AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"He's not worried about the competition?"'
"Nope," I said. "J.D. made it clear she's his rookie. No one will ever know why that's such a big deal to him, but he put his claim on her. No one will pull him away from her, and I'm starting to think Tanner's the only one brave enough - or dumb enough - to go there anyway."
"And Cody picked Tanner," Jake pointed out. "Think that was because it was on the big screen?"
"Nope." Damn, I really didn't want to talk about this.
In truth, I didn't want to talk about her. I wanted to think about my ride, my bull, and making sure I scored good enough to make her notice me again. I wanted to prove to her I was serious about this shit, because I knew that was what she wanted.
In truth, I wanted a second chance, but Hannah said I had to pull my head out of my ass first. Yeah, and that was the hard part. How the fuck was I supposed to know what Cody would think was sweet and what she'd say was getting in her way? How the hell was I going to show her I was sorry if I was going to stay away from her all weekend?
Which meant the best I had was riding better than I ever had before and doing it that way. It was the one language Cody and I seemed to share, because English hadn't been working out too well for me. At least not lately.
"So, you're not going to give me anything, huh?" Jake teased.
Letting my eyes close, I let out a heavy sigh. "Why the fuck do you care?" I asked him.
Jake just slapped my back a few times. "Because, believe it or not, I'm not your arch, um, what did you call it? Neblesis?"
"Fuck off."
"Right, nemesis," he said, making fun of my stupidity from when I'd been drunk.
"You always steal my girls," I reminded him.
"No," he corrected. "You always chase them right to me. You think I'm going to turn down a beautiful woman just because you got your eye on her?"
"Stay away from Cody," I snapped.
And the asshole smiled. "No."
I turned and was just about to step into his face when the line shifted again and the window opened up. Smirking at me like he could read my mind, Jake stepped forward, cutting in front of me.
Fucking asshole!
And it wasn't just stealing my girls. He'd been taking my placing lately too. Jake Cunningham had come out of nowhere, slipped into the PBR almost unnoticed, and had just ridden so damned consistently. His first year, he'd been nothing, stuck right in the middle of the pack like most rookies. The next year, he'd moved up, bumping in and out of the top ten. Now, he was a contender.
The man was ranked second in the overall standings, and he'd been sitting there for a little too long. Renato had pushed him down to third for a bit, but this fucker rode the same no matter what bull he was on.
He didn't try to show off. He didn't make a scene. He didn't get mixed up in any of the drama that went on with everyone else. Jake showed up, rode his bulls, and got his checks. I was pretty sure the man didn't really have a crew to hang with. He wasn't one of J.D.'s cronies. He didn't spend time with the Brazilians. He wasn't rubbing shoulders with the Canadians, Mexicans, or even Australians.
He simply kept his nose to the grindstone and kept moving up.
Yet he'd just been picking my brain - and all his questions had been about Cody. He'd poked at things that shouldn't get poked. The man was just a little too close to hearing the wrong thing, and from the sounds of it, he was asking around. Not just with me, but with everyone.
So I marched up beside him, deciding it was time for me to get a few answers. "What the hell are you doing, Jake?" I hissed.
He ignored me to pass a credit card to the woman on the other side of the counter. "Can you tell me who had fines for this weekend, Sheryl?"
"Sure, Jake." The lady smiled at him. "Yep, looks like Austin Chambers and Cody Jennings were fined for fighting. Derek Mitchell is suspended from riding this weekend for the same. Jackson Cloutier has one for improper behavior. Yeah, and that's it."
"Thanks, Sheryl," Jake said before turning to me. "And that's why she was pissed. Cody got fined for getting jumped."
"What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Doing?!" I growled.
"Ty, I'm helping," he told me. "See, Austin made me pick sides. I didn't pick his." Chuckling, he put his card away and shoved his wallet into his back pocket. "And trust me, I'm not the guy you want to fuck with."
When he turned and walked away, all I could do was stare after him. I was pretty sure I'd lost that round. I also didn't have a damned clue what was going on.
