I couldn’t stop looking around as I drove the short distance to the outer gate; I felt like my father could somehow see me, could possibly even feel my betrayal. You won’t understand, Dad, but I’m doing this for you.
Using my key card, I punched in the code to open the gate. No problems there, unless my father decided to check the log. Everyone used the same code, though, even the Bennetis, so all he would know was that someone had stopped by at an odd hour. I drove my motorcycle through the parking lot to the inner gate, where I could see Hayden sitting on his bike, waiting for me. This gate, like the garages, was locked with a key.
While I rolled to a stop at the first obstacle blocking us, Hayden removed his helmet and walked over to the padlock keeping the rolling gate together. He flashed a too-damn-attractive grin at me, and I again cursed fate for putting us in this position. Why couldn’t he be happy and committed to that girl? It would make being around him so much simpler.
Squatting down, Hayden looked at the underside of the lock. “If you break it, they’ll know someone was here,” I warned. The track didn’t have cameras, but it might soon if this went badly.
Hayden looked back at me with an expression that clearly said, I’m not an idiot. It also said, This isn’t my first rodeo. The former was amusing, the latter…disturbing.
Reaching into his pocket, Hayden pulled out some tools before returning his attention to the lock. He got to work picking it, and I shook my head in disbelief. “Left the streets behind, huh?” I muttered.
With a cocky grin on his face, he looked over his shoulder. “I said I’m trying to leave them behind. But sometimes the streets are the only way to get things done.” His smile shifted into a frown as he returned to the lock.
Before I could ask what he meant by that comment, the lock sprang open. With a triumphant expression, he slipped the hasp around a loop in the chain-link fence and pushed the gate open. Then he held his arm out wide and bowed, like he was welcoming the princess to her palace. Jackass.
I drove my bike over to the Cox garage and waited for Hayden to catch up. I couldn't believe I was about to let him pick the lock to my father’s building, but unfortunately, it had to be done. Pulling up behind me, he hopped off his bike and got to work breaking the law. As he knelt in front of the main door to the garage, his leather jacket lifted, showing a little skin above his jeans. Watching the alluring movement was distracting me from the B&E taking place right in front of my face, and he was done before I knew it. He spun around while I was still staring at his backside, and the shift in my view snapped my eyes to his face. Damn it. I hated getting caught. This already wasn’t going well.
Hayden’s grin said everything he didn’t. You like that view, don’t you? No. Not really. Maybe…
With a groan, I entered the garage and flicked on the lights. Hayden took a look around with a nod of approval. When his eyes settled on me, he said, “I’m going to head over to Keith’s garage. Meet you at the track?”
I nodded and he turned and left. And damn if I wasn’t captivated by the way his ass moved when he walked away from me. Jesus. Why couldn’t I focus when he was around?
After quickly changing into my leathers, I grabbed my Ducati and went through my prerace check. When she was all set to go, I opened the garage doors and rolled her outside. “Ready for a little late-night fun, baby?” I cooed, patting her side.
The track lights flared to life as I approached the entrance, then the lap board flickered and brightened. The silence was eerie. I was used to noise and chaos here, but it was so quiet now, I could hear the electricity buzzing through the lampposts. A few minutes later, I could hear the hum of Hayden’s bike approaching in the unnatural stillness. I looked over as he pulled into view. Just seeing him decked out in his red-and-white leathers, sitting on his red-and-white Honda, made excitement churn in my belly. It was like he was the red light about to turn green, and I couldn’t wait to surge forward.
Hayden’s smile was huge when he popped up his visor. “Ready for this, sweethear— Kenzie?”
His obvious attempt to curtail calling me by a pet name made me smile. So he was capable of learning. Good to know. Because I was about to teach him a thing or two.
“I’ve never been more ready,” I stated. “Whoever is ahead after twenty laps wins?” I asked. When he nodded, I immediately took off, leaving him in the dust. Maybe it wasn’t fair of me to not wait for him, but I really didn’t care about fair at the moment; I cared about beating him.
