"Because," Ty said, watching the arena as the bullfighters got the bull to head out, "if the judges are going to rig the game, then we riders are too."
"Wait, what?"
But Ty leaned over his chute and nodded. Just like with Jake's, his bull came out alone, wearing nothing but Ty's rope. And that was when my eyes jumped over to the scoreboard. This time, I looked atwhohad earned those handful of scores I'd seen earlier.
J.D., Derek, and me.
"Yeah," I said. "Someone has some serious explaining to do."
Chapter 74
And just like that,the night's event was done. Ty's bull was the last one; since no one had ridden, so no one had earned a re-ride. Even better, Austin had been bucked off, so he wasn't in the running, but Derek? Yeah, his name was right at the top.
"His first win," I grumbled.
Jake wrapped his arm around my shoulder and turned me for the stairs. "No, but the other was a fluke," he assured me.
Which was when Jackson hurried up, clutching my hat. "Cody!" he called, holding it up so I could see it.
I paused, waiting until he got to me, and took my hat. "Didyou knowabout this?"
And the smirk that took over his face? Yeah, it said more than enough. "Cody, everyone did but you and J.D."
"Nope," Ty said, gesturing for us to keep going. "I told J.D. back in Sports Med."
"What the actual fuck, guys?" I asked, not sure if I was impressed or pissed.
"Well," Ty said, "with him hurt, I wasn't sure if he was riding. Worked out, though. He got Jaxon and Kaleb to run interference for a bit, saying he was worried about Austin."
I groaned, aware I'd been seriously outplayed.
"And Kaleb waited until the last minute to get you up there," Jackson bragged. "That way you wouldn't see any bulls go out without a rider."
"Which was well-played," Jake told him. "Seriously. She didn't notice a thing."
Which was when we reached the warm-up area. Everywhere I looked, men were stripping off their gear and packing it up. And there, sitting on the ground with his legs kicked out in front of him was J.D., grinning like some demented Cheshire Cat.
"You came in second, rookie!"
I grunted. "Doesn't count."
"Fucking well does," Wes said. "If they want to discriminate against us, then we'll fucking stack the deck."
"Like your white ass knows discrimination," J.D. taunted.
"Yeah," Wes said, backing down quickly. "Right. Good point."
"But he's not wrong," J.D. said. "Cody, they've been fucking you over for a while now, so it's about time - " And he paused, flicking a finger behind me.
As one, my group turned to see what had stopped him. Storming our way was Donald Merrill. The president of the PBR had the same starched white shirt as all officials, and his straw hat wasn't the cheap kind. He looked every inch the wealthy cowboy, and the glare on his face made it clear this wasn't going to be a friendly chat.
"What the fuck was that?" he roared as soon as he was close enough. "I want to know whose idea it was to stop riding!"
"Oh, that was me," Jake said, stepping toward him with his chin up. "Why, you got a problem with it?"
"Well, Jake, you've just earned yourself a ten-thousand-dollar fine for violating the sportsmanship clause of your contract."
I felt my heart stall. Shit. They couldn't do that, could they?
