"Wait..." Isaac said. Then he cringed. "Nope, never mind."
But Braden could guess where he was going. "How can her other boyfriend be straight if she's trans? Because she's a woman. Not a dude, not a man in a dress, and shit, look at her! She's fucking hot."
"I mean, not gonna say shit about your girl," Jorge told him. "Especially not since you're bigger than my whole team combined."
Which made Chance chuckle. "He's my unofficial bouncer. Rhaven got a little pushback, so I wanted to make sure it doesn't happen again. But here's the thing. If you wear my logo, that makes you a part of my team too." He gestured to Cody to prove his point. "And our motto is that we may be flawed, but we're not alone." He paused to hum thoughtfully. "Well, our latest one is that teamwork is overpowered, but they basically mean the same thing. Mostly that we don't leave you high and dry. No, we bring in the big guns, throw down the money, and use whatever cheat code we need to make sure we fucking win - and this is a fight I really want to win."
"Why?" I asked him.
Which made Chance smile. Not a happy smile, and it certainly wasn't friendly, but this was nothing like J.D.'s cold grin. This was sharper - like a razor.
"Because I'm sick and fucking tired of having this bullshit used to kill people. And that's what it does, Tanner. It starts with a word and ends with an overdose, or a blade, or a bullet. Oh, it's never murder, becausetheydon't pull the trigger, but they set the wheels in motion. And this? I can do something about this, so I am."
I nodded. "Then I'm in."
"Oh thank fuck," Jorge breathed. "We are too, Chance."
"Which means you were right," Max told him. "Now all you have to do is convince the PBR."
Chapter 41
The Deviant teamleft after that. There were proper handshakes all around, all polite-like, and comments about how the company was excited to be working with the bullfighters. Rhaven also made a point of telling Cody how she and Braden would be here all week. Evidently, they had one of the other suites on this floor.
But Max? He stayed.
So did the shirts, because Deviant wanted the guys to wear those tomorrow. I kinda wanted to see Tanner in one. I had a funny feeling he'd look real good in rainbow, but that was beside the point. So when we were finally alone again - well, the whole damned herd of us - I jerked my chin over at Max.
"You gonna tell me how you made this happen yet?"
"Sit!" Tanner said, waving the man toward the still-empty loveseat.
Max headed that way, talking as he relaxed into this fancy-ass living room with the rest of us. "In truth," he said, "a few things aligned the right way. I was trying to make sure both of your sponsors were aware of the changes I was making. That meant calling Rhaven to update Deviant. She was getting some pushback from Donald Merrill and wanted advice. I mentionedsigning the bullfighters so I could work something out for them, she said she had plans there too - "
"And you didn't tell us?" Cody huffed.
Max glanced down, his cherubic smile slipping a bit as he glanced over at the bullfighters. "I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up if it didn't work out."
"But it hasn't worked out yet," Tanner reminded him.
"Naw, but Deviant's willing to play ball," I said. "Babe, that's what Max means. He didn't wanna tell y'all he was going all-out and then them say no. That'd piss off Cody, and Deviant's paying her a lot. Causing a pissing match there?" I shook my head.
"They still want to sign with you too, J.D.," Max pointed out.
I glanced over at Cody. "Don't feel right stealin' my girl's thunder, Max."
She huffed at me. "It's a sponsor, J.D.! You got Tillman for me. Think of this like me getting Deviant for you, except that you could've done it on your own."
"Prolly not." I winked at her. "They want me because I'm all queer and shit."
"Because you're pushing at the right problems," Max corrected. "I can say that because I know at least two other riders they want to sign this week - and hopefully get their logo on before this weekend."
"Oh." Ok, that did sorta change things.
Because if that wasn't just them being nice to me, then I'd be a damned fool to say no. Since most companies had a set budget for their sponsoring shit, I should prolly hop on that train before it left the station. Still, I knew my worth. I was the top rider in the PBR, and a real sweet catch for a company. I was willing to use that for my boyfriend.
"We'll see how it goes tomorrow," I told Max. "They get Tanner back, then yeah. If not, then fuck 'em."
"I can work with that," Max said.
