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"You might want to rethink running around on your own, Cody," I said, hoping she'd get what I was saying.
She looked that way, right to where those two were huddled close together and talking. Then her head kept going until she found whatever she was looking for. A little smile found her lips.
"Came to meet my rep," she said, patting my arm. "I think I'm ok."
Well, at least she wasn't going to be alone - this time. "And you never know who is going to be on the elevator with you," I pointed out.
"They have security cameras," she reminded me. "I figure that's called proof."
I chuckled. "You win."
Then I stepped back, making it clear I wasn't trying to stop her. Cody flashed me one more smile and headed straight for the man who had to be her sponsor representative. Today, she stood out a bit in the lobby. The area was filled with nothing but men in cowboy boots. Most of us had hats. Felt, straw, and in a whole range of colors. The lack of one made Cody's hair draw the eye right to her.
So did the way her ass curved in those tight jeans she liked. Maybe she wasn't as voluptuous as some of the girls at the bars. I was pretty sure none of these cowboys cared. Hell, I didn't, but I refused to think of her that way.
Cody Jennings was a problem, so far as I cared. Not for the same reasons Austin threw out. Nope, the little hellcat was good. Too good. If I wasn't careful, she was going to bump me right out of second place, and I was pretty damned sure I couldn't outscore J.D. Adkins. She probably could.
Well, she could if the judges would give her the scores she deserved. I'd seen those rankings last weekend, and they were shit. Right about now, I was ok with that, though. It gave me just enough time to up my own game before she blew the rest of us out of the water.
And yet, I was still staring after her. A plump and balding man greeted her with too much enthusiasm, but it seemed real. Not the kind of fake shit my own rep put on for me. But when he turned her up the hall with his hand on her shoulder, Austin and Eli noticed.
The pair turned. For a moment, I thought they were going to follow. My feet started heading that way just on principle. I might not want to get involved in her mess, but I could delay these fuckers long enough to let her avoid it.
"You two ready for tomorrow?" I asked when I was close enough.
Austin turned to me, exposing the mess of his face. "You see that little bitch?"
"Who?" I asked, playing dumb.
Eli grunted, not impressed. "Cody. Fucking bitch thinks she's just gonna carry on like nothing happened?"
I narrowed my eyes, aware he didn't look hurt at all. "Gonna guess shit went down?"
Austin scoffed. "Yeah, could say that. Bitch almost got me thrown out of the PBR."
"Uh-huh..." I was hoping they'd give me a little more.
Thankfully, Eli had clearly taken a few too many hits on the head. The idiot was the perfect example of why helmets were so damned important, because he just couldn't keep his damned trap shut.
"She knows she's not wanted here," he snapped. "Austin made it clear she needs to go home, and when she pushed back, well, the uppity-ups came afterhimfor it! Fuck, Derek's suspended for the weekend!"
"How'd you get out of that?" I asked Austin.
He laughed once. "Sponsors paid enough to make sure of it, which made me some friends in all the right places."
"Mm." Well, that sounded pretty typical for the PBR. The headliners could buy their way out of anything. "So what happened? Way I heard it, Cody got jumped."
"From who?" Eli demanded.
"Just talk," I told him. "Shit in the halls of the hotel in Cheyenne. Little here, little there. That kinda thing. Figured you'd give me the real story."
"I just wanted to talk to her," Austin insisted. "Derek and I were gonna make things real clear, but no. She had to freak out. Well, I showed her why she should shut up and listen, but fucking Tanner..."
"Yeah, fucking Tanner..." Eli grumbled like a well-trained parrot.
"I see." Because I was pretty sure I was reading between the lines the right way. "Well, the way I see it, Cody's not anything to worry about. She can ride or she can't."
"Don't tell me you support that shit!" Eli snarled.
