"Yeah, I guess."
Which made her turn to face me. "Why? What's going on, Tanner?"
I shifted a little closer, cupping her face with my free hand. "I'm not supposed to be the point, Cody. You are. I'm not something worth fighting for - or throwing rides for. You are. I'm the guy who is supposed to be the sidekick, not the hero."
She just lifted her chin, those pretty blue eyes of hers holding mine. "You're my hero."
"Mm, and you know how to make that weird feeling much easier to deal with."
I was just about to lean in and kiss her when the doors opened. She giggled, then stepped out, towing me behind her with our linked hands. Fuck, this was that girly thing she did that I liked so much. Not better than J.D.'s manly thing, but definitely just as much.
She made me feel out of my depth, like the strongest man in the world, and also so very insufficient. J.D. made me feel like the gentle one, but Cody? She made me want to take care of her in a very different way. It was something primal, this need to be strong so she didn't have to, without being stupid and crushing her in the process.
I loved her. That was all there was to it. Oh, I loved him too, but while they were so damned similar, they were also very different. With Cody, loving her felt like something that puffed me up. With J.D., it was the sort of feeling that let me relax. Maybe that was why these two worked so well together?
Thinking it had me smiling at the floor. Cody shifted back to my side the moment we were away from the elevator doors, and I couldn't miss when she glanced up at me.
"What?" she asked.
"Just feeling like a pretty lucky man right now," I admitted. "Nothing bad, Cody. I swear."
"Good," she said, turning me into the archway which led toward the bar.
There, J.D. was sitting at a booth with Rhaven. Her dark hair was long - and I was pretty sure that shade of black wasn't natural. His was. Where her skin was paler, his was bronzed. And yet, they both wore the same smile. Even better, they were drinking the same beer.
"Hey, Rhaven!" Cody said, letting go of me to slide onto the bench beside her.
That left me to take the space beside J.D. "I think she planned this."
"I did," Rhaven said, flashing me a smile. "Mostly because the last thing I need is someone saying I'm hitting on either of you."
"Because you're trans?" Cody asked.
Rhaven shook her head. "No, because I'm the sponsor and they aren't my clients."
"Ask me again next week," J.D. told her. "And tell your boss that stuffed animal is swaying me hard."
Rhaven laughed. "Oh, she'll like that. Hell, might get you some brownie points with Chance too."
J.D. lifted his hand, calling over a waitress. "So, do we want to know how Donald Merrill took the press questioning him?"
Rhaven blew out a breath. "He tossed out all the corporate lines. The PBR is unaware of any complaints by the riders. Nothing official has been filed. This has been a hard weekend, and the recent tragedy has everyone on edge. You know, the usual bullshit."
"So he's still playing it off," I grumbled as Cody's phone began to buzz in her pocket.
"Shit. I swore I texted my dad already," she muttered. Then she pulled it out, staring at the screen before looking up. "Um, Ty wants to know if he and Renato can check in before they go to the bar to talk to the other riders." Then she glanced at Rhaven, including her in the request.
"It's not like you have to hide this strike from me," Rhaven pointed out. "I made the press happen."
"How?" J.D. asked. Then he grunted, looking back to Cody. "Tell him to come. Make sure he knows she's here."
"Already did," Cody said, then began typing again. "I'm telling them to come."
J.D. asked again, "Rhaven, how exactly did you get the arena, multiple stations, and everything set up so fast? That's the one part I don't understand. Max, our rep, can't even do that."
Rhaven spun her bottle before her. "I caused a bit of a stir in the gaming world. One of those reporters started out in gaming, went into the local - er, for us in Ohio - news, and now she's moved up to CNN. When my boss asked her for a favor, she made it happen. Now, she's going to get an exclusive with Deviant Games before our next release."
"Which one?" I asked.
