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He watched me fly by, and I hear his words in my head again.Maybe the only way to beat him was to stay.
To know what we can control and what we can’t. To know my own mind, and that I don’t need permission or validation, especially from people I don’t know or love.
The chorus in my ear charges my arms and legs, and I tighten my fists around the handlebars, zooming around the bend, and then another, and skimming the curves just like Farrow taught me.
I blast past the guy in last place, then Billy Waters, and slide around a black bike with red accents. I cruise into themiddle, ramping up my speed a little more and a little more, and find myself creeping up onto the lead guys.
Their speed increases, and I push it faster, finding them accelerating more. I smile behind my helmet, my heart swelling in my throat.
We fly around and around, and I sink into the curves, holding my own as we race. The finish line approaches, and I find myself pushing it just a little harder, until…
We charge past, blowing through the finish line and the flag and cruising around again, slowly decelerating.Third.
I think I was in third place.
I shake with laughter as I ride around to the start again and pull up to the side. I don’t look at the other guys, and I won’t worry about what they say.
We’re going to do that again someday. Mark my words.
Dad rushes up, followed by Hawke, Aro, Mace, Codi, and Coral.
I beam. “It was so much fun,” I say to my dad.
He fixes me with a look like I went far faster than was the plan, but I see a smile peek out as he helps remove my helmet and I take off my gloves.
“You’ve been racing,” he says. “Who taught you how to do that?”
I flash him a big, toothy smile, but I don’t unclench my teeth, and he knows he won’t find out the answer to that tonight. Maybe someday I’ll tell him about Farrow when I’m sure my dad won’t kill him.
Hell, if I can be coached by my dad, and mentored by FarrowandNoah, nothing will be able to stop me, much less catch me. Farrow and Noah have very different styles, though. I don’t think they’d work well together.
“Tuesdays and Thursdays, four to six,” Dad says. “Here at the track, you got it?”
I nod quickly. He’s training me?
He hands off my helmet to Aro. “And I’m setting you up with a personal trainer at Astrophysics,” he tells me.
I wince. “Exercise?”
He narrows his eyes, and I remove the expression from my face immediately. “I’m sorry, yes.”
All of his racers go to a trainer. It’s part of the program, and in this, he’s my coach. Not my dad.
He smiles a little and comes in, kissing my hair.
And then he backs away, making room for my friends.
The girls rush in. “That was awesome,” Coral blurts out.
“You were going so fast, I thought I was going to die,” Mace laughs.
I hug Aro and then look around. “Where’s Hunter?”
Aro shrugs. “I didn’t see him.”
I look to the others, and they shake their heads, having no idea.
But he was here.
