"I'm so in," I told him.
"You need to read the contract first," he warned. "In order to make this work, I'll get a percentage of your sponsorships."
"Don't care, trust you, and I'm in!" I said, feeling even better about this. "Then you'll handle everything for me? Oh, and you know J.D.'s in too, right?"
"I'm actually signing him first," he admitted. "No offense, Cody, but I owe him that."
"But I get to be second," I told him. "Congratulations, Max. Ok, so if I'm covered for all of this, is it ok if I just talk to Rhaven this weekend and give you a little peace and quiet?"
"Sure, but I'll still be here if you need me," he said. "And don't tell J.D. - I was going to call him and let him know myself."
"Ok, I can work with that," I assured him.
"And keep me informed about this mess you bull riders are making. I want to stay ahead of this. J.D. plans to be back in Nashville, so I need to make sure he's covered as well."
"Gotcha," I assured him, and then I got off the phone.
Not surprisingly, Tanner had replied to me while I'd been talking, but I didn't see either him or J.D. back here yet. Granted, the riders were all gathered up in clumps, clearly having no intention of heading up to watch Eli get his award. And that many bodies? They made it impossible to see through.
But as I was looking around, I spotted Jake over at the side - watching me.
"What?" I mouthed at him.
He simply smiled, then pushed off his panel and headed toward me. "You coming to the bar tonight?" he asked when he was close enough.
I shook my head. "No. J.D. can't drink, so Tanner and I have been hanging out with him in the evenings. Trust me, it's better than risking him ordering up something he shouldn't have."
"Bullshit," Jake said just as my phone vibrated in my hand.
I looked down to see this message was from J.D.
J.D.:
I'm at your gear. You're not. You'd best not be alone back here.
Cody:
With Jake. I had to call Max and didn't want everyone listening in.
J.D.:
well get back over here, because Ty's filling me in on shit.
I grunted at that, which made Jake give me a confused look. "Ty's telling J.D. what went down," I explained, tipping my head towards where my gear was. "Want to come help me stay out of trouble?"
"Nope," Jake said, "but I do want to talk to J.D., so I'll go with you."
I stuck my tongue out at him as we moved that way. "Corrupting me now?"
"Shit," he said around a laugh. "As if that's possible, Cody. J.D. beat me to it."
"What did I beat you to?" J.D. asked, clearly catching the last bit.
"Corrupting her," Jake said. "And you should come to the bar tonight. If it makes you feel better, I'll have a tea so you're not the only sober fucker there."
But J.D. began to smile. "I'm already high, Jake. But yeah, I think we can do that."
"We can?" I asked.
