AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Yeah, I kinda did," he grumbled, dropping into a chair and waving for me to take the other.
I dropped my ass down, never taking my eyes off him. "Ya gonna fuck me and Tanner over too?"
"Nope."
That was it. The man sat across from me just as calm and pretty as he could be. He wasn't getting defensive, but he also wasn't really giving me shit. That meant I was gonna have to push this, and too bad for him, I was more than willing to do that.
"I just wanna know one thing," I said. "What thefuckwere you thinking?"
"Shit..." Ty groaned. "I was thinking I was getting pushed out. I was thinking I was the third wheel. I wasthinking,J.D., that I had to make sure I had a reason to be around her so she wouldn't forget about me."
"And you stepped all over that girl," I tossed back. "Cockblocking her fans? Really?"
"They were fucking checking her out!"
"What the fuck you think they do with us?!"
Instead of yelling back, Ty just sighed again. "Yeah, that's kinda what she said."
"You got girls hangin' all over ya every single weekend," I pointed out. "But Cody gets one man who thinks she's a real fucking rider, and you go full stupid?"
"Look - "
I didn't give him the chance to finish that. "She don't care none about what they think. Not if they're looking at her tits, ass, or anything else. She wants to get some goddamn respect, and that don't come without a little fame to go with her fortune!"
"Yeah, but - "
"And just because she's a girl don't mean the rules need to be different for her," I growled. "She can keep up. She can fuckingride. Ain't no one else's business if she fucks, flirts, or anything else, get me?"
"J.D.," Ty said, sounding exhausted.
I jerked my chin, deciding he could talk now.
"I fucked up. I know I fucked up."
Sucking at my teeth, I nodded. "Yeah, kinda what Tanner told me you said."
"And it's true," he promised. "See, the thing you two can't wrap your mind around is that I'm in love with that girl. Head over fucking heels, ok? And the further she got, the more I panicked. I didn't even realize it, but yeah. I've been doing some thinking."
That one word made my skin run cold. "Love?"
He nodded slowly. "Yep. And the harder I fell, the more I wanted to latch onto her. Dumb, but that's what I did. I was doing nothing but thinking about me. I mean, I'm the man here, right? I'm the pro. I'm the guy who could help her make her dream real. I took, then took some more, and thought I had the right to keep on taking because this pretty little cowgirl made me feel shit." He flopped back with a groan. "And I stopped thinking about what she needs and got obsessed with what I wanted."
"I trusted you," I said softly.
He just nodded. "Yeah, and I fucked up bad."
"Whatcha gonna do now?"
Ty shrugged. "I'm gonna ride my damned bulls. I'm gonna get in there, ride hard, and up my game. See, she made a bet with me, and she probably doesn't even remember it, but she did. If I score better at finals, I get to buy her dinner, so I'm going to make damned sure I'm the one with the gold buckle."
I felt one side of my mouth crawling higher in a twisted little smile. "So ya ain't given up yet?"
"Nope." He reached up to shove a hand across his mouth. "I know I don't have a damned chance for shit after I buy her that meal. I'm just hoping I can explain to her how sorry I am."
"And between now and then?" I pressed.
Ty flapped his hands uselessly. "Fuck, J.D. I dunno. Hannah says I'm a dumbass. See, she made a real good point. I need to fix my shit. I don't need to fix it for Cody. I just need to fix it, because my shit is so damned fucked. That crap I used to do? It doesn't make me a real man. It makes me a fucking asshole."
