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"He calls her his best friend," I said as I pulled my truck into a parking space. Shutting it off, I didn't wait for Jake before getting out. I kept talking, hoping he'd think this was casual. "He says she's going to be the next great in the PBR, and he's her mentor. That's why he got her sponsored with Tillman. I guess he got something like two hundred grand for that, so she's a bit of an investment."
"That's not an investment," Jake countered. "Those two? They're tight."
"Flip sides of a coin," I grumbled.
Slapping my back, Jake just guided me forward. "Yeah, know how that is. Kinda like you and me, huh? You're the dumbass. I'm the sly one. You want to get noticed, and I'm looking to just slip through the cracks."
"Cody was too, before J.D. got his claws into her," I reminded him.
"The difference is she didn't stand a chance," Jake said. "Cody Jennings can't make history without people noticing. She can't change minds without them looking at her. So if she thought she could just keep her head down and prove her point, she's not as smart as I thought."
"Yeah? And how smart do you think she is?"
He looked over and smiled. "Smart enough to stand in the spotlight and still hide the shit she doesn't want seen." Then he yanked open the door and gestured for me to enter the lobby first.
Chapter27
We rode the elevator up.Then up some more. Fuck, how high up this tower were they? Worse, Ty stood beside me the whole time with his grumpy face on. The man really had to work on his brooding. He was verging on crossing the line from dark and mysterious and landing on sulking like a baby.
When we reached the right floor, Ty marched off, not even waiting to make sure I'd follow. Yeah, I was clearly getting under his skin, but I'd picked a side, so now I was going to help. Someone had to, since Ty's best efforts came off as ham-fisted at best.
Halfway down the hall, he found the door he wanted, held up Cody's keycard, and unlocked it. When he walked in, he didn't make sure I could follow. The man just stormed through the little suite like he already knew what he was looking for.
I didn't, but the signs of people were scattered all over the place. Over there was a dirty t-shirt. On the table was an empty cup that had once had soda. Granted, this room was a lot nicer than mine, and I liked the whole living room concept. It made it feel a bit more homey. From the looks of it, a very unkept sort of home.
Ty just headed into the back. I followed, but stopped hard at the door. My room had two queen-sized beds. This one had one king. Just a single bed, yet Cody had only given Ty one key, so who was staying here?
Nope, I wasn't going to ask. That was a good way to get my head bit off. Ty got real touchy when it came to asking questions about Cody, Tanner, or J.D. Lucky for me, I'd learned how to use the grey matter above my shoulders. Mostly because I hadn't scrambled it in the arena yet.
So I let my eyes roam. That bag was J.D.'s. I could tell from the logo on the side. His sponsor had given it to him. So picking it up, I dropped it on the unmade bed and unzipped the top.
"What are you doing?" Ty asked.
"Making sure J.D. has clothes for when he's released," I said. "Pretty sure they would've cut off what he'd been wearing."
"Oh." He nodded like I should keep going. "Probably something loose."
Well, shit. I wasn't seeing anything but jeans, more jeans, and some rolled-up underwear. At least that meant it would be the clean stuff, right? I pulled out one of those, then dug a little deeper. Down in the very bottom I found a pair of sweats. They were grey, but only barely. That dark color was verging on black, which fit J.D. just a little too well. On the upside, a t-shirt was much easier to find in here.
But Ty had reached for another bag and tossed it my way. "See if you can find something for Tanner? He's still in his uniform."
I nodded, but my mind was working overtime now. One bed. Three bags. All were in the same room, not spread out through the suite. I was pretty sure someone would say they'd slept on that couch if asked, but I also knew exactly what some of these boys did on tour.
Was that the big secret? J.D. and Tanner had been spit-roasting Cody and didn't want to make her into a joke? Were these guys trying to keep their kink on the down-low so she'd be taken seriously? It made sense, and yet my gut wasn't buying it.
The problem for me was the timing of it all. I'd told J.D. that Austin was spreading rumors about Tanner. Within twenty-four hours, Cody had gone from being all over Ty to publicly dating Tanner? She'd never even beenseenwith Tanner before that. Well, except in the arena, but they hadn't exactly made a love connection in the few seconds between rides.
I pulled out a t-shirt for Tanner while I tried to find the missing piece of this puzzle. It was right in front of my face, but I just couldn't see it. My hands were working, looking for the kind of clothes a guy would want for a long-ass hospital stay. I'd just touched something soft when the piece finally hit me with the force of a pissed-off bull.
I'd told J.D. about the rumors.
J.D. was never far from Cody.
Cody was a woman.
A groan fell from my lips even as I pulled out what ended up being pajama bottoms. "Hope this will do," I said as I dropped those with the shirt.
Ty just grunted, but he was putting together quite the assortment for Cody. Soft pants, a little tank, a bra, panties, and even a pair of little shoes.