I felt Hayden catch up to me before I heard him. It was like my body was supernaturally attuned to his location. When he was right on my back tire, I pressed my bike to go faster. No. If he never caught me, then he’d never pass me, and I was determined to win this. The world swirled by in a rush of blended colors, and the bike beneath me hummed and vibrated in harmonious rhythm with the road. Even though I was pumped full of adrenaline, a sense of peace washed over me. Racing against Hayden helped me find my center even more effectively than surfing did. The world froze, my thoughts froze, and all that was left was instinct—and this type of instinct my mind was more than happy to let me have.
Hayden eventually pulled up beside me, but I wasn’t about to give him another inch. My heart thudded in my chest as I pushed my bike even harder, and a huge smile broke over my face as I crossed the last lap ahead of him. Finally! I’d beaten him.
As we slowed down to exit the track, I thrust my fist into the air. Victory! We stopped the bikes in the entrance lane, and I hopped off. Unstrapping my helmet, I tossed it onto the ground and held both hands in the air. “Yes! I got you!”
Hayden slowly shook his head, then carefully removed his helmet. His expression was amused as he watched me celebrate. “Wow, Twenty-Two…try to act like you’ve been there before,” he said, getting off his bike.
His words did nothing to stop my jaunty jig of in-your-faceness. I even did a little rodeo roping maneuver, just to tease him. His eyes widened, and his smile twisted into a ridiculously attractive grin before he started laughing. I didn’t care. I’d just proven something to myself. Two things, really. One: Racing with him really did improve my time—the electronic board beside the track was proof of that. And two: I could beat the god of racing, and if I could beat him, I could beat anyone.
Hayden tilted his head at me; there was a surprising smile on his face, considering I’d just creamed him. “Nice racing, Cox.”
His praise was unexpected, and an odd warmth began expanding from my chest, curling outward to every extremity. Nice racing. Such simple words, yet ones I rarely heard. Feeling compelled to say something nice in return, I told him, “Thank you, I seriously needed that.” My grin was uncontainable. I felt like I could do anything. Be anything. Win anything.
Hayden was staring at me in a way that was making me a little uncomfortable—but it wasn’t completely unwelcome. The warmth and good feeling in my chest was shifting the tingling fire I usually felt for him into something warm and pliable, taffy that could be stretched, molded…shaped around my heart. It was a dangerous feeling to let myself have. There was no future here. No potential us to romanticize. Even if he wasn’t taken like I’d originally thought, he was still a Benneti, and I was still a Cox. Anything between us would severely alter both of our careers and forever damage my relationship with my father. Just meeting like this was bad enough; anything more…was impossible.
“No, thank you,” he whispered, taking a step toward me.
The sincerity on his face made my heart thud in my chest, made me feel winded, like I’d been running, not racing. “For what?” I asked, unconsciously stepping toward him. God, he was so much more desirable when he wasn’t being an asshole. It made me want to forget all the obstacles between us.
Before Hayden answered me, he slipped his gloves off and tossed them onto his bike. There was a sparkle in his eyes from the track lights, making them even harder to resist staring into. “For agreeing to race with me,” he finally said. “And for being so damn
beautiful, it’s almost physically painful to look at you.”
Surprise made my lips part. “I…”
Reaching out for me, Hayden gently tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. His smile was soft as his fingers brushed across my cheek and over my bottom lip. I sucked in a sharp breath. I felt like he’d just lit a fuse inside me, and in about ten seconds, I was going to explode. I should leave. I should run. I should invite him home…
“Mackenzie?” he asked, his voice quiet.
“Yes?” I murmured. Shouldn’t I be saying no?
“Do you—?” Before he could finish his question, the cell phone tucked in the pocket of his racing leathers started making a wailing siren noise that sounded like a bomb warning. Hayden cringed, then looked up at the time on the lap board. “I gotta go, but same time tomorrow, right?” His eyes were alive with hope that I would say yes. And I wanted to. Almost as much as I wanted to know who was calling him this late at night…and what he’d been about to ask me….
