Giving up on relaxation, I turned on the TV and flipped to ESPN. Just like Keith had said, they were showing the interview that Felicia had crashed. They were also splicing in the kiss from the party. They cleverly weren’t showing the part where I’d pushed her away from me. To anyone not in the know, it looked like Felicia and I were teammates and lovers…ratings gold. God, I really hoped Kenzie hadn’t seen this. It would freak her out even more than she probably already was.
When I finally shut off the TV, it was dark outside. The sun had set hours ago, and I hadn’t even noticed. It was a little weird to me that I hadn’t heard one peep from Kenzie. Did she make it home okay? Grabbing my phone, I looked to see if I’d missed a text from her, but I hadn’t. A little worried, I called her.
A sleepy voice met my ear. “Hello?”
“Hey…you okay? You sound weird.”
She sighed, and the sound electrified me. I missed her already. “Yeah, I’m fine…just a rough night.”
I sat up on the bed, concerned. “Why? What happened?”
“My dad was here when I got home. He told me… He was just being his typical asshole self.” Her voice warbled with emotion, and rage surged through me. Why were both of our “father figures” being such dicks lately?
“God, Kenzie…I’m sorry. Why didn’t you call me?”
She didn’t answer right away, and nerves started attacking me like rabid animals. Was she hiding something too? “I don’t… Nikki’s my best friend…I just…I called her without thinking. She came over, and we spent the entire night talking, laughing, bitching. I’m sorry, after she left I felt better, and I…I just didn’t think about calling you.”
I felt like she’d just socked me in the gut and pulled out my insides. She didn’t think of calling me? I was her boyfriend, her rock…shouldn’t I be her first phone call? But then, we’d left things kind of strange at the airport. Felicia had texted me on the plane and I’d lied about it to Kenzie. Again. But this time she’d called me on it, and I’d had no good explanation. I was a dick, and I deserved to not be forefront on her mind.
“It’s okay…Nikki’s your best friend, I get it. Can I come over now though? I’d really love to see you.” I had a lot to make up for.
I could hear the smile in Kenzie’s voice when she answered. “Yeah, of course.”
Thank God. As long as she still let me come over, things were fixable.
I made the drive to Kenzie’s house in record time, and, on the way, I came up with something I knew would make her feel better. I was so giddy when I rang her doorbell that I forgot to tease her with a Christmas song.
She looked worn when she opened the door, but happy too. Pulling her to me, I inhaled her fresh lavender scent as I hugged her tight. As we separated, I told her, “Grab your bike, your good bike, and follow me.”
She raised an eyebrow at my strange request. “Why? Where are we going?”
Smiling, I told her, “We’re going to do something we should have done a while ago.”
Kenzie looked confused and curious as she stepped inside to get her jacket, but she was smiling too. Part one of making her feel better was complete. Now for part two.
Opening the garage door, Kenzie walked over to her pair of Ducatis. They were both covered in a thin layer of dust, a truly sad sign, and something I was kicking myself over—I should never have stopped taking her where I was about to take her.
Hanging on the wall next to Kenzie’s bikes was her old Cox Racing leathers. Pointing to them, I told her, “Take those too. You’re going to need them.”
Kenzie gave me an incredulous look, but she yanked them off the wall and stuffed them into a backpack. “What are you up to, Hayes,” she murmured.
“You’ll see,” I answered.
A few minutes later, we were on the road, heading to a place we both knew all too well—the place where our love affair had begun. Kenzie popped open her visor when we stopped in front of the gate to the practice track. With wide eyes, she simply stared at me in disbelief.
Laughing, I told her, “Even if you don’t have a team to race for, there’s no reason we can’t still train together. In secret. Just like we used to…”
Her eyes were misty with emotion as she nodded at me. It felt so good to make her truly happy for once; I was flying high as I entered my key card and punched in the code. I picked the lock to the inner gate to get us inside the complex, then picked the door to the Benneti garage, so we could change and prep.
