"Naw, don't do that," J.D. said, reaching up to rub my shoulders. "It means she outrode me. And y'all? She did."
"And your scores were fucked!" Wes snapped.
J.D. lifted a brow. "You're real pissed about it, bro."
Wes's mouth snapped shut. "Fuck."
"What'd we miss?" Sonny asked.
Wes pushed out a heavy breath. "Guys?" Then he pulled one in, straightened his shoulders, and turned to face the rest of the men in here. "I'm married."
"What?" Kaleb asked hurrying over. "So that means you finally popped that cherry? When?"
"Two years ago," Wes said. "Well, almost. And um..." He shoved a hand over his mouth. "His name's Wyatt."
From the back of the room, someone tittered. "I won!"
I looked to find Gustavo with his hands up in celebration. I wasn't the only one, and once he realized everyone was looking, he eased his hands back down.
"What?" he asked the stunned looks. "Statistically speaking, there should be at least three men here who aren't straight. Anyone else wanna come out? Will earn me an extra five hundred and I'll split it with you."
"Fuck off," Renato grumbled, proving who'd lost.
"I like men?" I offered.
"Yeah, and men like you," Djalu said, lifting an ice pack off the side of his face. "So, does this mean we get to see your pretty version again? I'm rooting for lipstick."
"Shit," I breathed. "I'm going on the bullpen."
"Rookie," J.D. told me, "you just won. Means you get to make a whole damned speech."
Shit. I did. I also had to make it clear this wasn'tmywin. It was all of ours. I should probably mention something about teamwork being overpowered, and saying Deviant would earn me some bonus cash. But I had to do one thing first.
"Ok, where's the bathroom?" I asked. "I need a mirror."
J.D. pointed. "Right across the hall. Means you won't even need an escort."
So I dropped down beside my bag and started rummaging. Shelby had made up a makeup bag for me. I didn't use it often, but tonight was going to be the night. I wanted to make sure I was memorable, because what I was going to say? This was going to ruffle a whole lot of feathers.
Mascara, powder, a little concealer for the stress circles I probably had, and I picked a pinkish gloss to finish the look. With those in my hand, I left everything else behind and hurried across the hall to the pair of doors. Finding the one with the skirt, I walked in, not surprised to find it empty.
That was the thing about being the only woman around here. Sure, there were other women involved with the PBR, but they were neverhere, where the riders were. They were in the offices, or ticket booths, or even with the livestock because they'd brought horses. But me? I was the outlier.
And tonight I wanted to use that. Being the only female bull rider was going to make people pay attention. When I said this was still a part of our strike? I hoped they'd take it to heart. But I couldn't say "who we fucked." That was a bit too vulgar for the kids in the audience.
I didn't want to soften my words too much, though. So, while I hid the blemishes on my face and started working on some mascara, I tried to come up with the best way to make this hit just right.
My goal was to call out the unfair judging. I would take a page from Ty for that and point out how low J.D.'s scores had been after he'd kissed his boyfriend. I needed to make it clear that none of us wanted a free ride. The point of riding bulls was the challenge, and the pride came with actuallyearningour win, and I hadn't earned this one.
I also needed to make it clear I was here to represent all the bull riders. Not just the women or the minorities. Every man who held the same values, maybe? Good, honest people? Yeah, I liked people.
I'd just finished the top lashes on my second eye and was about to do the lower ones when the bathroom door creaked softly. I shifted so I could use the mirror to see who was coming in, but the angled hall made that impossible. Still, the sounds of the cowboys outside grew louder.
And sounded pissed.
Then the door thumped closed and someone took a step. A big, heavy one. Jerking upright, I spun to face the entrance justas Austin came around the corner, and the look on his face? It made my blood run cold.
"I warned you," he said, coming closer.
