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"No, not really," Kaleb admitted. "She's always with Ty or J.D."
"Not Ty anymore," Chase Tompkins said.
"See!" Austin insisted.
I laughed.
"Oh, you think this is some joke?" he asked.
"Yeah, considering Ty just apologized to her out there. Lots of people heard it too. Sounds like he crossed a line and she told him off."
"Because she's with Tanner," Kaleb insisted. "And Tanner doesn't care if her friends are guys, since everyone but her is one."
"But don't you see?" Austin insisted. "That's how they're hiding it. Tanner's a fucking queer, y'all. He's a damned faggot, and Cody's just here to keep it under wraps. She's not a real bull rider. She's a damned prop, and I'm just trying to make sure she doesn't get hurt in the process."
He was doing his best to sound sincere, but all of that was bullshit. It wasn't even good bullshit, and it sure didn't make any sense. Who were "they," and why were they so worried about hiding something like that?
It was nothing but bullshit. Unfortunately, I had a funny feeling Austin's little quest to chase the woman out of the PBR may have just gotten real damned close to the truth.
Chapter35
Eventually,the event started. The one thing that surprised me was hearing someone yell my name. Following the sound, I found my daddy and J.D. seated in the front row over to the side. I was pretty sure those were the Red Bull seats given to the bullfighters at each event - and I was not about to complain.
So, grinning from ear to ear, I waved at them. Daddy waved back and J.D. flipped me off. Somehow, that was fitting. It also made me feel a hell of a lot better. If J.D. was here, that meant he'd been discharged from the hospital, so they thought he was doing pretty good.
I wanted to head over there and ask, but the riders were moving quick today. The first four were all bucked off, leaving a bunch of no-scores on the board. The next set was lining up, and I refused to take my eyes off my equipment.
Austin had greased my rope. I was sure he'd been involved with the first greasing as well. He'd tried to catch me alone in Cheyenne, and now I was starting to wonder how bad all of that would've been if Tanner hadn't shown up.
Would he have raped me to chase me off? Would it have worked? I wanted to say no, but I knew better. Beating the shit out of me was something I could heal from easily. Rape? No, I was pretty sure a little bravado wouldn't make that go away.
I wasn't sure that had been his goal, though. Maybe he would've just killed me? After all, there weren't any security cameras where we'd been, so he could've gotten away with it. Even thinking that made Tanner's words in the shower come back to me. These men would gladly tie a rope around the back of a truck and drag us until we were no longer a problem.
And right now, I was basically alone. Ty said he was going to be my protector. Glancing down the catwalk behind the chutes, I could see the man standing with the Brazilians. Up here, he'd keep me safe. Back in the warmup area, Jake seemed to hover around me. Then there were the other men.
I barely knew some of these guys, and yet it felt like there was always a man leaning on the rail close to me. Gustavo was one. Wes was another. Kaleb Brown had dipped his hat at me, making me think he might be on my side too. The best part was that they weren't the only ones.
So I had this. I'd told Tanner not to be alone, and this was my version of doing the exact same thing. If I was visible from the stands, then no one could do anything too stupid. If I kept my mind on the riders, making sure I didn't lose track of the placings, then I wouldn't get missed or skipped over. So long as I managed to make my ride, I was good.
This was my big plan.
It wasn't exactly complicated, but it was the best I had. When I'd shown up at Tulsa, I'd thought keeping my head down and going unnoticed would be enough, but I'd been wrong. J.D. was right - Icouldn'tgo unnoticed. I was breaking barriers, and that made some people very angry. One of them was Austin. Then there were the judges sitting under the bullpen in the middle of the arena.
Well, today I was embracing all of my rookieness. Not the new part, but the part J.D. had claimed. Jake had even pointed it out! I was acting like a miniature version of J.D. back when he'd made a name for himself, and hopefully that would be just enough to keep me in one piece for one more day.
The second set of riders were split with half buck-offs and half qualifying. Their scores were in the seventies, which didn't give me a lot of hope. I'd dropped down to thirteenth place. Thirteen! I was supposed to be in the top ten!
Granted, everyone had a bad weekend. Everyone had an event where they scored lower than they wanted. Back in Cheyenne, it had been Ty. Looked like this time was my turn. All I had to do, though, was make sure I stayed on all three bulls and I'd still be qualified.
Three solid rides, even in the high seventies or low eighties, were enough to keep me in the top half of the pack. The odds were against that. Most riders got bucked off about half the time, but my daddy had taught me how to hang on tight. Getting under the bull was the last place I wanted to be, so staying on top was my best option. Good score, bad one, or anything else didn't matter. I just had to hold on for a full eight.
I was watching Tanner and his partners deal with the first bull in the third set when a man stopped right in front of me, blocking my view of my boyfriend. "Cody, right?" he asked.
I jerked my chin in greeting. "Yeah. You?"
"Tim Moore, Colorado," he said, offering me his hand. "Heard you're the one to talk to about J.D.?"
I flicked a finger over to where J.D. and my dad were sitting. "He's over there."