Kenzie changed into her leathers right there in the middle of the dark garage, and I was so captivated, I couldn’t move until she was completely dressed. She laughed as she looked me over. “You racing in your jeans?”
I almost told her I’d race naked if she wanted. God…Kenzie naked on a bike. That image would haunt me for days if I ever saw it.
After I finally changed and grabbed my racing bike, we turned on the lights and headed to the entrance of the track. Inhaling a big breath, I absorbed the midnight memories as well as the oxygen. So much had happened here late at night between Kenzie and me that it almost felt like an entirely different track in the moonlight. This was our special place, and ours alone.
Revving my engine, I looked her way. “Race me or chase me, Cox.”
I slammed down my visor and immediately accelerated, but Kenzie beat me to the draw, and was a breath in front of me as we entered the track. That’s my girl.
We breezed through the course for countless laps. We weren’t keeping score, weren’t watching the time, weren’t racing for pride or for our team…we were just having fun. I could tell Kenzie was surging with adrenaline when we finally rolled to a stop. Tearing off her helmet, she callously tossed it to the ground. I took mine off as well, setting it down on the concrete, so I could take in her magnificence with no obstructions.
Her face was beaming as she smiled at me. “That was amazing, Hayden. It was everything I needed, everything I’ve been missing for so…”
Her words trailed off as she stared at me, then she hopped off her bike and stormed over to mine. I wasn’t sure what she was going to do, and I tensed for a second. But then her hands were around my neck and her mouth was on mine, and I groaned in delight. Her kiss was wild, passionate, unrestricted; it ignited everything inside me. Fuck…yes.
While she kissed me frantically, I felt her tugging at something. Flashing a quick peek, I saw her unzipping her leathers. God, what was she doing? She had her jacket off and was working on her pants before I could stop kissing her long enough to ask her.
“Kenzie,” I panted, “What are you…?”
Pulling back, she stared at me with fire in her eyes. “I want you. Right here.”
I looked around at where we were, out in the open, sitting in the entrance to the track, bright lamps engulfing us in light. Fuck, having her right here would almost be like having her in public. I was instantly hard, throbbing with need.
Lifting a leg, I started to get off my bike, but she shook her head. “No…stay there.”
God, I’d always wanted to have sex on a bike. I wasn’t sure if it could even be done, but I was more than willing to try. Seductive half-smile on her face, Kenzie started slowly undressing. When she was down to just her bra and her underwear, I started working on my pants. Free…I needed to be free.
She reached down to help me, and I hissed in a breath when her fingers grazed me. Fuck, I wanted her so bad. It took some work to remove me from my leathers—I was pretty sure we ripped them—but finally I was free and clear for all the world to see. Kenzie smiled, then leaned over and wrapped her lips around the tip of me. Goddamn, she felt so good, just that little caress made me feel like I was going to come.
She groaned around my cock as she took more of me in, and I gripped the handlebar to steady myself. “Now, Kenzie,” I muttered. “I need you now.” I needed to be inside her.
Slipping off her bra and underwear, she straddled my bike, facing me. It took some finagling to get into the right position, but
once her legs were comfortably over mine, her chest delightfully in my face, she carefully eased herself onto me. Being so deep inside her stole my breath for a second, and I could only grunt as I strained to keep us steady. Oh, God…
Straddling my thighs, her feet just barely reaching the pedals, she gently lifted her body, moving her hips away from me. She was in complete control of this; I couldn’t do anything but hold us in place, and I loved it. I loved her owning me like this. As she lowered her body and reconnected with me, her face was a mixture of euphoria and concentration. Her moving against me felt so fucking good, sensation was exploding within me, begging for more.
She pressed her chest against me as she rocked our hips together, and I gratefully took a nipple in my mouth; I needed to distract myself, or this was going to be the shortest sex ever. Kenzie’s head fell back with a loud cry that echoed around the empty space as I teased her sensitive skin. The sound reminded me where we were. I would never look at the track the same way again, and that made the moment even more electric.
