"So, are you just giving up?"
"She ain't seen the video of the closing yet," J.D. told him. "Was gonna show her tomorrow."
"I wanna know how you're doing, Jake," Tanner said. "Still have a job?"
Clay chuckled. "He does. The production booth made it clear we would all join the strike unless he was given a mere fine."
"Twenty-five grand," Jake bragged.
"For?" Cody asked.
"Taking over the closing ceremony," Clay said smugly. "My brother..." And he paused. "That's still crazy to say. But my brother took all the hard work you riders did today, and turned it against our father."
"And?" Jake said, clearly reminding him he'd left something out.
"And?" Clay asked, not following along.
Jake grunted. "Clay told his father that if he came after me, Clay would tell his mother. It's a real threat."
"I'm going to tell her anyway," Clay said, his words for Jake. "I want her to be ready, but I can't now."
I waved a finger between the two of them. "Just take a picture and show her your new friend. I think she'll figure it out."
Which was when someone else knocked at the door.
"Sit," Tanner told J.D. "I got this."
But it wasn't just Ty on the other side. Renato was with him, and the pair had one of those looks on their faces. The kind that was both determined, like they were about to start shit, and also like they had news to share.
"Good news?" I asked as I passed the flowers over to J.D. for him to set aside, pretty sure I couldn't take more of the bad kind.
"We," Renato said, "are filing an official protest over this."
"He means all the riders," Ty clarified. "And Brazil did that. Except for you three - er, two - and the assholes who started this, it looks like everyone else is willing to file one."
"Nice!" I said, actually starting to hope.
"Yeah," Renato said as his phone buzzed loudly. "Sorry. That's Hannah." And he pulled it out, checking on her.
"He postponed his flight," Ty explained. "Hannah said she's fine, but she could have that baby any minute now."
"Do you know what it is?" I asked.
"Yep," Renato said. "I'm also not telling, but I do know."
"And he's going to namehimTy, right?"
"No." But Renato's brow furrowed. He paused to type, and then slowly looked up just as his phone rang.
"It's for you, Cody," he said, passing it over unanswered.
I swiped, since the thing was unlocked. "This is Cody?"
"Hey!" said a familiar voice on the other end. "It's Hannah! So, Reni said they fucked you over, huh?"
"Suspended," I told her.
"Yeah. Well, I read through the PBR rulebook. You can request a hearing, Cody. Do that. Also, you're allowed to have an attorney assist with that. It'll be at the next venue, which means Anaheim - which happens to be in California."
