11. Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
Bridges
“You there, Bridges?” Weston’s voice came over the earpiece I was wearing. I’d just left the campground and was headed to Bonnie’s Biscuits, our first meet-up spot.
“Yes, West. You okay? You have water. Do you need to stop?”
“No. Just kinda bored. What did you think about when you were riding long distances?” He was breathing heavily, but this was upstate New York, and there were plenty of hills. I’d ridden the whole trail before. It was a ball buster.
“Uh, I thought about what I wanted to conquer next. We can look at some trails for training in the Midwest for later this fall and then in the Southwest for training over the winter. Have you thought about whether you want to map your trail south to avoid the mountains, or do you want to go north? The southern trek is about five-hundred miles longer, but no mountains.”
West hummed. “I think before I make a decision I should ride some mountain trails to see how grueling it is.”
That was smart. One never knew until they tried.
“We can go for a weekend to West Virginia and you can get some exposure to mountain bike trails. They’re not as high as the Rockies, but it would give you experience. You still okay?”
“I’ll meet you at Bonnie’s. Stay awake, old man.” Weston chuckled.
“Old man? Oh, you must be pedaling awfully slow if you’ve got time to annoy me. Speed up. I’ll see you soon. What do you want me to order you when I beat you there?” The phone went dead, and I laughed. The guy had a competitive streak that I appreciated.
Twenty minutes later I pulled into the parking lot because I had to go through the little town to find the place and the speed limit was twenty-miles-per-hour.
Of course, the residents of the town weren’t driving that fast, stopping to talk to folks on the sidewalks with no care or concern for holding up the flow of traffic.
I was the only one honking and getting flipped off by grandmas and grandpas.
When I finally pulled into the parking lot of the diner, there was West leaning against his bike, flipping me off as I shifted into park. I’d had more than enough of that for one day.
“Took you long enough.” He was laughing as he watched the slow parade of senior citizens out for the day to shop or whatever they did on a Saturday morning.
“Kiss my ass,” I said as he stood away from the bike, which he’d already fastened to a bike stand in front of the diner.
West laughed. “Maybe once we get to know each other better.”
His comment took me off balance, but only for a moment. The kid had a good trash-talk game.
We went into the diner and got a booth, West sitting across from me. The server left menus and poured each of us a cup of coffee before hurrying away to wait on other customers.
“Remember, coffee makes you need to shit. Not many places to do that on the road,” I offered.
The handsome young man laughed. “I’ll take care of it before we leave. So, you and Alexis? That anything?”
I wanted to laugh. Even if I was willing, Alexis was definitely not interested. It wasn’t for me to say, so I smiled. “No. She’s only a good friend. No interest on either of our parts.”
West nodded as our breakfast was delivered. “She’s really nice. Does she bike too?”
“She does, and she designs electric bikes and scooters, in addition to the mass manufactured bikes we’re planning to market. How about you? Is there someone waiting at home for you?”
Weston laughed. “Not at all. I’ve dated since I was in high school, but nothing ever stuck. I don’t want to be tied down to the wrong person, ya know?”
In that instance, I guessed he’d taken a look at someone like me and decided I was a cautionary tale, what with a too-short marriage. He was a handsome guy, just like my ex-husband, though Scott and I were older.
Many men and women likely found West attractive and took their shot at him, just as they’d done with Scott. The difference was Scott didn’t say no when he should have.
“You see a future with someone as being tied down?” My voice had a bite I wasn’t proud of but the comment reminded me too much of what Scott said at the end of our marriage. “Being tied to you is like struggling against the anchor of the Titanic.”
West shook his head. “I didn’t say that. I said I didn’t want to be tied down to the wrong person. If I find the right person, I wouldn’t see it as being tied down. Catch the difference?”
Well, he had me there.
He excused himself to the men’s room while I paid the bill. When he returned, I finished my coffee and got a cup to go.
“Okay. Let’s get back on the road.” I pointed to the RV as Weston went to the bike and unlocked it.
“I’ll call you.” He hopped on the bike and waited for me to get into the RV. I nodded to him to go ahead, and I pulled out of the parking lot behind him, hazard flashers blinking to alert other drivers to the cyclist ahead of me.
We were on a state road so I could ride behind him as the SAG car—support and gear car—and offer him some protection from other motorists. I didn’t hate that I got to watch his ass swaying on the back of the bike all day.
We were closing in on West Point, New York, where we were going to stop for the night. West and I had been talking much of the way, but his phone was nearly dead, so we hung up to preserve his power. I made a note to get him a portable charger so he could extend his phone life.
After stopping twice for snacks and restrooms, West seemed to be doing well. I saw him move his right hand from the handlebars, and a moment later, my phone rang. “I’m here, West. You okay?”
“Fine. I just wondered what you were doing?”
I could hear his breathing as he pedaled up the hill ahead of me, and I wished to fuck I was there next to him instead of driving the SAG car. “Well, I’m following you. Do you need something?”
