Page 159 of Jump Back On

"Just gonna walk," I promised. "I got this, babe."

Which made his lips curl into one of those sweet little smiles he was so good at. Damn, that man got under my skin. Spending the evening watching bulls with him? It had been nice. Fuck, in truth, it had been the date I'd kinda wanted to have with him. And maybe it wasn't a real date, but to me, it counted.

Now, I just had to make sure my girl knew I hadn't forgotten about her. So, walking slowly, I made my way out of the stands, down to the back, and headed for the area where the riders would all be lining up soon. The closer I got, the thicker the bodies became. Guys were either putting their gear away, dusting off their hats and boots, or clustered up with friends and family as they waited for the re-rides to finish up and the awards ceremony to start.

I was looking around for a flash of pink somewhere, but wasn't having much luck finding it. Instead, someone found me. I heard a few guys say my name in greeting, and nodded to show I'd noticed, but one was a little more emphatic than the others.

"J.D.!" Jake said, falling in at my side. "Didn't expect you to be down here tonight."

"Came to make sure my rookie knows I'm proud of her," I told him, pointedly looking around. "You seen her?"

"She's in the ladies room, adding mascara," he told me. "Dean's with her, so she's not alone."

"Not alone?" Yeah, and now I had questions.

"Ty's got a few of us keeping an eye on her," he explained, gesturing to the side. "Walk with me, J.D.?"

"Why?" I was getting a real hinky vibe from this guy right about now. "And to where?"

"To where no one else is listening," he said. "Look, Ty's got a bunch of us keeping eyes on Cody so Austin won't get the chance to corner her alone again. With you and Tanner up in the stands instead of back here? Makes sense to me."

"Uh-huh," I agreed, keeping pace beside him as we walked away from the crowd of riders. "And the alone thing?"

"Mm..." Jake nodded a few times, looking like he was delaying his answer. Sure enough, once we were out of sight and hearing, he turned to face me. "I heard the rumors."

Well, fuck. This wasn't something I really wanted to deal with right now. I'd come down here for a little happy, and my fucking body hurt too damned much for anything else. Besides, if this guy decided to let his homophobia run free, I was gonna have to punch him one, and I wasn't real sure I could do that.

"Yeah, fuck rumors," I grumbled.

"I was also in your room the night you were in the hospital."

My jaw clenched, and I braced myself a little better. "Yeah?"

"No one slept on the couch, J.D."

"Ain't none of your business what my kink is," I shot back.

Jake actually chuckled at that. "Ok, good point. All I'm saying is that I'm the one who told you about Austin spreading rumors about Tanner."

"Yep. And you said you didn't wanna be in the restrooms with no faggots." I lifted a brow.

He patted the air between us, stepping back to give me just a bit more space. "Look," he said. "J.D., you're one scary motherfucker. In case you forgot, you cut the shit out of Austin's face with a broken bottle. Now, there I was, standing in an elevator with you - the very same weekend - trying to figure out how to get the warning to the bullfighters and not get my ass kicked."

"Uh-huh..." I was real curious to see where this was going.

"And I had no fucking clue what side you were on, so I was feeling you out," he pressed.

"Yeah, but slurring the gays?"

"In a fucking elevator!" Jake tossed up his hands in frustration. "How many guys you hit this year, J.D.? How many you dropped? How many fines have you paid?"

"A few," I admitted.

He just pointed at his chest. "And I didn't want to be the next. I figured you were as fucking bigoted as everyone else who uses their fists first. So yeah, I said some shit to keep you from coming at me. Yeah, I assumed you were as homophobic as everyone else around here. And you know what? I'm fucking sorry, because I'm not."

"And you're tellin' me this now cuz they're calling me gay?" I asked.

"I'm saying this now because the man who is attached to Cody's side isn't the same one I was in the elevator with," he clarified. "J.D., she changed you. I think you're changing her too, but in a good way."

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