Page 126 of Jump Back On

Chapter45

Grace towed me inside,but it took a second for my eyes to adjust. When they did, I saw the guys against the far wall where J.D. had found a place to sit. They were all looking right at us. Grace just patted my back gently as if nudging me that way.

"You did good, Cody," she said.

So I canted my head, inviting her to join us. "I think this is far from over," I said as I reached the guys.

"Prolly," my father agreed. "So, what did you manage to say?"

"Oh, she was good," Grace assured him. "I think Cody just made an effective argument that will save their careers. It goes like this: how is spending time with a woman a sign of being gay?"

"She's not wrong," J.D. teased.

"I also made sure to point out how Austin was willing to beat me up, that you two have been the ones helping me, and that's why this is happening."

"Something about the other threats not scaring her off so now they're going after her friends," Grace clarified. "She made a point that these two are friends, and that there should be nothing wrong with men having friends." Then she murmured. "And her best point? Cody made it very clear the sponsors often have LGBTQ consumers, so homophobia is a good way to get unsponsored - basically."

"That's my girl," Dad said. "It's true, but it also makes it real easy to not need to be against anything either."

"Kinda what I was thinking," I admitted. "But I gotta check in. They're all going to assume I'm not riding today, and I need to make sure I can get a bull."

"You got your phone?" J.D. asked me.

I gave him a dirty look. "Uh, yeah. Of course."

"Just in case there's any problems."

I nodded. "And Daddy, you take care of him. I'll let you know when it's close, ok?"

"You get that arm wrapped, Cody," he ordered.

"Kinda have to," I assured him. "Otherwise I won't be waving. Grace..." I clasped her upper arm. "Thank you."

"I'm all-in on this, Cody," she assured me. "It's a little personal."

Then I smiled at Max. "Keep J.D. from being stupid?"

"Haven't figured out how to do that yet," Max said. "How about I just keep him successful, hm? And you too, Cody. Go check in. We got this."

I lifted my hand and headed up the hall towards that area. Tanner was collecting his things, clearly going the other way. I was pretty sure the rest of that motley mess of people were headed for the stands. It'd be a long wait, but they seemed the type that would make the most of it.

I kinda wanted to give Tanner a kiss, but I was overly aware of my father standing there. And Max, and Grace. Yeah, that was just weird, so I kept walking. I wanted to give J.D. a kiss too, but I just couldn't. It wasn't fair, and it wasn't right, but this was the way it was. I supposed it was the price I was paying for this amazing relationship and riding in the PBR.

Unfortunately, my delay with the press meant the line to check in had already grown a bit. I found a spot at the back and waited. Slowly, the line shuffled forward. A few more guys showed up and got in line behind me. It looked like most of us were still here, even if the pack was a little thinner than normal. Then again, J.D. probably wasn't the only one to scratch because of an injury.

I shuffled up a little more, then dropped my bag. My arm was getting sore, and I didn't really wanna fuck it up before riding. Yet the sound of the bag hitting the floor was just a bit too loud, making people look.

One of them was Austin. "Oh, you came back?" he called over to me.

I flipped him off with my good hand. "I got bulls to ride, dumbass."

"How'd you like the welcoming crew, Cody?" he tried next. "Heard they might have some questions for you."

"They fucking asked me about gay riders!" Djalu said.

Austin just laughed. "Because Cody's boyfriend's taking it up the ass! She can't even hook up with a gay man!"

"Fuck off!" Jake snapped from his place near the front of the line. "We don't give a shit, Austin."

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