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He lifted his hands and took a half step back. "Easy there, Ty. I was just asking."
"They blindsided her, Jake. Those assholes beat the shit out of her. Now, maybe Cody's a bull rider, but that doesn't mean she's not a woman too, and real men shouldn't hit a woman. Hitting her to chase her off? Because she's scoring better than them? Because they think if they hurt her enough, she'll give up and get out of their way? Not gonna fuckin' happen."
"So you're still watching out for her?"
I clenched my fist, wishing there was something I could hit. "Yeah. Someone's gotta."
"Think J.D. isn't?" he pressed. "Or maybe that's the problem? She's been real friendly with him lately."
"He's her fucking mentor," I snapped.
"And that?" Jake jerked his chin at the pair.
I turned to see Cody with her arms wrapped around J.D.'s neck and her body pressed up close against him. They weren't kissing, but the way J.D. leaned into her to hug back made me think he wanted to. Never mind that I knew what really went on behind closed doors with them.
But had he made his move? Or maybe he really was just a friend? I knew he and Tanner had a thing, but last I'd heard, he hadn't done more than kiss on Cody. Then again, now that I was out of the picture, who knew what they were doing.
The strangest thing was that I didn't hate the idea. J.D. worked with her. Cody became something bigger and better when he was with her. He wasn't as terrifying with her around. Well, not usually. But when it came to keeping her safe, I had a feeling nothing would stop that man.
Cody had once called him her pit bull. It was more true than she knew. I was also starting to think Tanner might have a bit more of a spine than I'd initially thought. The man was a freak in the arena, always getting to the bulls first and pulling some dumb-ass shit to keep them off us. Not that I'd bitch about it, but would he do the same for Cody? From the sounds of it, he had.
The talk I'd heard from the other bull riders said Tanner had fucked up Austin and Derek pretty bad. He'd broken up the fight, and he'd done it with his fists. From the sounds of it, he hadn't hesitated at all to throw down, which made me think Tanner's "good boy" look was a whole lot of bullshit. After all, he'd been willing to toss J.D. in bed, then keep him there. He had to be at least a little crazy to accomplish that.
"You know J.D. calls her his best friend?" I asked, doing my part to kill the rumors before they could bite Cody in the ass.
Jake murmured at that. "Makes sense. Not many people are tough enough to hang with J.D. Adkins."
"She sure is," I said, my eyes lingering on the pair.
That was why I saw it when J.D. moved to her side, crumpling up the top page of his check-in forms. As the two of them made their way towards the warmup area, he pitched the wad of paper in the trash, making it all casual. Cody didn't seem to notice.
And now I had questions.
"Something's up," I said, glancing over at Jake.
"What do you mean?"
"I dunno..." But I'd seen him trash that page. What the hell was he hiding from her?
"Or," Jake asked, bumping me to make me move up in line, "do you think it might be that you're hoping to get the girl back?"
"Shit."
"Ty." His voice was calling me on my bullshit. "You were a fucking wreck that night. You said things. No bullshit, man."
I just huffed out a laugh. "Cody made it clear there's nothing between us," I assured him. "And she doesn't need any rumors going about her."
His eyes narrowed, but he still nodded. "Ok, so that's the line you're taking. Gotcha."
"That's the line I'm taking," I assured him. "There's no 'shit' to worry yourself about, never mind why you're even worried."
"Because she's good," he said. "Because this crap with chasing her out is bullshit." Then he pushed out a heavy breath. "And because Austin made it clear to me that he's not close to being done. I wastryingto be subtle about making sure you know she's going to need some eyes on her back."
Now he had my complete attention. "How doyouknow that?"
"Because I asked Austin," he said. "Fucker was more than willing to tell me how he's going to fuck her up some more." Then he grunted, rocking his head from side to side. "I also told Jorge. You know, because those guys will make sure Tanner knows."
"And Tanner will tell J.D.," I said. "He knows J.D.'s got her back."