“I’ll be here.” Waiting for you.
* * *
I was later than usual to the track the next morning—I had to get some sleep, after all—but I didn’t feel tired. Quite the opposite. I felt energized, alive, ready to take on the world. My mind was telling me to be extra cautious when I entered the Cox Racing garage, to be on alert for any clue that someone had discovered what I’d done, but my soul just wouldn’t shut up long enough to listen to my head.
Racing with Hayden had opened something inside me, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Or him—his praise, his fingers on my skin, his lingering question…I couldn’t wait for the sun to set so I could experience it all over again. I was getting addicted to the rush of competing with him, or maybe it was just him I was developing an addiction to. I should stop before it’s too late. It already is too late, dummy.
A voice startled me out of my thoughts. “’Bout time you showed up. I was just about to send a search party out for you.”
I looked over to see Nikki kneeling by my bike. The residual adrenaline flowing through me instantly froze into a solid lump of ice as Nikki inspected the bike’s engine. I’d refueled, changed my tires, and made the bike just as perfect as I’d found it, but if anyone would notice something was off, it would be her. Jesus, what would I say if she spotted something weird? I couldn’t sleep last night, so I broke in and did a few laps. Yeah. She knew me too well to buy that. Even if it was mostly the truth.
While I waited on pins and needles for my betrayal to be uncovered, Nikki absentmindedly said, “I dragged Myles out of his house and made him go out last night. He’s been a hermit since the wreck. Says he can’t drive so there’s no point in going anywhere. I told him that’s why he had friends with cars. He bitched the entire time, but I think he had fun. He got a lot of sympathy shots anyway. I texted you to join us. Where were you?”
“Sleeping,” I automatically answered as I sat on a stool next to her. Had I screwed the gas cap on as tightly as she normally did? She wasn’t acting like she was concerned with the bike, though, so I relaxed. It was fine. She didn’t know anything. A flash of guilt followed that thought. She was my best friend, and she didn’t know anything…
“You okay?” she suddenly asked, her brows furrowed in concern.
I forced a smile. “Yeah. How do you think Myles is doing? He always seems so…depressed when I see him. I keep waiting for him to bounce back, but he’s not.” Even more guilt flashed through me after that realization. I should be doing more for him. But I needed to focus on racing. My friends were beginning to fall to the wayside in my pursuit of excellence, and I hated it. There were only so many balls I could juggle, though.
Nikki opened her mouth, then shut it. Shaking her head, she said, “I’m actually kind of worried about him. All he talks about is Hayden.”
A long sigh escaped me. “Yeah, I know…” And even worse, I knew Myles might be right about his suspicions. I shouldn’t see Hayden again.
“Myles is so sure Hayden caused the wreck, even though there’s no proof of anything…” Nikki shook her head before continuing. “I told him he’s starting to sound just like Keith does when he blames your dad. He needs to let that shit go before he winds up like Keith too.” She looked around the garage to see if anyone had heard her. Just speaking Keith’s name out loud was a fast track to getting on my father’s bad side.
Her dark eyes shining with worry, she said, “Can you talk to him, Kenzie? Convince him he’s just pissed he got hurt, and he’s looking for an excuse?”
“Yeah, of course. Maybe I’ll swing by his place tonight or something.” I wasn’t meeting up with Hayden until midnight. I had time.
Looking relieved, Nikki stood and gave me a swift hug. “Oh good, I hate to see him like this. He should be taking us cockroach racing, not planning Hayden’s downfall.”
I froze with my arms around her. “His downfall?”
Sighing, Nikki pulled back. “Yeah. It’s getting bad, Kenzie. The sooner you get over there, the better.”
Reassuring her that I would, I put talking to Myles in the number one spot on my mental to-do list. Hayden’s downfall would lead to my own, and I couldn’t let that happen—too much was at stake.
