I grunted under my breath, knowing he was right. "Which means we're still riding."
"Withthem," he said, flicking a finger out to where the new bullfighters were standing together over by the bullpen. "And there's no way for Jorge and Isaac to get here tonight, I bet."
"Nope," I agreed. "Pretty sure the PBR won't call them back, either. That would be an admission of guilt. Considering they've been working hard to avoid talking about why the bullfighters changed mid-season? I wouldn't be holding my breath for the wolf pack to come back."
"Well, shit," Renato said. "And I promised Hannah I'd be careful."
I nodded in understanding, and for a moment, silence fell between us. Considering the entire arena was still a bit too still, it wasn't hard to hear the guys around us. Most voices were soft, little more than grumbling like Renato and I'd been doing.
But one stood out. "He wasn't good enough to be here. Fuck! I told y'all this would happen. I mean, what did they expect they'd get when they try to put everything on easy mode. People get hurt! That bitch fucked everything up, just like I said she would!"
My head whipped over, and for all the people to be saying that? It had to be Austin. The guy was supposed to be Casey's friend. They'd chummed around together!
"What?!" I snapped, pushing to my feet.
"Ty..." Renato warned.
But my attention was locked on Austin. "Say that again," I dared him. "Go ahead, asshole. Let everyone know what kind of a dick you really are. Casey was supposed to be your friend! You should be worried about him, not Cody."
"He knew the risks," Austin said instead, turning away like he wanted to ignore me. "We all do."
Yeah, fuck that. Pushing myself away from the railing I'd been using to hold me up, I was moving before my brain kicked in. The other riders could see something in my expression. Men started shifting out of my way. People turned to watch. The chatter back here dimmed enough that Austin looked back in time to see me storming at him.
He braced.
I didn't slow down. My hands hit him on both shoulders, shoving that prick back. Yeah, and I hit him hard enough he spilled onto his ass, so I braced up before him.
"This?" I growled, stabbing a finger out at the dirt. "It'syourfault, you piece of shit."
"Oh, fuck off, Ty," he snapped. "You can't be pissed because I'm a realist. This is the most dangerous sport on dirt. It's notsupposedto be easy."
Thishad nothing to do with him being "a realist," whatever he meant by that. It wasn't about how easy or hard things were. It was about whathe'ddone.
And yeah, I was pissed. I was pissed that my friends were the ones suffering. I was pissed that the best bull rider in a generation was getting shit she didn't deserve. I was fuckingpissedthat we were all getting hurt and too many careers had already been ended because of this asshole's bullshit! Hell, I was pissed that the man he'd called a friend was likely dead.
Lifting a hand, I curled a finger, daring him to get up. "You're the one who chased off our bullfighters, Austin.You'rethe reason we're all getting hurt. You're why Casey's probably dead, and why? Because you care who someone else is fucking? Because you're scared of a girl beating you? You are risking our lives for this bullshit! Well, you know what? Cody still rides better than you. She will always ride better than you, and the only thing we get for your little-dick issues isthem!" Again, I pointed at the arena. "And they aren't saving us!"
But at the side, I noticed movement. It made me look over, realizing one of the chute cameras had just turned to focus on me. Fuck. I'd wanted to make a scene, but I hadn't expected this kind of publicity!
Austin jumped to his feet before I could walk off. When he glared at me, I did some quick mental math and decided I could afford the fine. Shit, I could afford the suspension. Renato would keep an eye on Cody, and if he did, then all the Brazilians would.
And there was no way I'd back down now.
"So you think blindsiding me makes you hot shit?" Austin snapped, pushing up in my face.
I stood my ground, making it clear I wasn't scared of him. "Funny how it's fine when you do it to us."
"I didn't do shit to you!" he roared.
"You fucked our bullfighters!" I yelled back, overly aware of exactly what that sounded like. "You got the alternates here. I don't know what the fuck you're up to, or whose ass you're sucking, but your feud with another rider is hurting us. All of us." And I gestured at the men crowded up around us. "Including Casey. Nice way to treat your friends."
"Fuck you, Ty!" Austin said - and then he shoved.
I rocked back, but I was done with the screaming. My answer was to swing with my left, catching him right across the cheek. Austin staggered, slamming into the rails around the bull chute. Sadly, he didn't go over. Worse, the prick used it to push himself back at me.
He tried to tackle me, so I grabbed him and pushed him the other way, then followed. I was almost to him when a hand grabbed my vest, slowing my roll, but I pushed through it. The fingers lost their grip, I hit my knees, and threw another punch.
"They'll fucking suspend you!" Jake barked, but Renato was moving that way, and I knew my best friend would keep Jake from stopping me.
