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"Promise," he said, pulling off his hat to pass it to me. "But if I can do it, then so can you. Just take this as me setting the bar."
I nodded, but in my belly, my guts were trying to tie themselves into knots. When J.D. held out his rope, I took it, not knowing what else to do. Down the line, someone was climbing into the chute. Before us, Without Ado was taking a nap. I also knew he wouldn't stay calm.
"Please be safe?" I whispered.
The look J.D. flashed me was not the kind anyone would call sane. "I'm a professional bull rider, baby. Ain't nothing safe about this shit. It's all about the rush." Then he tipped his head at the chute. "Tell them to get that rope on, girl."
"On it," I promised, shouldering my way between the attendants keeping an eye on the bull. "Rope for J.D. Right-handed."
"Oh, we know how he likes it," said the man who accepted the rope. "Hey, J.D.? Who's pulling for you?"
"I am," I said before J.D. could answer.
"Well, alrighty then," the man muttered.
But they were working the rope under the bull, and that was all that mattered. J.D. was adding a little extra tape to the wrist of his glove. Considering how much he usually used, that was saying something.
Then a man patted my shoulder. "You pulling?"
I turned to see Jake, knowing he was waiting for the chute beside us. The one for second place. "Yep. You good?"
"I got a friend," he said, tilting his head to the far side.
I followed the direction to see Ty waiting by the attendants. Yeah, like that helped my nerves any. My ex over there, a crazy bull here, and J.D. was getting that wild look in his eye? Fuck. This was not how tonight was supposed to go.
"Please be careful?" I begged J.D. as Jake moved into his chute.
J.D. just leaned in, pressing his helmet right under the brim of my hat. "Here's a tip, Cody. See, my big secret? It's that I'm never careful.That'swhy I'm so good. I don't fucking care how bad it gets. I'm not ridin' bulls to play it safe. I'm here because I need this. I got shit to prove, and ain't no one gonna hold me back, get me?"
A little of that tension in my guts began to ease and I nodded. "Yeah," I breathed. "I think I really do get you."
"Good, now pull the damned rope."
Chapter20
I climbed into the chute.Cody hopped over to the arena side, not caring about who else was doing what. Yeah, that girl was turning into a real badass, and it looked damned good on her. The way I saw it, she was about to be my legacy, because no matter how this ride went, I knew it was gonna hurt.
That was the problem with the good rides. The best bulls knew just how to sling a man around. Maybe I could hold it. Maybe I couldn't. That shit didn't matter to me as much as the try. I also hadn't been bullshitting her.
I was gonna ride this fucker. If I could, then she could. So far, no one had managed to stay on him for a full eight. That wasn't even the worst part about Without Ado. It was that he came back for his pound of flesh once he got us off. With my bum knee, I wasn't sure if I'd make it up the panels before he got his horns in me.
But I was damned well gonna try. If I could, then she could. And if she could, then she'd realize she could do anything. That was how Cody seemed to work. She had a whole lot of grit and determination. Sometimes she just needed a little push. Welp, this was me pushing her.
As she pulled the end of my rope up, bracing her feet against the gate, I reached over to warm it up. I'd added as much rosin as the fibers could take. I wanted this thing to hold me on even if my legs couldn't. I was safer on this fucker's back.
"You should've told me," Cody said when I pulled the third time.
"Didn't wanna distract ya none," I admitted. "You had your own ride. But hey, worked out, right?"
"What?" She huffed in frustration.
"I ride number one. You rode number two. Tonight, we'll be drinking about how damned good we did." And I pulled again.
The rosin was stringing off, proving it was just the way I wanted it, so I moved to the handle. Unfortunately, the first time I pulled at that, Without Ado got pissed. He lunged, yanking me forward. For a split second, I thought I was about to put my helmet into the panel in front of me, but I got my hand loose in time.
"If he does that again, get a head rope on him!" I snapped at the chute guys.
"Yes, sir," one of them replied.
