"Brae?" Rhaven asked. "Try de-escalating, hm?"
So Braden stepped back. "Not gonna tolerate this man disrespecting my woman, Rhave. Figured he'd get that, but clearly not. Figured it was one of those family values he says the PBR's all about."
"Notmyfamily," Mr. Merrill grumbled. Then he looked at the riders. "Donotthink you can push me around just because they can. Takes millions to get that right." And he turned, storming out the way he'd stormed in. "And you will all ride!"
"Yep," J.D. said. "We will. Don't mean you're gonna like it."
"Shit," Wes said when the man was far enough away. "Starting to think he won't like anything we do."
"Well, someone dying got him the media attention he wanted," Sonny pointed out. "Fuck. Guys, this is not the gig I signed up for. I flew halfway around the world for the same bullshit I could get at home?"
"Which," I said, stepping forward so they could all see me, "is why we have to fix this. Don't you see? This? It'soursport. We're the ones who worked to get here. We're the ones who grew up daydreaming about being handed that gold buckle. Mr. Merrill and the men of his generation? They were still riding in the fucking rodeo!"
"And this?" Ty said, heading my way. "This ain't the rodeo. We don't rope the cattle, and we sure as shit don't chase cans."
"We ride the damned bulls!" Jake called out. "Today, we're going to ride themourway!"
Around the room, at least thirty voices all roared their approval. Yeah, we were doing this, and maybe Mr. Merrill hadthought he could threaten us enough to make us fall in line, but he'd forgotten one thing.
Bull riders didn't get scared. We took our hits, ate some dirt, andalwaysgot back up. It was the only way to win.
Chapter 80
When I gotto the arena, Cletus had a surprise waiting. While the man wasn't a bullfighter, he was technically a part of our team. The entertainment part, but in the years I'd been working for the PBR, he'd always been a good guy, so when he passed over a trio of headsets, I was confused.
"What are we supposed to do with these?" I asked.
Isaac chuckled, clearly already knowing about this. "We get a direct line to the crowd, Tanner."
"Uh-huh. And half of what we say out there will get us in shit."
"Press to talk," Cletus assured me. "The sound guy also has the ability to cut it off. However, if you have thoughts about a ride? Or maybe a score? You now have the ability to tell the people who really matter."
"The fans," Jorge said with a little smirk. "Yeah, when he brought this up, I told him to do it. We'll have to tape on the ear pieces, but they shouldn't get in our way. Also means we can explain to them what we do, how bullfighting works, and why the riders need us."
"And," Isaac said, "you're going to be the front man for us. Make them love you, Tanner. Get them on your side, and the fans will make sure the PBR can't touch you."
"Ok," I agreed. "I'm in."
"Also..." Isaac said, looking over at Cletus. "This is not officially out there yet, but Wes Gilbert?"
"I know Wes," I assured him.
"Hishusbandis here tonight." Isaac grinned. "Little pretty guy too."
"Wait..." I said.
"Yes, a man. A nurse," Jorge said. "Although I'm not sure if Isaac remembers that part. But Wyatt's his name, and he figured out a way for the riders to get around Merrill's rule about being fined for not riding."
Ok, that sounded good, but also defeated what they were doing. "How?"
"Climb on, come out of the chute, and jump off," Isaac said. "Bail, basically. Ty wanted to make sure we could handle that many men bailing in a row."
"We got this," I assured them.
"Pretty much what we said," Jorge agreed. "Just wanted to keep you in the loop. Now, let's do this!"
The guys showed me how to secure the earpiece, and where to put the button to transmit. It was a little box that fit on my waistband. Nice, simple, and wouldn't cause me any problems. But these things? They meant the opening ceremony went a little different than normal.
