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“Yeah. He’s good. Just going through some shit with his asshole father.” She hums a sound of disapproval.
“That guy’s a piece of work, isn’t he? What happened this time?” I almost want to feel her forehead to see if she’s feeling okay, or check her body and see if someone has snatched her.
I tell her what Trace told me, and she gasps.
“That’s absurd and incredibly unfair. Trace is a pain in my ass, but he’s an excellent rider. He doesn’t deserve that.”
“No, he doesn’t,” I agree, holding my girl a little tighter to me. She’s amazing. So pure and sweet this world doesn’t deserve her.
“What is he gonna do?”
I shrug because there is only one thing he can do. “He’s gonna give it his all tomorrow.” Her lips part to say something, but I continue, “And don’t for a second think about throwing the race, baby. Trace will know and it will only piss him off.”
“And he loses his spot on the team? If Trace gets cut…”
“Another team will pick him up. You said so yourself. He’s an excellent rider.”
“We could always use another addition to the team. I’m sure Daddy would love to have hi—” I chuckle because I know her all too well. But a huge part of me loves her kindness and willingness to help others so damn much. It’s so deeply woven into every fiber of her being that she is willing to have someone on her team who she absolutely cannot stand, just to help him.
“Please don’t bring that up to him. I thought he was going to throw hands when I did earlier.”
“He wouldn’t work with Daddy even if it means he gets to keep racing?”
“I think right now, no, because he’s distraught, but if it comes down to it and he no longer has a team, he might.”
“That’s a shitty position to be in. I wish he’d just swallow his pride and do it. We’d be a top team with our talent.” That gives me pause and makes me lift my head and guide her back so I can see into her eyes. I give her a suspicious look. She giggles. “What? I just don’t want my only actual competition to leave. What fun would it be to be on top all the time and have no one to challenge me?”
I chuckle, shaking my head as I lay it back down on the pillow. “Normal people would be happy about winning all the time.” Lennox adjusts herself against me as if it’s the most natural thing we’ve ever done.
“It isn’t worth it if they handed it to me. I have big shoes to fill, following in the footsteps of theGreatest of All Time.Everyone expects me to win all the time without me putting in the work. You know how they are. Trace makes me feel like I’ve actually earned my place and my name.”
“That makes sense, but babe, you’re amazing at what you do. Your winning has nothing to do with who your father is.”
“I know that, but telling other people that… I get enough flak from the people who hate my parents’ relationship. I don’t need it from other racers as well because they think I’m getting a leg up,” she explains, and it makes sense.
“So you’d be okay having him as your teammate?”
“If that means I can still kick his ass, then yes.”
“That’s my girl.”
CHAPTEREIGHT
LENNOX
It’s race day,baby. I’m pumped. Well, I’m getting there. I’m making my way through my usual early morning ritual. Up before the sun for a run around the outskirts of the track. I’d much rather be in bed, curled up next to Benny, where I was nice and warm, but that can’t be the case. Duty calls and I promised both Benny and my dad that him being here wouldn’t be a distraction. My boyfriend would never come back if he thought for a second he was taking my focus away from my goals.
We went to bed together last night, but not long after I fell asleep, Benny peeled himself away from me and opened his laptop to work on some schoolwork. Apparently, he has a few important tests this week that he wanted to study for. I laid with my back to him, our legs intertwined while he did what he had to do. Not the first time we’ve done that. When I’m home, I often find him up in the middle of the night studying.
Sleep is difficult for him, so he gets as much as he can when he can. I wish I could take away the demons in his past for him, let him find some relief, but as much as I want to, he always makes me remember I can’t feel bad for him. He is the one who made those decisions he now has to live with.
A sky muddled with colors of tangerine and cotton candy pink faces me as the sun peeks over the horizon. The air is moving from a warm, humid summer morning to already heating up. The sweat on my skin isn’t just from exertion. Humidity is a wicked thing.
I’ve always been one to be up early and running the perimeter of the track. It used to be to gain an edge, get a knowledge of the track that others didn’t, but now, it’s just the perfect wake up. When I’m finished with this, I jump into an ice bath. Those I used to despise, but Daddy swears by them, especially on race day. Now, I look forward to it after a run like this. Other days, not so much because they are still very much like torture. However, torture is part of a professional’s routine. Such is life. One day when I no longer ride on this level, I’m sure I’ll miss this.
I pump my legs faster at the home stretch, glimpsing the lights of my trailer. Benny must be up and have the generator running. I turn it off at night if I don’t need the air conditioning or heat and open the windows. A day like today, though, it’s going to be stifling.
Breathing heavily, anticipating that jolt of cold when I drop myself into the icy cold water, I round the last turn of the track and sprint for the finish. There are multiple trailers between me and the one that is currently housing the love of my life. I might have to make a detour into the bedroom with a certain hunk of man who is hopefully walking around shirtless still.
