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"J.D.!" I yelled at him.
The sweetest smile found his face, and that man turned my way. His walk was definitely a limp today. He was also holding his body nice and stiff, as if flexing at all hurt. Still, I was surprised to see him out of the stands - but the man didn't stop until he was right before me.
"Second place," he said, nodding proudly. "That's my rookie."
"On a technicality," I reminded him.
He still caught the side of my neck and leaned in, putting his mouth over by my ear. "And Tanner wants to come out, so we're gonna do that next week. Just something to think about while you're out there being all pretty."
"What?" I asked, pulling back to check his face.
He simply nodded again. "Yeah. It's happening, girl. Now, we're all gonna talk it over first, which is why I'm sayin' something. Still, maybe it'll take a bit of heat off ya?"
"No!" I caught his hand, pulling him close enough so I could drop my voice. "J.D., I'm supposed to be the one taking care of you! I mean, I'm blazing the trail, right?"
"Pretty sure second place counts as blazed it, Cody." He smiled. "Don't ya see? They fucked ya. Damn, they fucked you bad, and you're still winnin'."
"And they're trying to pull you down because of me," I insisted.
He just smiled, and this was the cold kind. "Yep."
"J.D..."
"Cody," he said. "Hun', the shit they been pullin' with you is bullshit. The shit they're pullin' with me is more. They ain't gonna stop, so why are we playing their games? Fuck, I told you back in Tulsa not to do that. See, you're gonna ride like a girl and make the boys work to keep up, right?"
"I've been trying," I muttered.
He nodded. "And they've been trying to keep up. Now, Ty's good, and he's beating ya, but that's ok. Can't win 'em all, right? So it's a reason for you to ride bigger and ride better."
"And they're going to forget about me and come after you," I shot back.
His dark brown eyes searched mine. "Yep."
"But I'm supposed to protect you!"
His body stilled. His lips parted. J.D.'s brows pinched in, and confusion and awe claimed his face. "You wanna protect me?"
"As much as you protect me," I told him. "Yeah, I kinda do."
And his smile turned sweet again. Confused, but still sweet. "Well, I ain't gonna stop ya, but I think you need to go stand up on that bullpen lookin' all pretty and make sure the whole wide world knows you ain't one of the guys."
He meant head to line up, and I knew it, but that didn't stop me from being worried about him. "We're going to talk first, right?"
"Swear," he told me.
"And I'm going to haul his ass back to the stands," Dad assured me. "Go make me proud, kiddo."
"Ok," I agreed, lifting a hand in a weak little wave because I couldn't exactly give J.D. a kiss.
Gently rubbing J.D.'s back, Dad guided the man away from all of this mess. I stood there, in the middle of a quickly emptying room, watching them go. J.D. said I'd done it, but had I?
All I'd done was ride a bull. Yeah, I'd been using my off hand, which was why my score was shit. Well, not why-why. The judges had fucked me over, but my off hand was likely the excuse they'd use. But I was still in second place.
Turning my feet toward the line, I aimed for the back of it, still thinking too hard. Max had said I should make my point because being a woman wasn't a sin. A lot of people still thought being gay was. They wouldn't care that Tanner was pansexual or that J.D. was bi. They'd simply hear they were together and make the exact same mistake I had back at the creek.
Men were straight or gay. They were real men or losers. They were strong or weak. There was never any in between with the way they were judged. If they didn't perfectly fit the standards set for them, then they were failures.
But I'd hoped I'd get the chance to prove this sport wasn't just for the manliest of men. That maybe the gentle ones, or the sweet ones, or even the shy ones could be just as strong as the cocky and arrogant ones. Wait. That was pretty much what Jake had been complaining about, wasn't it?