After working out—an hour of weights and an hour on the treadmill—I did a few laps around the track so my father would know I was still giving him my best effort. And much to my surprise, my times were better than they had been the day before. Not as great as my late-night run with Hayden, but better. Dad even gave me a nod of approval when I was packing up for the night. So, all in all, it was a great day.
I drove to Myles’s duplex after leaving the track. All the lights were off, but I couldn’t believe he was asleep already, and I doubted anyone but Nikki could have successfully gotten him out of the house, so I walked to his door and pounded on it. “Myles? It’s Kenzie. Open up.”
No answer. I tried again and waited a few more minutes. When nothing happened, I squatted down to look at the lock. Was I seriously contemplating taking a page out of Hayden’s playbook and picking the lock? Maybe if I had his tools…and any clue how to use them.
Just as I was debating whether I should try jimmying the lock with a credit card, the door opened. I peeked up to see Myles staring down at me. “Kenzie? Uh…drop something?”
I instantly stood up and slapped on a carefree smile. “Hey…no, I just wanted to check on you. How are you doing?”
Myles pushed the door open wider and indicated inside his dark house. He looked like he’d just woken up—or hadn’t gone to sleep in days. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair was a disheveled mess, and his clothes were rumpled. His fractured leg was fully casted, and he was using a crutch under one arm to get back to his couch. “I’m great, Kenzie. Awesome, really.”
He sat down in the dark living room like it was perfectly normal to not have any lights on. The small space was littered with takeout boxes. At least he was eating; that was an improvement from the last time I was here. Turning on a light, I joined him; he cringed at the sudden brightness. “Come on, Myles, don’t do this to yourself. Your leg will heal, you’ll be back next year.”
He turned his weary eyes my way. “You really think there will be anything to come back to?”
My jaw hardened as I locked eyes with him. “I won’t let the team go under. I promise.”
Myles sighed, then patted my arm. “I know you won’t.” He said it like a parent trying to make a child feel better, like he didn’t truly believe what he was saying. A stab of pain ripped right through me. He doesn’t think I can do it.
I choked back the hurt while Myles sighed again. “The leg’s not really the issue anyway. I fractured my collarbone. That’s the one that’s gonna cause me problems. There’s no real way to set it. They did the best they could, but it might always bother me…”
The grief on his face dissolved the sting from his words. He’s hurting, depressed. He needs me. I put my arm around his shoulders. “It’s gonna be okay, Myl
es. Nikki and I will help you get through this. Whatever you need, we’re here for you. I’m here for you.”
He looked over at me, his expression suddenly stern. “Do you mean that?”
“Of course,” I immediately answered.
He gave me a curt nod. “Then help me get Hayden back.”
Tension tightened my body. “Myles…” How could I convince him that Hayden didn’t have anything to do with his wreck without sounding like I was defending Hayden? I couldn’t, and I really didn’t know if Hayden had been involved or not. All I knew was that I needed Hayden to help my racing improve, so I was going to have to convince Myles that he would be worse off going after Hayden than leaving him alone. It made me feel sick that I had to. “Dad doesn’t tolerate retaliation. If you mess with Hayden, you’ll start a chain reaction with Benneti that will escalate into something…truly ugly. And if Dad pinpoints it back to you, you’ll be fired. For the sake of your career, just…leave this one alone. Please?”
Myles glared at me for a moment, then sighed. “Yeah…maybe you’re right.”
Hearing him agree with me made me relax a little, although the guilt of why I really wanted him to leave Hayden alone didn’t lessen any. “Of course I am. Now how about we turn some more lights on, I’ll make a real meal, and we’ll watch a movie or something?”
He was grimacing at my suggestion. “Uh, everything sounds great except the dinner part. I can’t eat that diet tofu crap you live off of.”
Rolling my eyes, I said, “Well, how about spaghetti then?”
His jaw dropped. “You’re voluntarily eating carbs? I’m the one who got their head knocked around, but you’re the one acting different.”