Cody grumbled under her breath. "Assholes."
"Yep," J.D. said. "But I wanna come out at Nashville, Tanner."
"What about Cody?" I asked.
He shrugged. "She said she's good with it."
"I am," she promised.
"They'll call you a slut," Renato warned. "Mr. Merrill will try to say it's unbecoming or something. That man is looking for a reason to get rid of you."
"And Deviant loves lawsuits," Rhaven said. "Cody, don't let that stop you."
"Wasn't gonna," she promised. "I also think it sucks that J.D. and Tanner have to lie about this. I mean, sure, I tried. I used the fact that I had a boy's name, and I kept my head down back in Tulsa. I convinced myself I could fly under the radar, and no one would notice me."
"I noticed," Ty said.
"Fuck, did he ever," Renato chuckled. "He also didn't think you were full of it, Cody. He's the one who pointed out that you weren't bragging. You weren't trying to be a spectacle. You were just riding the damned bulls."
"And J.D.'sprovenhe can," she shot back.
"Yep," Renato agreed. "Hell, he's the best the PBR has ever seen."
"And not straight," J.D. said. "Funny that. Only person as good as me?" He pointed at Cody. "The other rider who gets fucked instead of does the fucking."
"Oh, you do the fucking too," I reminded him. "Bit less when your ribs are fucked, but I don't think anyone here assumes you aren't getting some from Cody."
"Shit," Jake mumbled. "I think half the PBR's trying to figure out how this thing with her is working. J.D.'s clearly fawning all over her. She's definitely got you on a leash, man. She's also much too close to Tanner, so I don't think it'll be a big surprise to anyone with half a brain."
"And how much of the PBR does that rule out?" Rhaven asked.
"Enough," Wes said. "Sadly, most of them are the ones in charge. But we riders? We want the wolf pack back. We want Tanner too. We know he takes the risks to keep us whole, and I think most of these men will come to Nashville if they can."
"Why couldn't they?" Rhaven asked next.
"Money," Ty told her.
"Gas, hotel, food..." J.D. twisted his head. "It adds up fast, Rhaven. For a rookie? He won't have the backers to keep him going yet. He's working on what he's managed to save up, hoping for some prize money to buy the next trip."
"It's what I did," Cody told her. "Then I ended up with some friends who helped out."
"And a lot of those guys," Jake said, "don't have those connections yet. They also don't ride like Cody, so they didn't make all the riders in the top ten realize their new competition had shown up. But we're making a pool."
"Give me a ballpark on the cost?" Rhaven asked.
Around the table, everyone fell silent. I could see most of these guys doing math in their heads. Ty was tapping his fingers on his thigh. Renato had his eyes turned up like he was reading invisible numbers. Jake was making little gestures with his hand, and J.D. had his phone pulled out.
"Couple thousand," J.D. said before the others. "I mean, depends on how far they have to drive to get there, but yeah. Could probably make it all work for about a grand if they double up in rooms, aren't going across the country, and so on."
"And how many riders?" Rhaven pressed.
"Thirty-five in the PBR," Cody told her.
Rhaven nodded. "Ok. I want to help, but I'll need some numbers to run past Chance."
"So, should I add your number to my list of people I beg from?" Jake asked.
Rhaven bent to rummage in her pocket. A second later, she passed a business card over to Jake, another to Ty, and one more to Renato.
