Page 4 of Riding the Curve

“Don’t be so dramatic. This is what you do, you always blow things out of proportion. I was going to end it tonight, I promise. I’ve just been a little lonely lately, and you haven’t exactly been in the mood. In fact, you have been in the mood for years. Haven’t I taken care of you, Henny? Showered you with everything you could ever want? Is it so hard to believe that I want someone who would do the same thing for me? Someone who will choose me first over everything?”

My fists clenched the clothes dangling in my hands, the fury bubbling to the surface, searing my cheeks.

“You’ll be able to find another job. Restaurants are hiring all the time. In fact, I think Paul in HR mentioned something about us needing a new line cook in the cafeteria. I could put in a good word⁠—”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

My entire body trembled. Every emotion collided into each other the longer this conversation went on. I was a ticking time bomb close to combusting.

“Henny?”

“No, Carson, I do not want you to put in a ‘good word’ for me. In fact, you no longer need to do anything else for me. You are free of your burden. I think you and I both know that this has been over for a while. Tonight is just the final spark I needed to realize that I should have ended this a long time ago. I’m done. We’re over. I’m leaving.”

I held his shocked expression for a moment before I let it drop to continue shoving my possessions into suitcases.

“Henny.” He followed me back and forth as I went around the house trying to collect as many things as possible. “Seriously, where are you going to go at this hour? You don’t have any friends!”

My feet halted abruptly. Taking my time to turn, I made sure my glare was sharp enough to leave a bite. When his eyebrows flew to his forehead, I knew they met their mark. Storming back into the bedroom, I shoved the last remaining items I grabbed into the suitcases and vigorously zipped them shut. Shoving them onto the floor, I rolled them toward the front door.

He was right.

I had no one here.

Between culinary school, working in the restaurant, all the outings, and our relationship, I never truly had a chance to build lasting friendships. My friends were his. This apartment was his. But my identity would no longer be his.

Sighing deeply, I knew there was only one option. Home.

Back to California.

The wheels of the suitcases rattled against the wooden floor, filling the silence that clouded the apartment. Just as I reached the door, I felt the weight of his hand on my shoulder.

“Babe, we can work through this. We always do,” he pled, rubbing circles on my back. Sliding away from his touch, I opened the door wide and stepped into the hall. Before I closed it, I turned and faced him one final time.

“I no longer have the energy to keep trying to fix what was already broken to begin with.”

I fight back tears as I refocus on the deep voice over the intercom.

“Group A, Flight 744 to Sacramento now boarding.”

Gathering my bag and carry-on, I leisurely walk to the gate. I glance out the terminal window, the ache in my chest growing sharper. Skyscrapers illuminate the night, glimmering against the glass. The city that helped me achieve my lifelong goals. The city where I’d hoped to build my future. All in one breath, it fades away.

Suddenly, the lights staring back at me don’t look as full of life as they once did. It’s time to go back to reality and stop living my life in the clouds.

See you soon, Oakley Falls.

CHAPTER 2

Emerson

“Dammit, Emerson! Did you have to cause an all-out brawl? With none other than Axel Graves himself?” The face of my team owner, Beau Rickford, is reddened with fury. His fingers are wrapped around the door with a deadly grip as he stews, awaiting my answer.

The image of Axel’s bloody nose flashes through my mind and there’s nothing I can do to stop the grin forming on my lips.

“Oh, no you don’t! Wipe that smug grin off your face and get your ass in here and take a seat,” Beau seethes. The door bumps against my shoulder as he paces back into the room, pointing to the chair next to the small hotel desk. “Close the door behind you.”

The momentary flutter of amusement quickly fades. Shutting the door, I try to remain calm as I tentatively approach Beau. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened in our sport. I’m positive it’s the combination of how it happened and who it was with that caught our team board’s attention.

My mind flashes back to two days ago. Back to the track at Watkins Glenn International.