Texas Sen. John Cornyn has heard the same allegation all year: He’s blindly following his junior Lone Star State colleague and tea party hero, Ted Cruz, to help shore up his right flank.

Cornyn is ready to put that to rest.

“I would say the recent events would probably run counter to that narrative,” Cornyn said in an interview Tuesday with a big chuckle in his whip office just steps from the Senate floor…

He refuses to publicly endorse Cornyn, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, in his reelection bid, a highly unusual move for a senator from the same state and party. That has infuriated Cornyn allies who see it as a slight that will come back to haunt Cruz should he run for president in 2016 or need Cornyn’s help in the future.

What’s more irritating to Cornyn allies is that behind the scenes, Cruz has quietly tried to help his senior colleague even though he won’t publicly commit to endorsing him. Cruz’s political action committee donated $2,500 to Cornyn’s reelection effort, and the freshman even attended a fundraiser for his colleague last weekend in South Texas where the two men went dove hunting with big donors.