“I’m fine. The bike is great. The aero bars are fantastic. I mean, leaning into them seems to be working well and takes the pressure off my lower back. The seat, though... It’s not as comfortable as I hoped. I’ll be fine, but just a note for you. How about you?”
I nodded, though he couldn’t see it. “We can change bikes tomorrow morning when we leave West Point. I got a reservation at a hotel instead of sleeping in the RV. That okay?”
“But I kinda like the camper. Are there any campgrounds nearby? What time is it?” He didn’t sound winded at all, which was a good sign. He was making good time, but it didn’t surprise me. He was showing me the dedication to the cause that I hoped to see.
“It’s just before five. Let’s stay at the hotel tonight.
There will be enough occasions that we’ll have to sleep in the camper, so let’s take advantage of this so you can have a decent shower and a good meal before I give you a rubdown.
The hotel is about eight miles on your left.
What do you like to do for fun, West? Any hobbies?
” I truly enjoyed talking to Weston, and those last few miles were the hardest when one was riding a hundred a day.
“Uh, I was a nerd. Putting together puzzles of all kinds was fun for me. Legos, wooden, crappy cardboard. Puzzles of all kinds. I even like doing crosswords and find-a-word puzzles. How about you?”
I chuckled. “As I said before, I’m an engineer. I like putting things together as well. Favorite kind of music?”
“I like all kinds of music except electronic dance music. I want words that mean something. You?”
“Nineties music is my favorite. I mean, that was my youth. That music helped me get through heartbreak and disappointment.” My thoughts ambled back to the music that shaped me. So many songs swam through my mind, and I smiled.
“Will you tell me about your first heartbreak?” West asked.
“Why do you want to hear about that?”
Weston sighed. “Why wouldn’t I? You’re divorced from your husband. I just wanted to know if you were blindsided. You said your ex-husband cheated. Did your first boyfriend cheat, too?”
My mind drifted back to Perry Syler. He was my high school’s golden boy.
Captain of the football team, and a real prick.
Of course, nobody could convince me of it back then.
I’d given him a few blow jobs, and then we got caught in his car behind the football field by his friends, and they embarrassed him.
Perry beat the fuck out of me, trying to prove that he was straight.
That was before I started working out so nobody could ever physically hurt me again.
The emotional pain, though—one can’t prevent that if they let someone in.
“Cheaters and closeted guys were my weakness back then. I thought I’d gotten over that stupid mindset until Scott showed his true colors. How about you?”
Weston never answered as he signaled to the left before pulling into the parking lot of the small two-story hotel.
I followed him and found a large spot for the RV before going to the front of the place to take the bike from West. “Stay here and walk around to cool down. I’ll get our stuff and be right back. ”
I hurried out to the RV to grab our bags so we could check into our room, and West could relax. The hotel had an indoor pool and spa on the first floor, and it might do him some good to sit in the warm jets for a while.
I came back to where he was sitting on a bench with a bottle of water from his saddlebag. I relieved him of the hydration backpack and the spare tire, taking his gear to the RV and coming back for his bike.
“Come on. Let’s check in so we can go to the pool for a while.” I placed my hand on his back as he walked into the hotel in his socks, having shoved his bike shoes into one of the saddlebags before I took the bike and put it inside the RV.
Once we were in our room, West and I took turns in the bathroom, changing into swim trunks to go down to the pool. We stepped onto the elevator, which was empty, and I punched the button for the pool level.
“Can you swim?”
West chuckled. “Yeah. We had a pool at our... My brother and sister inherited the beach house, as you heard at the reading of Dad’s will. Obviously, I’m not invited out there any longer. When I was a kid, I used to swim in the pool and the ocean. It was fun.”
I nodded. The pain from his father’s actions was evident in his voice, and I wasn’t about to push him further. What Claude did to May and Weston was shameful.
“Okay, well, let’s go down to the pool so you can soak in the hot tub. Life’s too short to be in pain before bed.” There were a few other things I wanted to say, but I was tired. We’d been up since five. It was time to relax.
There was a family in the pool area—two boys and a girl with their parents—but they were in the heated pool. The young boys were jumping from the side where their parents could catch them, and the daughter was floating on her back. They looked happy.
We stepped into the bubbling spa, and we sat on the built-in bench.
The water was warm, and the way West relaxed made me smile.
He needed to loosen up. He had another hundred miles to do the next day.
His knees were healing quickly, but he’d need to bandage them the next day.
Flexing as they would during a ride made them crack when they dried out.
“So, Weston, have you learned anything about yourself today when you were riding in solitude even though we were in contact pretty much most of the time?”
West dunked himself under the water in the spa, and when he came up, he slung his head to move his hair before his hands wiped the water from his eyes.
“I learned that I have a lot to learn. Thank you for agreeing to teach me.”
I remembered when I felt the same gratitude toward his father.
Weston Aames was a damn smart man, and something inside me said that I needed to figure out how to make him mine.