As she bucked against my hips more and more frantically, I had to hold onto the handle bars harder and harder. The bike squeaked beneath us, in harmony with the grunts and groans we were releasing. My feet lost footing on the suddenly unstable concrete more than once, and I almost lost my hold on the precious balance keeping us upright, but as the tension started building, I stopped caring. We could completely fall over and I wouldn’t mind—I was so close, and so was she. Panting, her legs shaking, she verbally expressed her need for me with escalating moans and cries. I pressed my head against her chest, my own breaths fast and ragged. Fuck, I’m almost there…
Just as my strength was about to give out, I felt it approaching—the rising tide that was going to leave me quivering with bliss. Moving harder against me, Kenzie moaned my name, and I knew she felt it too. The explosion hit her a second later, and she clung to me as she fell off the edge. Groaning, I released a moment after her. The bike beneath us jostled and wobbled, but I somehow managed to keep it steady as we both came.
Spent and exhausted, Kenzie slumped against me. The bike lurched to the side as I lost control, but I immediately adjusted my numb feet and righted the motorcycle. Looking up at her, breath still fast, I panted, “Jesus, Kenzie…that was…Jesus…”
Laughing, she giggled, “I know. I love you, Hayden. Thank you for this.”
I knew she meant the midnight racing, but I honestly felt like I should be thanking her for fulfilling a fantasy. Instead, I wrapped my arms around her and whispered, “It was my pleasure, Kenzie. I’d do anything for you.”
* * *
Once we were back in Kenzie’s bed, spent and satisfied for the day, I dwelled on my promise to her at the track. I would do anything for her, and it was time I started. She needed a champion, someone to fight for her in the places where she was failing, and that champion had to be me. It was time for me to use my voice. I was time for me to talk to her father.
The next morning, instead of going to the track, I headed to Jordan Cox’s house. I’d never been there, but luckily for me, Kenzie was a little old school; she kept an address book under her telephone in the kitchen, and I’d found Jordan’s address inside it.
When I reached the driveway that I knew led to Jordan’s place, I began to wonder what I’d say to him. Maybe I should have thought up a concrete argument before coming here. I wanted to command him to stop being an asshole, to get his daughter a decent job, and convince the family to talk to her again, but I knew that a head-on confrontation like that wasn’t going to get me anywhere. I’d have to be…nice.
Jordan’s truck was parked in front of the farmhouse when I got there. I parked my bike beside it, inhaled a deep breath, then shut off the engine and prepared myself for what was about to happen. Climbing off the bike, I pulled off my helmet and set it on the handlebar. Staring at the hard material, I wondered if I should keep it on. Head protection might come in handy if Jordan got violent again. No…it wasn’t going to come to that. I hoped.
Imagining Kenzie, I summoned as much confidence as I could and strutted up to Jordan’s door. I knocked, then rang the doorbell twice. I wanted to do it again, but I made myself resist. Pissing him off before he even knew it was me wasn’t a good plan.
The sound of shuffling feet met my ear, then the door cracked open. I instinctively puffed up my chest when Jordan’s face appeared in the slim space. A tense feeling buzzed through my skin, reminding me of confronting a sore loser after a hard race; I was already in fight or flight mode, with a heavy emphasis on fight. I tried to tone it down, but the instant anger on Jordan’s face made that impossible.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Hoping my voice came out steady, I met his steely gaze without flinching. “I’m here because of Kenzie. What you’re doing to her isn’t right. She deserves better, Jordan.”
That was probably the wrong thing to say. The front door flew open and Jordan stepped onto the porch with me. “And that’s you? You’re better?”
“I didn’t say that,” I said, my hands slightly lifting in defense. Inhaling a soothing breath, I knew I needed to fix this before it was too late. “You know what Kenzie’s doing for work right now…she told me you came by. I’m hoping, I’m asking…if you could just call in a favor and get her a racing job, she could give up that shit. She has plenty of time to train before Road America, she could be back on the path she’s supposed to be on. And she’s supposed to be racing, Jordan. It’s in her blood.”
