“You know it. I…I always have your back, Jay. No matter what. Okay?” That seemed important, that Jason know that. He wasn’t a great man or nothing, but he was willing to pull his weight with his family.
“Yeah.” The half smile became a real one, all of the sudden. “You’re having one hell of a season, buddy. You’re gonna take it all again.”
“You think?” He thought so, too, but Jason had been on top before the accident, and he wasn’t gonna rub it in. No way.
“Yes, jackass. You’re on a streak, a thousand points ahead of Zac, and Balta must be getting laid, because he’s not riding.”
“Yeah, well.” He laughed, the sound loud and shocking in this little trailer. “Balta is, uh, occupied.”
“No shit?” Jason grabbed a fry, grinned. “His wife?”
“Not exactly.” He shouldn’t tell tales, he guessed. God knew he had no room to talk, but Balta’d found him a pretty little hottie rider to warm his cock on the road. “He’s happy, though.”
“Yeah? Good. Happy is good.”
“Sure is.” He unwrapped the nuggets and set them out, too. “I got you chicken things.”
“You must have taken Benj.”
“Yeah. He’s, uh, hungry.” Really hungry. Apparently all the time.
Jase laughed, that sound familiar at least. “Yeah. Yeah, he is. He and I eat a metric fuckton of chicken nuggets, man. A ton.”
“He sure loves you.” Benji had chattered on and on about Uncle Jason. It was the cutest thing.
Jason grinned. “He’s a good boy. He helped me steal Bax’s truck.”
“You stole… And you’re still alive?” Andy Baxter had a temper. That was like waving a Ranier brother in front of a bull.
“Uh-huh.” Jason grinned, and it hit him, all of the sudden, that Jase and Andy were, well, fucking.
Beau chuckled, snorting a little. They was even, now. He knew all of Jason’s secrets. Maybe they could be buds again. Jason’s cheeks heated, then the little fucker started laughing, setting him off. Beau howled with it until his ribs hurt, and oncethat was done, he laughed a little more. Then he reached over and squeezed Jason’s arm. “I missed you, Jay.”
Jason’s cheeks went a dull, dark red under the beard. “Yeah. Yeah. I was… I didn’t know how to. You and Sam, I saw y’all, huh? I didn’t know how to do that, you know, with who I wanted to, and it made me all bitchy.”
“I get that.” He did. Him and Sam had decided it was worth the risk. Jason had been on the way up, though. A man had to wait until he’d had his success. Now… Well, shit. Now there wasn’t going to be any. Damn it. “Coke says you’re gonna ride.” Well, that came out well.
Jase’s lips twisted. “He does. You believe him, Bobo?”
“I haven’t seen you ride.” It sounded like he was putting Jase off, but he wasn’t blowing smoke. He would be able to know, once he saw Jason on a bull. “I’ll have to watch you go. Then I can tell you.”
Man, he must have said the right thing, because Jason relaxed hard enough that he could see it. “Okay. Okay, yeah.”
“There you go.” He wasn’t bullshitting Jason. This wasn’t just some nonsense. This was bullriding..
Sammy came over, dragging Andy along, and sat, a bunch of bottles of Cokes in hand. He arched an eyebrow and Sammy shrugged, Andy glared.
“Well, y’all look happy.” Beau shook his head. Even blind, Jase had to feel the tension.
“I hear bottles. Bax don’t let me drink no more. He’s a butthead.”
“Cokes, Jase.” Sammy waved a bottle, like he wasn’t sure what to do.
Beau took it and took Jase’s hand, slapping the bottle into it.
“Thanks.” Jase frowned. “Bax? You here?”
“Yeah. I’m here, Mini.” Andy’s hands clenched around his bottle, knuckles white.
