"It's bullshit," J.D. said, but stopped when a group of guys spotted him.
"J.D.!" Kaleb called out, making most of the men in the bar look over. "Hey, you finally made it out!"
"And drinking water," J.D. told him, pointing to the pitcher. "Just wanted to make sure my bros are all holding down the fort. What was that shit out there tonight anyway?" Then he looked at Ty. "I'm feeling 'em out."
"Gotcha," Ty said as Jaxon answered from across the room.
"We showed the PBR we're not gonna be pushed around!"
And the place erupted into cheers as the other riders showed their agreement. From a table at the side, someone yelled out my name. Weakly, I lifted a hand, letting him know I'd heard. That made others raise their beers in my direction.
"Someone buy our matador a drink!" a guy yelled over the ruckus.
"Already did!" J.D. shot back.
But this felt wrong. Uncomfortable even. Ducking my head, I did my best to focus on the beer before me, but that didn't work as well as I'd hoped. J.D. simply reached over to clasp my shoulder. The gesture was friendly and nothing more, but the way I looked up? Fuck.
So I pushed to my feet, deciding there was no better time than the present to just get this out there. "Guys!" I bellowed, patting the air to calm them down.
"Speech! Speech!" Jackson begged, but the rest finally quieted up.
"Not a good one," I told them. "Look, all of you risked a lot today for us. Jorge and Isaac will appreciate it, I'm sure. I know I do, but here's the thing."
"Fuck the PBR for screwing with our matadors!" Jaxon, the American one, yelled out.
I chuckled at his enthusiasm, but mostly to hype myself up. "Yeah, but I don't think I'm coming back, guys."
"What?" Ty asked. "Why?"
Yeah, that was the hard part. Right now, I could lay it all out there, but what good would that do? The PBR wanted me gone, and I wasn't about to play the straight man again. I just didn'twantto, but this wasn't exactly the place to pick that fight. There were too many of them and not enough of us. My best bet would be to explain all the rest.
"When the directors of the PBR want someone gone, they stay gone," I told them. "If I push this - and trust me, jumping into the damned arena last night was pushing it - they'll fire me. Not just suspend me for the rest of this season. They'll make sure I can't come back."
"Fuck that!" J.D. snapped.
I lifted a hand, holding him - and all the rest of these guys - off. "Look, Jorge and Isaac aren't suspended. They could come back tomorrow if they wanted, and we all know you need them out there, but they'll need a third. So which one of those guys are the lot of you willing to work with?"
"No," Cody said, crossing her arms and leaning back to glare at me.
"Yes," I told her. "I do not want to see any of you get hurt out there. Especially not you, Cody, and that's all that's happening right now."
"And you're the one who makes the saves," Gustavo pointed out. "You, Tanner, are the crazy fucker who jumps in front of the bull."
"Fucking hits them before they can hit us!" Jackson Cloutier added.
Which made the room murmur in agreement, and while that felt nice, it didn't solve this problem.
"You're not giving Jorge and Isaac enough credit," I told them. "They could train one of those guys up in a few shows."
"Which puts us right at finals," Renato reminded me. "Finals, Tanner. The best bulls. The hardest bucks. The biggest crowds. And you think we want to have some half-trained idiot, one too selfish to even pick up our ropes, let alone check on us when we're hurt, out there getting in the wolf pack's way?"
"I think it's better than having three of them," I countered. "I also think the PBR will drag this out as long as they can."
"They will," Jake said as he walked over from the door. Clearly he'd only just gotten here, but he'd heard at least part of that. "The management knows most of you can't afford to keep going without a payout. They're hoping your sponsors will pressure you to ride by withholding money if you don't. The PBR can afford to play the long game, and a strike? It gets them media attention, which is basically free advertising."
"Not the good kind," Cody said, waving for him to grab a chair with us. "Considering how many people already think we harm the bulls? Crushing their balls to make them buck and bullshit like that." She shook her head. "Not all attention is good attention, Jake."
"Maybe not," he agreed, snagging a chair, then placing it between her and Ty. He didn't sit, though. Instead, he kepttalking to the entire room. "So, convince the PBR this isn't helping them. That'll take what, a month? More? Right, that puts us at finals again."
