"He knows what I meant," Ty assured him.
"I do," J.D. said.
Ty just nodded. "So, big question, J.D. How are you really doing? You've been off for weeks now, but you were a fucking mess in Iowa, so are you honestly good to ride?"
"Doc cleared him," I said.
Ty just shook his head, never looking away from J.D. "We both know you can fool Doc. What I'm asking is if we need to be close to the rail to help you over? Do you need someone to pull your wrap because your ribs are still weak? I'm not trying to stop you, J.D. I'm offering to help."
J.D. flicked his eyes over to me, then back to Ty. "I wouldn't bitch if someone pulled for my rookie."
"Girlfriend," Jake corrected. "Pretty sure that's out there now too, man."
"Yeah, girlfriend," J.D. agreed. Then he leaned his head back, pulled in a deep breath, and pushed it all out with force. "Fuck, but this is harder than I expected."
"And you're doing it," Ty said gently. "You're making it look easy too, but we still got you."
Beside me, Jake was nodding, making it clear he was in full agreement. "My sponsor has this saying, and I'm starting to understand what it means. Teamwork is overpowered."
My head whipped around. "You signed with Deviant?"
"Yep," he agreed, kicking out his leg to show the doll on his chaps.
Where mine and J.D.'s were pink, Jake had the official blue and green color, just like the bullfighters. It worked well with his blue-and-grey riding gear. But I looked over at Ty next.
"Where's yours?"
"Haven't gotten the offer," he admitted.
"Did you sign with Max?" J.D. asked.
"Max?" Ty looked confused. "I'm sponsored by Wrangler, not Tillman."
So I nudged Jake - and hard. "You didn't tell him about Max?"
"Didn't exactly come up," Jake admitted.
"I mean, something was said the other day in the restaurant," Ty said, "but I thought he was…" He paused to shake his head. "He's truly independent now?"
Which had J.D. explaining to Ty all about how Max had started his own business representing the riders and was making sure our deals were good. He'd also made friends in the right places, and Deviant was buying up space like mad.
"Send me Max's number later," Ty told him. "Because yeah, I'm interested."
But Jake tapped me and pointed. "There goes Jackson."
"Oh!" I pushed to the railing just as his gate opened.
The bull came out hard, but when I started yelling encouragement, I wasn't the only one.
"Get your head down!" I barked.
"Spur!" Ty was yelling.
"Keep riding!" J.D. bellowed. "Keep spurring, Jackson!"
And Jake called out, "You got this!"
Together, we all whooped and hollered until the buzzer went off, proving he'd made a full eight. Then, collectively, we held our breath until my rookie's feet were on the ground, his bull was headed the right way, and the arena was clear.
