"Or are you biased because he just said you're dating him?" the woman from CW asked.
Ty huffed at that, then moved to J.D.'s other side so he could reply. "She's not wrong. It's also notjustJ.D. getting screwed on the scores. They've been giving Cody crap for weeks now. She's been trying to ride better - and all of us have seen it-"
"It's true," Jackson said, piping up. "And her best rides get the lowest scores! We all think they're trying to chase her off for being a woman. Seems the 'toughest sport on dirt' is supposed to be something only men can handle, but Cody's agoodrider."
"And J.D.'s bi," Wes said. "He stops hiding it and his scores immediately drop?"
"Never mind the breakdown," I told the reporters, taking over again. "You go look at the scores of every other rider in the seventies. The bull score and the rider scores are always balanced unless it's a buck-off. Then, the rider gets nothing but the bull gets something. But in the seventies, it's a shared score! The bull has to buck hard, and the rider has to ride harder. If the bull gives us nothing to work with, we can't make the points up. But! If the bull gets a score so high it's pushing at the record for best bull score ever? How the hell did J.D. not only stay on, spur that hard, not foul himself, and come out with a paltry twenty-three and change?"
"And if the judging isn't fair," Wes said, his voice calm but confident, "then doesn't that mean there's a bigger story all of you are missing? The PBR is picking the winners. Bull riding hasbecome a popularity contest - or maybe a beauty pageant. Who's the manliest of the men? That's who'll win."
"Shit..." Ty breathed, but he was looking back and over.
But as he stepped back, J.D. decided he was done letting people talk for him. "Now, I know I got hurt and took a long break off. I get that, and sure, I coulda ridden better. All of those are fair complaints against that ride. But the score? Naw. That's the sort of score they give someone with no control. I made that bullfly!I had him that whole ride, and I didn't even get half the available points? Naw, this is bullshit."
"And what kind of sport can be trusted or respected if it's all about who the judges like most? Does this mean someone's getting paid off to rank higher? If not, how long until that happens?" I demanded, stabbing at the air with my points. "How corrupt has the PBR become when the top bull rider in the world drops down to..."
"Twenty-ninth," J.D. supplied.
Which made me forget all about my rant and turn to face him. "What?!"
He nodded slowly. "Yep. Only ones lower than me got bucked off."
"Did you announce your sexuality before the scoring?" ESPN asked.
J.D. gave the man an incredulous look. "Ikissedmyboyfriendat the end of the opening ceremony. All them judges were down there in the bullpen with a good view of it. The directors and AV guys are up at the top of the arena with the announcer. They all had a real good view of me shoving my tongue down that pretty boy's throat."
"Graphic," Jackson mumbled.
"Yeah, and makes it damned clear I ain't ashamed of it," J.D. said, glaring at the cameras. "I've also gotten enough shit today because of it, but here's the thing. I'm not here for y'all to likeme. I didn't come to the PBR to make friends and get popular. I'm here to ride the bulls and make some money. For nine years now, I've made it real clear I can do just that regardless of who's in my bed - or who I'm tryin' to get there."
"First," I said, looking right at CBS's reporter, "they tried to take away our bullfighters. Tanner was suspended because of a rumor about his personal life. Not that he'd done anything against the PBR's rules for behavior in or out of the arena. Nope, they used that vague 'conduct unbecoming' clause of our contracts to get rid of him - and a mandiedbecause of it."
"Casey Davis," the woman from CW said, proving she knew that. "Was Tanner's assistance the reason he came back tonight?"
"Nope," I said. "They were going to pretend like that had never happened. Didn't you hear the crap in the opening ceremony? They made it sound like those three took a break because of the new sponsor. Instead, they camebackbecause Deviant Games only wanted to sponsor those three. They are the best, after all."
"True that!" Jackson agreed enthusiastically.
"Now J.D. gets a nonsensical score right after he comes out? Tell me that's a coincidence! Explain to me how that ride he just had was so bad to score worse than my mediocre one? The only thing those have in common is theirpersonallives, and what any of us do in our free time should not affect our scores! This isn't a popularity contest - or is it?"
"And we're done risking everything," Jackson said, pushing around me, "for a sport that isn't fair. We're here to ride bulls and win awards based on being better than the others. Hell, better than last time works too! This is a competition of power and agility over the sheer strength of the bull, but if the judges are more worried about our sex lives than our riding ability, what's the point of it all?"
"No one should care if J.D. is gay, bi, or straight," Wes said. "That part isn't important. It's alsono one's businessbut his."
"So you go ask them," I said. "Ask the judges what J.D. did wrong on his ride. Ask them where he lost points, and make them show you the video. Ask them the same for any other rider, and see how their answers compare."
"And if they don't," J.D. said, "then you decide if you're gonna play their game or ours, because bull riders aren't here to be nice. We're here to win."
Then he pressed a hand into the middle of my back and turned me for the chutes. We were done. Tonight's ordeal was over, so all we had to do was collect our stuff, strip down, and wait for Tanner. But as we climbed up the stairs, Ty called out my name, stopping me.
"Cody!" He stood in the middle of the alley. "You still going to the bar?"
"Yeah," I said. "I think I need a drink or five."
"Then I'm buying," Ty promised. "And J.D.? It was a good ride."
"Fuck yeah, it was," he agreed.