There was a pleading tone to my voice that I didn’t care for, but I hoped it moved him. Kenzie needed this. But his gaze only grew harder, his blue-gray eyes sharper. “Mackenzie made her bed, and now she needs to live with her choices. I’m not going to make it comfortable for her just because she’s unhappy with her decisions.”
The lid on my anger snapped right off. “She’s unhappy with your decisions. You’re the one who blacklisted her. Without your interference, she’d be racing right now.”
“I could say the same thing about you and your interference,” he stated, his voice icy.
I tossed my hands into the air. “How can you be such an asshole? She’s your daughter!”
He took a step toward me, so we were almost toe to toe, and the desire to battle tinted my vision red. “You don’t think I know that?” he snarled. “It kills me to see her throwing it all away…for you. You’re not worthy of her.”
I know that. Rage fired every cylinder inside me, prodding me toward violence. I wasn’t going to start this fight though; Kenzie would never forgive me. But I would definitely end it, if Jordan wanted to take it that far. “You gonna pop me again, old man?”
Jordan took a step back with my words. He shook his head, and the anger on his face diminished. “No,” he said quietly. “You’re not worthy of me either.”
Without another word, he turned and walked back into the house. The door softly closed behind him, and that pissed me off even more. He was dismissing me, like I was nothing. Less than nothing. A lifetime of being treated like dirt beneath people’s shoes flooded my brain. I was so sick of being looked down upon. I really thought racing professionally would turn that around, give me just a tiny bit of respect, but apparently not. In some things, I’d never be good enough.
I needed to hit something, needed to do some sort of damage to something. There was nothing around but my helmet resting on my bike though. Picking it up, I chucked it down the gravel. It skidded and tumbled for fifteen feet, long scratches marking up the black paint, making it look worn and trashy. Great. Goddamn it.
Hands clenched into fists, I tried to calm down. I’d known this probably wouldn’t go well, I don’t know why I was surprised. I wanted to call Kenzie and vent to her, but I couldn’t. She couldn’t know I’d gone behind her back to confront her dad. She’d be pissed. She didn’t want help when it came to her family, she wanted to handle it on her own. And she didn’t want me to feel guilty about everything she’d given up for
me. But I did, and no matter how often she said she was fine, I knew she wasn’t. And I knew it was because of me.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Pulling it out, I unlocked the screen to see a new message from Felicia on the screen. ‘Missing you at the track. Hope everything is okay.’
I knew I should ignore it. I knew I should automatically delete it and then block her number…but I was fuming, and I needed some sort of release, and Felicia knew exactly what it felt like to be looked down upon. We’d grown up in the same gutter. ‘Not really. People are assholes.’
As soon as I hit send I felt sick. Fuck. I shouldn’t have done that. Her response was instant. ‘I know. Want to talk about it?’
Shoving the phone back into my jacket pocket, I kicked a large rock in the gravel. Goddamn it. Now she thought I wanted a conversation. I didn’t. I was just venting, that was all. Shit.
Walking over to my helmet, I picked it up to examine the damage. It looked like crap now, all scratched to hell. Putting it on, I stormed back to my bike, started it, and got out of there as fast as I could. I shouldn’t have even bothered trying to talk to Jordan. He’d never see me as anything other than garbage someone left on the street.
My rage had somewhat cooled by the time I got to the practice track. Knowing Felicia was probably on the lookout for me, invigorated by my stupid ass text, I did my best to sneak upstairs unseen. When I ran into Keith in the hallway, a new idea started forming in my mind. If I couldn’t talk some sense into Jordan, maybe I’d have better luck with Keith.
“Hey, Keith…I’m glad to see you. Can we talk in your office?”
Keith sighed, like he knew what I was about to ask, then he indicated down the hall with his hand. I closed the door once we were inside the room; we definitely needed privacy for this conversation. Keith shuffled to his desk, then sat down beside it. “What’s on your mind, Hayes?”