Page 10 of Leading the Blind
“I am.” He just needed to put on his happy face.
“Good deal. Let’s do this.” Okay, Jase was in fierce mode.
That was usually goodandbad. They hopped out of the truck, which was where AJ Gardner met them. “Howdy, boys.”
“Hey, Aje. What’s the lay of the land?” Jason held one hand out to shake.
“Pretty busy in there. Mostly older fans instead of buckle bunnies, so be careful.”
“Right. Registration straight ahead?”
“Yep. I’ll buy you a beer later, huh?”
“Yeah. Yeah, sounds great.” Jason smiled, grabbed his duffel and pulled his hat down. “Let’s do this.”
“Works for me.” Bax would tell Jason who to acknowledge. “I’ll do the check-in. You want to sit in the lobby?”
“That’s prob’ly my safest bet, huh?”
“Yeah.” Bax led Jason to a chair, letting him ease down before dropping the bags at his feet. “Be right back.”
“I got this.”
Bax sure as shit hoped so, because there were two old men heading over to talk to Jase. He had to let Jason do this, though. Had to. If Jason couldn’t fool some fans, he would never work the big show.
He checked in, forcing himself not to look back over and over. No, Mini had to get this down. This was the easy part. Jason knew how to bullshit, knew how to listen. He could do this.
When Bax finally got their room key, he turned around to find Brian Taggart standing there with the two old guys, laughing, and Jason was smiling.
Relief flooded him, and he found himself grinning.
He wandered over. “Bri, good to see you.” He shook hands, then offered a hand to the nearest older gent. “Andy Baxter.”
“Oh, damn. The whole world is here. I’m Parker Malloy. I’m pleased to meet y’all.”
“Same to you, sir.”
The other feller stuck out his big paw. “Tom O’Dell.”
“Mr. O’Dell.” He shook. “Are y’all here for the bull riding?”
“We are. Figured we might as well.”
Bax loved how casual that sounded.
“I think it’ll be a good event.” Jase nodded, keeping his dark glasses on.
Brian chuckled. “You got the best safety man in the business, at least.”
Jason grinned slow. “Oh, is Adam here?”
“Little fucker.” Brian flipped Jason off. “He’s working the big show.”
“Mmm, where the real bull riders go.” Bax laughed at the expressions on the fans’ faces. “We tease because we care.”
“Are y’all riding to get back up there?” O’Dell asked, and Andy was shocked as hell to see Jason nod.
“I just have a few events, and I’m in the money.”
