AllFreeNovel
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Heels would have been perfect, as Ash is incredibly tall, but Shawn’s welcome home party is in the Carters’ backyard. I’ve learned the hard way at the track that heels and Texas ground don’t mix well. I nearly ruined a pair of leather heels on the rocks and thorny weeds last month.
Visions of those thorny weeds make me kick off the flats and step into rain boots. I pose and pout into the mirror and then fake-punch Shelby when she laughs at me. Ridiculous face-making in front of mirrors is one of my favorite pastimes. Plus I look amazing in these dark blue skinny jeans and a black slouchy tank top with a hole in the back that goes down to the waistband on my jeans.
I had us dressed in casual yet sexy outfits, perfect for a barbeque party half of the racers of Mixon MX Park are attending. I only care about one of those racers. At the moment, his identical counterpart watches me through the mirror, upset about something.
“What’s wrong?” I ask her.
She talks to me through our reflection in the mirror, looking at my outfit and then hers. “I feel ugly. I can’t pull off this look.”
“You look great.” I put my arm around her and grab her chin with my other hand. “You look exactly like Ash.” I nudge her with my elbow like the dork that I am. “And I know for a fact that boy’s not ugly.”
“I look stupid. But I am happy you finally came around about my brother.”
It’s been a week since the fundraiser race. Ash spent his days working at the shop and his evenings with me. He would stop by the track if I was working and hang out with me until dark. Two days ago, we sat on the bridge in my back yard and talked about motocross. He has a lot of free time now that he isn’t riding. Good for me, but bad for him. The boys is a mess without motocross.
When Shelby had walked in Ash’s room last night and found him watching TV with me passed out on his shoulder, she knew I had succumbed to the attraction of her clever and adorable brother. As embarrassing as it was, I’m glad she found out that way. There’s no way I’d have gotten the guts to tell her myself. At least she was nice about it. If I was her, I would have gloated and sang the I was right and you were wrong song.
Now my only problem is getting Ash to make his move. He still hasn’t kissed me, held my hand, or asked me out on another date. But tonight will be the night we seal the deal. I can feel it.
Shelby says something negative about her appearance and it pulls me out of my daydream of holding Ash’s hand on a desolate beach in Hawaii. I follow her out of my closet and watch her fall on my bed and stare out the window. I clear my throat and put a hand on my hip.
“Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Yes.” That was easy. Too easy. Most girls would say “No, I’m fine” and make you work much harder to coerce them into talking. Shelby must really want me to know her secret. I try my luck again. “Wanna tell me?”
She practically somersaults into a sitting position and nods. This is the first time I’ve seen a smile this juicy on her face. I have to know whatever she’s hiding. Knowing Shelby, it won’t be anything scandalous, but I’m excited anyhow. I jump on my bed and tell her to spill.
“So a lot of Ash’s friends are coming tonight,” she says. Ash has friends? She must have meant fellow racers Ash happens to know.
“And you like one of them?” I guess the obvious.
“How did you know?”
“You’ve been complaining about your looks all night,” I say, holding up one finger. “And looks only matter for one thing.” She blushes. “Boys.”
“His name is Jake, and he’s seventeen.” Shelby plays with the ripples in my satin comforter. She’s so freaking excited and sheepish. It’s cool to be the listener for once in this friendship.
In my bathroom, she tells me about him as I put on makeup. I go for the whole face route, from lips to eyes to cheeks, and I still feel naked. If this is the night I’m becoming Ash’s girlfriend, I need to be perfect so in fifty years when Ash tells our grandkids about our first kiss he can say, “Your grandmother looked so beautiful that night…”
Shelby tells me about Jake’s adorable dimples as I add curls around her face with my flat iron. This is Jake’s first year to race in the Pro class, so he isn’t nearly as fast as Ash and Ryan. But Shelby doesn’t care about racing stats as much as I do. She cares about deeper things like personality and moral ethics.
Fine, I care about those things to. Just, you know, secondly.
Molly’s voice filters in from the hallway. “We’re leaving in a couple minutes. Are you riding with us or driving yourself?”
“I’m driving and Teig wants to ride with me too,” I yell back.
I look at Shelby. “So on a scale of one to sexy, what would you say Jake is?” Molly’s perfume catches my attention before the figure approaching us does. Shelby’s eyes almost pop out of her head. She shakes her head frantically, signaling for me to shut up now that an adult is in the room. GOD FORBID an adult hears me gushing about guys. Shelby is so shy it is painful.
I look up at Molly’s blank expression. She didn’t hear me say anything. She looks beautiful in a purple sundress that shows cleavage – a look I have yet to see on my step mom who wears casual clothes every day. She is proof that mothers can be beautiful and not wear clothing from the juniors section of the department store. She wears just a layer of mascara that trumps my entire face of makeup. I envy her natural beauty.
She stops in the bathroom doorway and gives us an odd look. Her eyes look as if she’s about to ask something, but she doesn’t. I ask it for her. “What’s up?”
She shakes her head and points at Shelby. “She looks like she’s seen a ghost.” She looks back at me. “And you’re looking at me like I’m a freak.”
Shelby and I shrug.
“Was this dress a bad idea? I knew it! I can’t wear stuff like this.” Whether she is aware of it or not, Molly has just entered the room with two insecure teenagers and had magically been transformed into one herself. I put down the flat iron and give her the hug she needs.
