"You're just repeating them?" Clay taunted.
I shook my head. "Nope. I'm figuring out how to be the man heshould'vebeen. The kind of man who doesn't need to be at the top to hold his head high."
"And yet..." Clay gestured out toward the empty arena. "Don't know how to break it to you, Jake, but you're at the top. Right up there."
"But not the very top," I countered. "This year, I've figured out how to be ok with that."
"Which means you're twice the man Dad is," he said.
"So is that why you wanted to see me?" I asked.
Which made him crack a smile. "Mostly I wanted to know if anyone's riding today or not."
"I'm sure Austin, Derek, and Eli will."
Clay scoffed. "Yeah, because Dad's bribing them."
Ok, that had my complete attention. "What do you mean?"
Slowly, my brother leaned back in his chair. "You didn't know?"
"Oh, I had a feeling there was some kind of tie there," I admitted, "but not what. Do you know?"
"Austin is bleeding sponsors," my brother said. "I'm not sure when it started, but earlier this year."
"Before or after Cody showed up?"
"Before," he assured me. "The first was one of his minor ones. Ariat, I think. Said he wasn't placing high enough for them to keep investing. That's what started it."
"Started what?"
"Austin had a fit, Dad heard, and our old man sympathized. Said companies want the toughest of the men, not necessarily the top-ranking."
I murmured, not agreeing. "I don't think that's true."
"Was back in Dad's day," Clay pointed out. "But that's the thing, Jake. Dad's still living 'back in his day.' He doesn't want to admit things are better now. He loved how he could prove his 'manliness' or something. I don't even know, but he always makes it sound like he's more of a man than we could ever hope to be."
"Yeah," I agreed, getting back to the point. "But you said he's helping Austin? Why him?"
"Because Austin thinks like Dad," Clay explained. "I mean, Dad knows about those guys fucking with Cody. Shit, he's been encouraging them. And since Austin is desperate for sponsors, Dad has a little leverage. All he has to say is he'll put in a good word, and Austin's just about willing to drop and suck Dad off. I can't say his buddies are any better." He grunted out something resembling a laugh. "Manly men, my ass."
"So how is Tanner getting suspended tied up in all of this?" I pressed.
Clay shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think Cody may be right. I mean, what she told the press back in... Was that Iowa? She said they went after Tanner to get to her. I think Tanner was already a target - because real men aren't gay or something - and suspending him happened to hit two birds with one stone."
"But was that Dad's idea, or Austin’s?" I demanded.
"Jake, I don't know," he said. "I wish I did, but he's not going to talk about breaking the rules in front of me. Shit, he's already worried enough about what you know."
"Yeah, and if he knew we talked..." I didn't even have to finish the thought. My brother knew how that would end as well as I did.
"Yep, so get the fuck out of my sound booth," he said. "Now that I know what you're looking for, I'll text you if I hear anything you need to know."
"Owe you, little brother."
He just scoffed. "It's three fucking months!"
"Still counts." And I clapped his shoulder once before heading to the door.
