Page 1 of Jump Back On

Chapter1

"Pretty sure thatpurple matches your jersey."

I groaned and would've banged my head on the table if my breakfast wasn't in the way. But from Jorge's shit-eating grin, my fellow bullfighters were enjoying this just a little too much. Yeah, the fact that the side of my face had turned a rather impressive shade of violet sucked. It had also gotten me a few sideways glances today.

Yesterday, it had been darker, more of a blue color. Today, it was settling into something ugly - and yes, very purple. I still thought it was worth it, though. When Austin and Derek jumped Cody in the halls of the Cheyenne arena, I'd been ready to kill them. Probably the only reason I hadn't was because Anthony, our physical therapist, had pulled me off before I could get around to it.

But Cody was ok. That was all that mattered to me. My girlfriend had been convinced she was about to be raped, and it had shaken her to her core - more than the beatdown those assholes had put on her. A bruise, she'd said that night, would heal. The rest, she'd left unsaid, but I still heard it loud and clear.

"Hey, Tanner? You gonna ask Cody if you can use some of her makeup?" Isaac, my other partner in our bullfighting trio, asked.

I scoffed at him. "Funny. Real funny. Nope, I'm gonna let everyone think I took a set of horns to the face."

"Will probably work," Jorge admitted. "Hell, tell the announcer you tried headbutting a bull and won."

"Or that - " But Isaac stalled out before he could finish his thought. "Shit." His eyes were on the front entrance.

I looked that way in time to see Ty McBride saunter in alone. The waitress who hurried to meet him was smiling just a little too much. Then again, the man was gorgeous. Not only did he have the face of a model, but he was broad across the shoulders, fit as fuck, and wore his clothes tight enough to show it all off.

"Fuck," I mumbled when the girl led Ty in our direction.

"What can I get you to drink?" she asked as she gestured to a small booth just across from us.

Ty looked over, met my eyes, then turned his most charming smile on the girl. "Coffee, hun. Thanks." But he didn't sit.

Instead, the man sauntered over to where the three of us were sitting. "Bull do that?" he asked, looking right at me.

"Fuck off, Ty," Isaac warned.

Ty just lifted both hands, palms out, in a sign he wasn't trying to start shit. "I'm just asking because I heard Eli say something happened with Cody."

I could feel my molars grinding together. "Something?" I huffed.

"And that'sallI know," Ty said. "I was kinda hoping you could fill me in, and that your face wasn't part of it."

"Austin and Derek caught her in the halls back in Cheyenne," I snapped. "Alone. She was headed for her official pictures. I was in Sports Medicine. They threw her into one of those jockey rooms and were going to beat her off the tour."

Ty pulled in a breath, almost turned away, but paused. "How's she doing, Tanner?"

"She's hurting," I admitted. "She's also Cody."

Slowly, he nodded. "They jumped her?"

"Hard," Jorge said. "Fists, Ty. Tanner just happened to make it there in time to stop it before it got too bad."

"Fucked those fuckers up," I growled, mostly to myself.

"Thanks," Ty told me.

I just scoffed at him. "Really? Don't fucking act like I did it for you!"

But Ty didn't puff up. The man who was always ready to get in my face - or anyone's really - just stood there like a schoolboy who'd been busted. His tongue darted out to lick his lips. He shuffled his feet almost awkwardly. Then he lifted his straw Stetson and ran a hand over his hair.

"I fucked shit up bad, eh?"

"Real bad," Isaac agreed.

Ty just nodded. "Yeah, with Cody. Got that. But I meant with Austin."

---