Fuck, he had a point. But another voice spoke up. It was Wes. "So what happens ifwepick the winners?"
"How?" I asked.
"Same strike idea," he said. "But we make it clear we're not going to worry about popularity. Our decision will be made by the group, based on who the judges screw over."
"So, Cody and J.D.?" I asked, making sure I was keeping up. "Unless anyone has a problem with supporting a bisexual man? A woman?"
"Shit," Jackson said. "Most of us have supported Cody for a while now."
"So, J.D. being bi bothers you?" Wes pressed.
Jackson scoffed. "Not one bit."
"Me either," Gustavo said.
"Nor me," another guy called out.
Then the rest started adding in their agreement. I kept my eyes on Jaxon, waiting to see what he'd do, and he noticed.Subtly, he shook his head, but he didn't call out. But Wes had basically made the plan. All I had to do was put it into motion.
"So," I said. "Tomorrow, no one rides except those two."
"Won't work," Jackson, the Canadian one, said. "Ty, she'll see us striking and join in as enthusiastically as she did last time."
"Wait," Kaleb begged. "What if we distract her?"
"How?" I asked.
He looked around the room as if hoping for some inspiration. "I dunno. Like tell her she needs to talk to a reporter or something?"
"If enough of us do it," Jackson said, "we can probably make it work. How do we keep J.D. from figuring it out?"
"I got that," Jaxon - the American one this time - said. And he looked over at me. "Trust me, Ty."
I nodded. "I do. You handle him, but just know Cody might be there with you."
"Might work out better," Kaleb said.
"True," Jaxon agreed. "And figure I have shit to say to her too."
"Good." Pulling in a breath, I looked around the room. "So, first off, does anyone have a problem with this?"
"Wait!" Wes said. "Where's Jake? He was handling the fund to make sure we could afford this."
"He had to give Cody a ride," I explained. "I'll explain everything to him later, but we all know he'll be all in again."
Beside me, Renato chuckled. He'd caught how smoothly I'd just covered for them. He was also making it clear he'd noticed, wanted me to know he knew, and all that. And since everyone was watching me, I couldn't even flip him off.
"But we're going to need ideas for Cody," I said.
Jackson tapped at the table. "What about her sponsor? I mean, we can see if she can get us a talk, right? I know that woman's here. Saw her in the stands earlier."
"Rhaven," I said, giving them the name of Cody's Deviant rep. "You can also ask her about Max. He's now independently representing riders. That means he'll handle all your contracts with an unbiased eye. And yeah, Cody, Jake, and J.D. are all signed with him. I'm trying to get in as well, so it's a good distraction."
"Nice," Sonny said. "I'll jump in on that."
And the guys began to toss ideas back and forth. It was easy, getting them to agree to all of this. I hadn't even had to push too hard. Then again, I also hadn't checked to see who was opposed.
So when the conversation paused again, I asked, "Is there anyone who's going to ride anyway?" I asked. "No, I can't stop you, but at least let me know so I can brace for it?"
