joined the PBR to make history, but it seemed I was going to do it anyway. And as I nodded at J.D., silently sealing the agreement between us, I realized why I liked that woman so damned much. It was because she was everything I'd always wanted to be.
All I had to do was follow in her footsteps.
Chapter49
I walked awayfrom Jake and knew he turned to watch me go. That put a little smile on my face, and yet I still didn't get this guy. He wanted me to help him with something, but what? He'd made it all sound so good when we'd been face to face, but there'd been almost no substance in any of that.
Of course the PBR let us be wild. The riders were making more money than most of us had ever seen in our lives. Most of these guys could have any girl they wanted - for once! They'd gone from nothing to everything, and that was a recipe for a little excess.
It all made sense, so what problem was Jake seeing? For me, it was a little different. I was the odd one out. I was thegirl, and some guys didn't want a woman proving she could keep up. We were supposed to be sweet, silent, and at home with the family. Well, I wasn't that kind of girl.
My best friend, Shelby, was - and she was good at it. Somehow, she could juggle working, raising the baby, and keeping her marriage happy. For her, being a mom was a dream come true. For me it would've been an anchor holding me back. That didn't mean either of us were wrong. We were just different, and we were allowed to be.
So why wasn't that true here? Why did it matter if I was a woman? The rules didn't say the PBR was for men only. Yeah, it was hard to get the experience and strength to ride at this level, but I'd done it, and I had every intention to keep on doing it. But if I made the smallest mistake, I'd be out - and I knew it.
So if I couldn't get my points with top scores, I'd have to do it the way Jake had. So long as I stayed on the bull, I'd get points. Always getting some points was better than a lot one day and none the next. Even if they started putting me in the seventies, I'd still move up the world rankings if I could just hold on for eight seconds consistently enough.
Which was why I had to ride today. Yeah, my arm hurt. Shit, that was expected, and the sling Doc had put me in only helped so much. I was pretty sure my entire elbow was swollen, but it'd work for waving over my head. I only had to last for eight seconds, right?
That was my thought as I stepped into Sports Medicine, surprised to find a few guys lounging in the icing chairs. Some had the cool water flowing. Others were just sitting, scrolling through their phones. Over at the side, Anthony had a roll of tape and a man's ugly-ass foot in his hands.
"Guess there's a line to get taped?" I asked.
"Sit," he told me. "You're next, Cody."
"Hey!" one of the other guys grumbled. "I've been waiting."
"And you'll keep waiting," Anthony told him. "Didn't your momma tell you ladies get to go first?"
"Nope," the man said, but it was around a little smirk.
"Well, she shoulda," Anthony told him. "And Doc ordered her taped. You just can't do it on your own."
The guy scoffed lightheartedly, then tipped his head towards the chair beside him in an obvious invitation. I took it, leaning back with a very weary groan. He murmured in agreement.
