Page 125 of Jump Back On

"Uh..." The man looked sheepishly at the other reporters around him.

Another man pushed in without shame. "Is it true they're gay?"

"Myboyfriend," I said, enunciating the word, "is supposed to be gay? But I thought gay men weren't into women?"

"Or he's having an affair with J.D. Adkins," the guy said, making it sound like an accusation.

"Right." I nodded slowly. "Y'all stop and think about that at all before you started doing this?" I made a gesture with my hand encompassing the whole group. "Like, I mean, what's the one thing those two have in common?"

"Clearly their sexuality!" someone else said.

I scoffed at that, then pointed at my own chest. "J.D. introduced me to Tanner. He invited the guy to a hay-stacking party back home so I could get to know him. J.D. was my wingman, and why would he do that if he wanted the guy himself? Oh, and never mind that Tanner made a pretty big show of kissing me on live TV. But you know what else those two have done? They've helpedme. They cheermeon. Me, the woman making history in the PBR, and not everyone's happy about that."

"So you think this is a lie?" someone else asked.

"This is all because they're on my side. You know that, right? That's myboyfriendand mymentor. They'rehelpingme. They'refriends!" I tossed up my hands in frustration. "Why is a man having a friend so fucking terrifying, huh? Or maybe it's because they're both with me?"

"So you're saying the rumors aren't true?" one of the reporters asked.

I could feel all the cameras on me. I didn't care, though. I had this. I knew I did, and I was not about to let my lovers suffer. Not after last night. We'd just taken things to some kind of next level, and I was more than willing to fight for that.

Yes, I loved J.D. I also felt something for Tanner. I wasn't sure what to call it right now, but it was big. It pounded in my chest and made me feel warm when I thought about him. It put a smile on my face at the sight of him. It made my mind drift to very naughty daydreams about him!

Like, lust, love. It was somewhere in the middle of all three, and it certainly wasn't anyone's business but ours. Mine, J.D.'s, and Tanner's. This was our private life, our relationship, and it wasn't created for fucking marketing, increasing views, or selling fucking tickets!

So I just kept going. "Why is me being able to keep up with the rest of these guys so damned scary? Because that's what this comes back to. Time after time, they've tried to chase me off, and it hasn't worked. So now, they're going after the ones helping me? After my fucking mentor and boyfriend?"

And finally, my rant began to get a little traction. "How have they tried to chase you off?" a reporter asked.

"Who tried to chase you off?" someone else called out at almost the same time.

"Back in Cheyenne last weekend," I said, "Austin Chambers and Derek Mitchell cornered me alone in the halls and beat the crap out of me! Two men. One woman. Now, is that the kind of men y'all wanna respect?" I asked. "What about thetwotimes my rope got greased? That's the kind of hazing that can get a bull rider killed. But I'm not going anywhere, so now they're going after my boyfriend and best friend!"

"Are you saying that J.D. is your best friend?"

Grace stepped forward, lifting her hand. "Cody Jennings' personal life is her own business, and we at Under Armour support that. She should be judged on how well she rides, not -"

But I pushed around her, letting all my rage show. "Yes, he's my best friend! Is this bullshit how they think they're going to get rid of me? I know who it was, and you can be damned sure Austin Chambers is just scared I'm going to knock him out of the top ten!"

A microphone was shoved right in my face. I wanted to push it away, but I was limited with only one good arm. The other had my bag still hanging off it.

"Cody, are you saying the rumors are a lie then?"

"Yes! Those men are not gay - and their sexuality ain't none of your business anyway! Nor my sexuality, nor Ty McBride's, and not anyone else in the PBR either. Fuck that. The PBR is about riding bulls, and that's it. We're here to show how long we can hold on, and how good we can spur. You wanna make it about who's sleeping with who? Well, there's a whole lotta guys here who would get divorced real fast if their wives heard about what they do at the bars! But no, you only care about me or anything that, what? Isn't some guy fucking everything that moves?"

"But an openly gay man working in the PBR would be just as groundbreaking as your recent success," a guy in the back called out.

"Openly?" I asked. "Y'all, what the fuck is open about this shit? I'm pretty damned sure you asked and they didn't answer. Sounds to me like that ain't open. I'm also pretty damned sure neither of those guys will make it sound like a bad thing to be gay, cuz itain't!" I was flailing a little too much with my good hand, but it kept me from screaming. "That's the shit you don't get. You ask if someone's gay and they refute it too hard, and now they're fuckin' homophobic and shit? You know we got some LGBTQ fans, right? You know they buy shit from our sponsors, right?"

"And Under Armour supports the queer community with many of our projects and charities," Grace added smoothly.

I just gestured to her. "And that, boys and girls, is called my paycheck. So y'all just go ahead and whine about me. You keep wondering if I'm gonna be tough enough to do this. I don't give a shit about that. But if you think this whole mess is anything but my enemies trying yet another way to chase me off - by hitting the people I'm close to this time - well, you stop and think real hard about that. Funny how it wasn't a problem for the last nine fucking years J.D. was riding bulls, huh? But oh, as soon as he spends time with a woman he has to begay?That makes absolutelyno sense!"

"That's enough," Grace said, grabbing my good bicep and turning me for the door. "We're done here, gentleman. I think Miss Jennings has said her piece." Then she propelled me towards the door.

The hard part was not smiling. I'd nailed that. I was pretty sure I hadn't even made this worse! Nope, I'd just reached down into my boots for all the anger and frustration I'd been pushing into them, and I'd poured it all over the heads of those reporters.

And it had felt so fucking good.

---