Free To Ride

Chapter:4

Thank you @pepper_2014 for guessing it! I wanted to do something different for a PBR book and go with a lower ranked rider. Cody Rodeo Tyler is ranked no. 34 on the PBR riders chart.

I finished on up on Matt Triplet making sure the stitches stayed. "Good to go." I said. "Thanks Lace." He said before going back out. Cody came in limping. He sat down and called me over. "What is it?" I asked. "Knee." He said. I felt around the joint and the joint itself. "Feels a little swollen. Nothing feels broken. Hit the rail?" I asked. "Bull rammed into the chute wall." He said.

"I'd rest it." I told him. "I've got to ride tomorrow night!" He said. I grabbed the tape and wrapped it. "Ice it for thirty minutes before you go to sleep. In the morning after you wake up. And thirty minutes before you ride. Other than that, try to stay off of it." I told him. "Thank you." He said before fixing his pant leg. He put his boot back on and limped out with a bag of ice.

At the end of the night I was yawning. Three more nights to go. Night two of finals. One month until my birthday. I dragged myself to the truck and got in. Dad right behind me. Once at the hotel I went right up to the room. Once the door was closed behind dad he started talking. "What's going on between you and Cody Tyler?" He asked. "He's being friendly." I said.

"A little too friendly. Last night he pulled you from the fence when that bull almost hit the fence. Then tonight he called you over to check out his knee. I want to know what's going on." He said. "He kept me from getting hurt last night, then he saw that I was the only free one. What's wrong with that? You know the rest of them do that too. So why is he different from them?" I asked.

"Get a shower and go to bed we're done discussing this." He said.

Cody

"Dude what's going on between you and Lacey?" Teel asked. "I honestly don't know. Every time I try to get close to her, she pushes me away." I said. "Dude do you know how old she is?" He asked. "Haven't been around her that long." I said as we walked out to my truck. "Seventeen." He said. I stopped in my tracks. "What? You like her don't you?" I smirked shaking my head. "Nah. She acts like she's twenty or even twenty one." I said.

"I know. But if you catch her out of her serious mode she's a teenage girl." He said. "Do you know her birthday?" I asked. "December second. She'll be at home with her dad for her birthday. If you want to date her, you'd have to wait until you see her after the first week of December." He said. "Actually. I think the velocity tour will be in Huntington, West Virginia. The last night of the event." I said.

"I'd wait until the next event though." He said. "Yeah. I'll just see how everything goes." I said before saying goodnight to him. He returned it.

Lacey

I got up out of bed and dressed. "Here's money for jeans and boots. Don't spend it all." He said before letting me go. "Yes sir." I said before getting a cab to Boot Barn. I knew there were some bull riders there. I entered after paying the fair and got to shopping. I grabbed multiple pairs of wrangler jeans in my dad's size before getting a new pair of boots for him.

I grabbed a pink and a purple wrangler pearl snap shirt before looking at the other colors. "I think this one would look nice." I looked up seeing Cody. He was holding a light blue one. "I don't know." I said. "It matches your eyes." He said walking over. "It would have to be in my size." I said. "Do you wear a large because a medium is too short?" He asked. How?

"I'm not going to pull anything I never was. I just want to be a friend." He said. "So did I get the right size?" I nodded. "H. How?" I asked. "Lucky guess. Need some help?" He asked. "If you don't mind." I said. He started with the boot box before the jeans. "Anything else?" He asked. I went over to the women's jeans getting me a few pairs of mixed brands.

"Not a complete wrangler fan?" He asked. "They only have select numbers in my size. And in the style I like." I said. He scoffed. "And yet only one style of men's jeans." He said. "Mhm." "So would you do lunch?" He asked. "As a friend of course." "Until I turn eighteen?" I asked. "Ye. No. If you want to be friends it's fine by me." He said. I could hear the hesitance in his answer.

Tonight is going to be one that several are going to be knocked out of. Starts earlier and has more rounds. The last night alone has two rounds. "Aren't you supposed to be resting your knee?" I asked. "You know how those cowboys are." He said following me up to check out. I set my jeans and shirts up and let Cody set my dad's stuff up with it.

I pulled the card dad gave me out. "Don't." He said. "It's my stuff." I told him. He moved me out of the way and handed the cashier a card. I stood back with my arms crossed. The lady bagged the stuff and handed it over. "And lunch is on me." He said. Oh heck no it isn't. I'm paying for lunch.

"I assume you need to drop these off at the hotel." He said. I nodded. "Is your dad there or is he making sure everything that is needed for the mobile clinic is there?" He asked. "I don't know." I said. "If he's there he can come to lunch with us." He said. Ok. He's definitely going to get a wake up call when dad pays for lunch after I tell him how Cody helped me.