Page 7 of Jump Back On

Chapter3

The afternoon was wasting away,but I didn't give one single damn. Sitting next to the cheap table in my suite, I could see into the bedroom. There, Cody lay sprawled in the bed. Her golden hair was pushed out in every direction. Her little hands were pulled up by her chest. Her tiny body barely made a lump under the blankets, but damn, was she beautiful.

Taking another sip of the pineapple-strawberry thing I'd found in our mini-fridge, I felt a smile tugging at my lips. Somehow, that girl had that effect on me. The only thing wrong with this morning - late as it was for her - were the bruises.

The tank and itty-bitty shorts she wore to sleep in didn't do much to hide them. She tried to cover the shit on her face with makeup, but it wasn't enough. I still knew they were there, and I was damned well gonna pamper her so long as she was hurtin'.

I'd also been smoking her out. Well, vaping. A little cannabis oil took away the worst of the pain. That was one thing I knew for a fact. Plus, it wasn't as likely to make us into an addict. Sure, Doc would've given her pills for the pain, but fuck that. I'd much rather she had a bad case of the munchies.

So I'd convinced her to take a few too many pulls on my vape last night. That had gotten her to eat like a fucking man. Wings, a burger, and the biggest salad I could order from room service after hours. She'd downed it all, and I was trying to convince myself all of it would make her heal up a little faster.

I tilted the bottle for another drink, wincing at how sweet this shit was, but Cody liked it. Evidently when I'd told my rep, Max, we'd be getting a suite in Des Moines, he'd told her newest sponsors. Mike's Hard Lemonade had filled the fridge and said they'd keep it packed. Under Armour had sent up an entire collection of both men's and women's apparel.

I was pretty sure they wouldn't mind me signing with them as well - hence the men's shit - but I wasn't about to steal my girl's thunder. Nope, she'd made her case. She'd shown those two companies she was the real deal - and not about to give up. And after they heard about what had happened? They basically gave my girl anything she wanted.

Because Cody Lane Jennings was about to change this entire fucking sport.

Maybe most of these assholes didn't know that yet. Maybe a lot of people still tried to say she was just a little PR stunt or some other bullshit. Didn't matter none, because Cody had learned to spur. That girl rode as clean as Ty McBride, could keep herself in the top ten as easily as Jake Cunningham, and she was starting to get wild like the best rider in the whole damned Professional Bull Riders organization: me.

I also knew that in a few more months, she'd be showing me up. I kept trying to tell people that, but they assumed it was my dick talking. It wasn't. Nope, this girl was good. Damned good. The kind of good that made legends and set records. She was the kind of good that blew my fucking mind, and it would've been just as true if she were a man.

She wasn't, and that was the whole problem. Worse, she was beautiful. This woman, lying in my bed like a fucking angel come to earth, was prettier than the fucking models who passed out our buckles at the awards ceremonies. She was blonde, fit, curvaceous in all the right ways, and had the kind of face a man could stare at for hours. Her pretty blue eyes were my weakness, but so were those lips of hers. They were the kind that should fucking well taste like strawberries.

A little gasp made me check her face again. Right on cue, Cody rolled onto her back and murmured. Oh, that was a sweet little sound. Soft, like she felt nice and safe right here. Gentle, as if she wasn't the toughest person I knew. A moment later, she stretched, still keeping her eyes closed, and then her mouth opened in one hell of a yawn.

Setting the bottle down on the table, I pushed to my bare feet and headed into the bedroom part of this place we were calling home for the next few days. She must've heard me, because her head turned my way and those blue eyes of hers appeared. A smile followed right after.

"Morning, J.D.," she mumbled.

"Morning, beautiful," I replied softly, easing myself down onto the edge of the bed beside her. "How you feeling?"

"Dunno yet." Her grumbly voice was cute. It wasn't rough, but it was a little deeper than normal, and I liked it.

"Need a vape or an Advil?" I asked.

"Advil," she decided. "And breakfast. I want pancakes."

"Can do," I promised.

I headed back into the "living room" part and grabbed the room phone so I could call to place her order. The hit on my vape I'd taken earlier meant I could definitely eat too, so I decided to double the amount of food, but while I was working on that, Cody got up and pranced her barely clothed ass across the bedroom to the bathroom.

Fuck, her legs. Sadly, not in a good way. I could see marks on her that clearly matched a boot. On her neck was one that even had the imprint of different fingers from a punch. She'd been hit, and hithard. Worse, I kept wondering how bad this would've been if Tanner hadn't gotten there when he did.

Austin Chambers wanted her gone. I was starting to think he didn't care if that meant dead. His cronies were more than willing to help. Lately, it felt like the ranks had been splitting. Some of these guys were rooting for her; others were trying to chase her off. Fucked-up part was, I didn't know who was who yet.

Well, besides those four dicks who'd just earned themselves a place on my shit list. And yeah, I'd already had Max secure me a lawyer for the mess I planned to make. Funny how having a few million made handling shit a lot easier. Still, if they hurt her again, I wasn't about to stop with hurting them back.

Naw, I was gonna kill 'em.

No one fucked with my rookie - and Cody was exactly that. She was new to a whole lot more than bull riding. We boys hadn't exactly been good to her in the past much, either. So, if she needed a little how-to on dating, riding, or even getting in shit, I was damned well gonna teach her all I knew. And if I was lucky, she might even teach me a few things back.

Like how to fall in love.

Because fuck, this feeling she gave me? I wasn't real sure what it was, but it lived right in the middle of my chest. It pounded with the beat of my heart. It made me feel real dumb sometimes, and like the king of the world at others. It also flared up every single time my eyes landed on her - or him.

She and Tanner were one of those cute couples who looked like they belonged together. His strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes, her blonde and blue. His Midwestern good looks and her Southern beauty. Side by side, they were the kind who'd have some damned good-lookin' kids. Even better, they were both willing to be mine - and each other's.

I still wasn't sure how the fuck I'd lucked out like this.

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