"Sponsors," I said. "If they want you to stand beside a booth and support their padding, or shoes? It means a paycheck, right?"
"True that," Jorge agreed. "And I could really use one."
"You two could come back!" Tanner insisted. "Take Peter. He's not that bad."
"He's too slow," Isaac grumbled. "He also knows it. Hell, with his bum knee, there's no way we could - "
"Cody!" Max called, interrupting. "Oh, and this placeisnice!"
But he wasn't alone. I stood to greet him, and caught a flash of black by the entrance. Then something big. It took me asecond to realize that was Rhaven and another guy, and behind them came that redhead I'd only met once.
Jumping to my feet, I did a doubletake, because yep, that was Rhaven, Braden, and the owner of Deviant Games, Chance Hunter.
"Mr. Hunter," I breathed. "I... Thank you for the room, sir."
He smiled at me as he made his way over. "Just Chance." Then he turned to look at the three bullfighters sitting on the couches. "Gentlemen, I can only assume you're the bullfighters."
"That's Jorge," Tanner said. "The other is Isaac."
"And you," Chance told him, "are Tanner Burns. I only have one question. Do your teammates know why you're suspended?"
"Do you?" Jorge shot back, refusing to stand. "Because if you've got a problem with it - "
"They know," Tanner broke in.
Which made Chance smile. "Perfect." And he perched himself on the arm of the couch closest to me. "Max? I think you have paperwork you need them to sign?"
"Yep," Max said, dropping his briefcase on the kitchen counter. "I have to get J.D. and Cody first."
"I'm not in a rush," Chance assured him, but he did make a gesture toward Braden. "I also hear congratulations are in order, Max. Sounds like you've jumped right in the middle of the PBR's mess."
"Yes, sir," Max said. "I have. These people might not be like your gamers - "
"Games are all virtual," Braden said, finally speaking up. "This sport is real pain."
"Exactly," Chance said. "And I heard there's a big problem. I want to stick my nose in it." Then he chuckled. "But paperwork first."
Chapter 40
I feltlike my head was whipping back and forth as I tried to keep up. Max was over at the side, rummaging through papers. Cody was watching him. J.D. was by the door, talking to Rhaven. That big guy, Braden? He headed to the table and set a bag on the top. A smaller one went beside it.
For a moment, I considered suggesting he should call Danny, the teenage bellhop, to take his stuff to his room. Granted, I didn't even know if they were staying in this hotel. But Chance Hunter? That man was powerful.
First, because I knew he was rich. Secondly? Well, he oozed authority in a way I wasn't used to. This wasn't like Donald Merrill's version made of bluster and yelling. Hell, Chance wasn't even wearing a suit and he still made me want to grovel a bit. Only the knowing smiles on Rhaven and Braden's faces kept me from trying.
Last weekend, Rhaven had convinced me she was cool. Chill, even. And the way she'd befriended Cody wasn't what I'd expected from a rep, but Max wasn't any better. Granted, I had a feeling that had more to do with Cody and J.D. than Max and Rhaven.
When Max finally got all of his papers sorted, he called J.D. over to the counter he was at. Passing over a pen from the inside pocket of his suit, he tapped places, and J.D. started scrawling. A page was flipped, then they repeated that until J.D. finally passed back the pen.
"Cody?" Max said.
Which made her head over there. J.D. flashed her a smile, then claimed a spot on the couch right beside Chance. That would keep the impressively sexy man from hovering over Cody, which was a pretty smooth move. Yet when Chance chuckled softly, I realized he knew it too.
Then Max brought three sets of paperwork over and passed them to me, Jorge, and Isaac. From that inside pocket, he pulled out more pens and handed them to each of us. "If you want to read over it, I understand," he said.
"Or we can just sign," I told him. "You haven't screwed J.D. or Cody, and I have a feeling you won't screw us."
"Would make me bad at my job," Max agreed. "And I havenointention of being bad. You'll need to initial the spaces beside the numbers. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them."
