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Chapter52
HittingAustin once wasn't enough. I wanted to break that fucker's face in, but I knew Cody wouldn't be ok with that. She'd made it clear that every time I got physical with him, he'd end up getting physical with her, and not in a good way. Shit, he'd proven it back in Cheyenne, beating the crap out of her the moment she was alone.
Which meant she shouldn't be alone. Maybe I couldn't hover over her, but there were enough of us around here to handle it. So, when Cody and her father headed up towards the chutes, I shifted over towards Wes. He'd jumped in for her pretty quickly a minute ago.
"Hey?" I asked, jerking my chin his way to get his attention.
"What?" The man kept working his rope, forcing me to walk over.
"You're cool with Cody, right?"
Finally, he looked up. "Yeah. She's good. I mean, she's bumping me down, but she rides well enough to earn it, so I'm good with it."
"Don't care that she's a girl?" I pressed.
The look he gave me proved how stupid my question was. "Ty, unlike you, I'm not here to meet women."
"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled. "Waiting for marriage or some shit." Because we'd all heard that line from him a few times. "That's also not why I'm asking. I just think Austin's going to come after her again, and she got pissed at me for being too protective last weekend."
Wes dropped his rope, pulled off his glove, and finally turned all the way to face me. "Ty, you weren't being protective. You were being an overbearing asshole who was trying to piss all over the cute little cowgirl. Maybe she makes your dick tingle, but that's your problem, not hers. Besides, sounds like she's already got a boyfriend."
"Yeah," I grumbled. "She does. And that's a whole different thing. All I'm wondering is if you'll help me keep an eye on her."
"She's fine," he insisted. "Stop smothering her."
"And the last time she was alone, Austin and Derek beat the shit out of her," I hissed. "That's my issue. Cody may be one hell of a bull rider, but she can't fight off two men. If Tanner hadn't shown up..."
Wes's face went still, and his eyes hung on me. "You're asking a lot, Ty."
"I'm asking you to man up and make sure she at least has help if she needs it," I told him. "That's it."
"And Austin beat the shit out of me last year," Wes informed me. "He and Eli. They said I needed to learn how to be a 'real man.'"
I looked Wes over again. He was one of the younger riders. Not as young as Kaleb, but probably Cody's age. The guy was lean, lithe, and athletic, just like most of the guys in the PBR. He wasn't tall, wasn't overly ripped, and while he could probably hold his own, I wouldn't really be scared of him - but he was still better than nothing.
"I'm just trying to make sure she doesn't get killed," I explained. "Because lately, I'm not so sure those fuckers wouldn't."
Wes slowly began to nod. "Ok. I'll hang around her. She's nice enough. Not that we have a damned thing in common, but she's friendly."
"Thanks, man," I said, slapping his shoulder. "Know anyone else on her side?"
"Kaleb," he said. "He idolizes J.D., and since J.D.'s claimed her, Kaleb will be all-in. I think the Brazilians look out for her too. There's also Tim Moore. He seems impressed by her."
"Thanks," I said before turning back to gather up my shit.
I had a while before I'd be up to ride, so I had every intention of asking a few more guys to watch out for her. One by one, I tracked down everyone who'd seemed to be on her side in this mess. Once I spelled it out for them, they all agreed to step in if things went down. Sadly, not all of them wanted to worry too much about her. Only a few were willing to make sure she wasn't alone.
It would be enough - I hoped. Right about now, I missed Renato more than ever. Just on principle, I sent him a message, letting him know things were going sideways and to watch the stream. Then, with my rope over my shoulder, my glove in my helmet, and my chaps and vest buckled on, I headed towards the chutes.
There, I settled in to enjoy the show. Jackson Cloutier was the first man out of the chutes. The bull he was on was one of the tame ones this weekend. It bucked, and hard, but the guy finally had his head tucked. With his hand waving in the air, he was working it as hard as he ever had.
Needless to say, the moment the buzzer went off signaling he'd ridden a full eight seconds, I was cheering for him. Canadian spirit, or something, since the guy was from Saskatchewan. It was also nice to finally get a solid ride for the first man out.
Jackson pulled his rope, releasing himself, then hopped off. His bull kept going. Out on the dirt, the three new bullfighters looked at each other, each one acting like they were waiting for someone to rush in first.
The guy in the green shirt moved, and maybe it had only been a second, but that was a real long time in our sport. White followed, with blue moving even slower. Thank fuck this bull wasn't looking to cause trouble. He just needed someone to point him at the exit, then he trotted out easily.
The next rider wasn't as lucky. Somewhere around six seconds, he came off the side, taking a little spin as he did so. That left his hand trapped in the rope. As the bull raced for the far side of the arena, the rider desperately tried to keep up, and our new alternate bullfighters scrambled helplessly.
