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"Yeah, pretty sure it's a bit more," he went on. "Still, fines ain't shit. You rack 'em up, show these boys you can't get chased off, and make it real clear I got your back."
"Why?" I asked, looking up.
His eyes found mine and a little curl touched his lips. "If you think it's because we share a room? Naw. If you think it's because you're a real pretty girl? Naw." Then he stepped closer. "I'm gonna make sure you go all the way, Cody, because you can. Because, for the first time, I've found me a bull rider who's gonna put me to shame, and I wanna go down in history as the one man who didn't try to get in her way."
"Yeah?" I asked.
He nodded slowly. "Yeah. I mean, the cuddles are pretty good too, but that's just like icing, right? Me and you? Best friends, and that means I always got your back."
Those words made this rage in my head just evaporate. Closing those last few inches between us, I tossed my arms around his neck and hugged J.D. as hard as I could.
"Thank you, J.D.," I breathed. "For being mine, I mean."
His arms closed around my back. "Yeah. All fuckin' yours."
Chapter13
I didn't have a hangover.I'd gotten used to ignoring those, but ever since Cody, I'd stopped hitting the bars every night. That meant I wasn't drinking myself into oblivion all the time. Yeah, I felt my aches a lot more, but I wasn't exactly looking for someone to entertain me. Nope, I was gonna focus on riding for once in my life.
But when I reached the line to check in, it was a long one. Evidently, I was earlier than I usually got here. Normally, the line was just about done and I was one of the last. Hell, maybe this way I'd pull a better bull? I could hope.
I was slowly trudging forward when I saw J.D. and Cody move off to the side. She spun and started ranting about something. I could hear her voice, but I wasn't close enough to make out the words. All I could tell was she was pissed.
"You cool?"
I jerked, surprised to hear Jake right over my shoulder. Spinning, I turned to find him waiting in line behind me.
"What?" I asked.
He jerked his chin at Cody. "Are you cool, Ty? Not gonna do something dumb?"
"Fuck."
"Like," he went on, "drinking so much you fall down at the front desk, need a room, and all that?"
Yeah, he'd bailed my ass out last weekend. I'd also said some shit I shoulda kept to myself. The big problem was I couldn't quite remember which shit I'd said. Enough to make him know things had gone down, though.
"I'm cool," I assured him.
Jake watched me for a long moment, then nodded. "So, you given up on her?"
I turned back to the front, trying to act like I hadn't heard his question. Sadly, that didn't work. Jake just moved up to my side. For a bit, he stood there, giving me the chance to fess up that I was a fucking mess, but I didn't really wanna talk my shit out. I'd kinda been doing that all weekend.
"Austin's still after her," he said.
That had me looking over. "What?"
"Cody," Jake clarified, lifting up his grey Resistol just to smooth his hair back. "Austin wants to make sure she gets gone and stays gone."
I grumbled, the sound coming out like a snarl. "Yeah, fuck him. Bastard thinks hitting girls makes him hot shit."
"From the sounds of it, Cody hit back," Jake pointed out.
"Because it was that or not get up!" I snapped my mouth shut.
But Jake just chuckled dryly. "Which means you know more than you're letting on."
"Why the fuck do you care?" I demanded, rounding on him.
