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Somewhere in there, someone called out, "Cody! Cody!"
So I thrust my hand up too. Beside me, J.D. did the same. Behind me, Dean, Max, and Grace all stood. My fellow bullfighters moved to my open side. All of us lifted our fists in proud defiance, but that chant? It was slowly taking over the entire arena.
"Cody, Cody, Cody!" the fans were yelling.
"Cody, Cody, Cody!" the bull riders screamed back.
J.D. huffed in shock, his head snapping from one side to the other. "Holy shit," he breathed, his words almost lost among the chant. "He did it. Ty fucking did it!"
"Did what?" Isaac asked from my other side.
J.D. just gestured to the scene playing out around us. "He just made it so the PBR can't chase her off!"
"Cody, Cody, Cody!" the spectators continued to call out.
And a little laugh slipped from my lips, because I realized J.D. was right. This? It was the sort of thing that was going to go viral. It would spread so damned fast, and Ty had set it up perfectly. It wasn't about her breaking into a man's sport. It was about the rest of those guys being gentlemen.
Being cowboys.
As I let all of that wash over me, I looked up at the announcer's booth, curious how the officials were taking this, just as a man in a very starched white shirt threw a clipboard towards the floor. When he turned away in disgust, I caught a glimpse of his profile, and yeah, I recognized him.
That was Donald Merrill, and he was pissed. Well, too fucking bad. He'd picked this fight, Cody had beaten him, and Ty had just rubbed his nose in it.
Chapter60
Once the ridersand fans stopped chanting my name, we were released, and the mass of people around me began to dissipate. This time, however, I was stuck standing on top of the bullpen, completely dumbfounded.
"C'mon, Cody," Jake called. "You're done for the night."
"Yeah," I agreed, somehow convincing my feet to move.
Because that had happened. I didn't really knowwhythat had happened, but it had. Ty had made it very clear I didn't need to worry about all the personal stuff between us right now, and then he went off and didthat?
So once I got behind the chutes, I tried to find him. Granted, most of these cowboys were a whole hell of a lot taller than me, but he wasn't in the places I expected. When I ran out of options, I headed back to the locker room area, only to find his bag and all of his gear had already been packed and moved out.
He was gone.
But my stuff was still right where I'd left it. It just wasn't quite the same as how I'd left it. There was something... pink? I moved closer, slipping between excited cowboys as I tried to get a better look. And once I was at the panel where my rope had been hung earlier tonight, I realized exactly what that was.
Laying on top of my still-closed gear bag was a very bright pink bull rope with a black handle and accents. It was folded up and tied nicely like brand-new ropes tended to be, but hanging from the handle was a little tag. One with writing on it. I knelt down and flipped that up so I could see it better.
Ride like a girl. It's a 7/5 right-handed with skip lace handle. Just the way you like it. Try not to get this one greased? ~The PBR Bull Riders
I looked back, checking for anyone watching me, but no one seemed to care. They were all laughing and carrying on like normal after an event. Confused, I read the tag again, trying to see if I recognized the handwriting, but I didn't.
The sound of Jake flopping against the panel made me flinch, but when I looked up at him accusingly, the man was grinning at me.
"I'll tell you how that got there if you answer a question for me?" he said.
"Ok?"
"Did you know Ty was going to do that?"
"Not at all," I assured him. "I was trying to thank him for hitting the challenge button and being nice all weekend, but - " And I snapped my mouth shut.
Jake began to smile. "Because it's an open thing, I heard."
"What? How?Where!"
