"Less with J.D. out," Kaleb corrected.
I lifted a hand, giving him that. "Or so. But out of all of us, if only three men eventryto ride? How happy will the fans be?"
"And," Jake said, finally speaking up, "we already know the media will be crawling all over that place. That means it will be in the news how we're boycotting until we get our bullfighters back."
Ah, that was the part I'd been missing. "Ok," I said. "And if we can get the wolf pack back down there?Thenwe can start competing for real. This isn't about scoring or unsafe bulls. We make it about our matadors. Until we have the men back who will keep us safe, we're not going to risk our lives. Who's in?"
Unfortunately, they didn't immediately cheer my idea. Instead, most of these guys looked at each other as if trying to figure out what good this would do. I looked back at Renato,hoping for some backup, but instead it came from across the room.
"You new guys don't get it," Wes said. "Tanner, Jorge, and Isaac aregood. Damned good, and they haven't asked for a thing from us. Hell, Tanner's the one who cut Casey free tonight. We've all taken them for granted, and do you have any idea how much worse that wreck would've been if Tanner hadn't broken the rules to help?"
"But Tanner's gay," Jaxon reminded us.
"Not gay!" I shot back, sick of how he refused to let that go. "Trust me. That fucker stole Cody right out from under my nose. Then, he didn't try to run me off when he should've. And you know why? Because he flat-out told me I'd fuck it up on my own. And I did. He won the girl, which means he's fucking the girl. He. Is. Not. Gay!"
Renato just waved me down. "So what if he is?"
"Huh?" Sonny asked.
So Renato said it again. "What does it fucking matter if Tanner is the gayest of the gay?" He looked at the men muttering over this. "I don't know about any of you, but I'm not going to fuck him. I'm not real worried about that little bullfighter trying to overpower me. What Iamworried about is not having his crazy ass out there to jump in front of the bull so I don't get hit. And if that's how he gets his kicks?"
"Yeah, but..." Jaxon looked from side to side as if seeking support. "He'd be grabbing us."
"He's grabbed us a million times!" Jake yelled, slashing a hand through the air. "So have Jorge and Isaac. They've thrown their bodies over ours, but that was ok because we 'knew' they were straight? It doesn't make it less gay, and it doesn't change a damned thing. They risked their lives to save ours - and they were good at it."
"And I'd rather have a gay man who can do the job than a straight one who can't," Wes drawled.
"Same," I agreed. "Personally, I'm not scared of who someone else fucks."
"Only matters who I have to," Jackson Cloutier said. "Otherwise, it's none of my fucking business. Ty, I'm in. You think Cody will agree?"
Slowly, I nodded. "Yeah. I think that woman is braver than all the rest of us combined. I think she'd gladly throw a ride to prove a point."
"I'm in," Wes said. "I support the wolf pack no matter who they fuck."
Kaleb tapped the table in front of him. "When do we stop, Ty?"
"When we get the real bullfighters back."
The kid bit his lips together and nodded slowly. "Yeah, I mean, that sounds great, but there's one big problem."
"What's that?" Jake asked before I could.
"If we're not riding," Kaleb said, "then we're not getting paid. If we're losing money, how the fuck do we make it to Nashville next? Then Anaheim? Then Vegas? The PBR knows we're all running on a shoestring. They can wait us out."
"So we make a pool," I decided. "We start working together, because clearly doing it the other way hasn't helped any of us."
"So, a union?" Sonny asked.
"Sure," I said. "Our fee is the entry fee. Our benefits come from the group. But if we want to save this fucking sport - and our lives - then we have to at least try! We gotta do something."
"I'm in," Renato said.
That immediately made the rest of the Brazilians agree. Most of them did it in their own language, but to me, that proved their silence hadn't been because they weren't keeping up. No, those guys simply stuck together. Wait. That was it!
"Look at Brazil," I said. "They work as a pack. They help each other, they back each other up, and they throw down for each other. Now, a while back, J.D. said something similar, so why can't we all work together? Make this a bit less about Australia, Brazil, America, Canada, and the other nations who don't have as much representation, and make this about being a fucking PBR bull rider!"
"Yeah!" Jake cheered, setting off everyone else.
