Chapter 27 ~ Carter ~
I pressed my thumb on the gas lever of my quad, trying to squeeze out every last bit of speed. The engine roared. I turned the handlebar and shifted my weight slightly to the left to take the final curve. The trees rushed past me in a blur.
Yes!
The dirt from the track sprayed up on both sides of me. I had long since left all the other riders behind. Don was nowhere to be seen, and even Cameron must have been quite a ways back. I was going to win this race. The trophy for the club championships was as good as mine.
But suddenly, I wanted more.
Now I could prove to everyone that I was the best rider the club had ever seen. I didn't just want to win the trophy; I wanted to break the track record. It had been set over 10 years ago by a daredevil rider from another club. The guy had had an accident a few months later and broken both legs multiple times. He never got on a quad again.
Now I had the chance to beat his time and go down in the club's history.
I yanked the handlebar again and shifted my weight slightly to the right. I almost thought I could feel the touch of tree bark as I whipped around the curve.
All too soon, the finish line was in front of me. I pressed the gas lever to the max once more and raced through the finish line.
A short while later, I came to a stop in front of Tony.
"You crazy dog," the club manager growled at me.
I took off my helmet. "That was good, wasn't it?" I grinned at Tony, satisfied.
"You broke the record." Tony shook his head. "Are you out of your mind? Do you want to end up in the hospital with two broken legs too?"
"Come on, Tony, don't be like that. I broke the damn track record. Finally, someone from our club is the fastest here again. I brought the record home." I grinned at Tony proudly. But he made no move to congratulate me.
At that moment, the other riders crossed the finish line.
Cameron.
Don.
Cameron didn't spare me a glance, rode past me, and disappeared behind the clubhouse with his quad. We hadn't spoken since the wedding. I shrugged. I wasn't missing anything. Cameron was my brother, but in truth, Don was much closer to me.
My best friend now got off his quad, took off his helmet, and gave me a hearty slap between the shoulder blades. "Congratulations, buddy. You did it, champ. How do you feel?"
"Great," I replied, although the expected high hadn't set in yet.
What was wrong with me?
Don and I now left the finish area and walked slowly towards the clubhouse. The award ceremony would take place later on the steps to the veranda.
Why did I feel hardly any anticipation at this thought? For weeks, I had imagined how I would feel when I finally put Cameron in his place. In second place. In the place behind me.
Now it had happened. And I felt... nothing.
Was I getting sick?
But I felt perfectly healthy.
"You don't sound like a winner," Don now remarked. "What's going on?"
"I'm just having a bad day. Since this morning. Somehow things haven't been going well lately." I shrugged.
"What's not going well?" Don wanted to know.
"Oh, just everything." I had no idea what wasn't going well.
"Are you having problems with the production of your new products?" Don wouldn't let up. I usually appreciated my friend's persistence, but now I would have loved to snap at him and tell him to shut his trap.
"No, everything's good at the company." I kept my answer as short as possible to give Don no opportunity to probe further.
"It's great that you can now supply batteries to the Elecar Corporation. Your numbers must be going through the roof! You've made it!" Don grinned at me enthusiastically.
"Yes, Carco Batteries is doing pretty well," I confirmed. "It was quite good that I managed to convince those other board members that my product is better and their chairman is only thinking about his own interests. I won." Yes, I had beaten Cameron in this respect too. Last week I had received the good news and felt similarly empty as I did today.
"You haven't sounded this unenthusiastic since we had to memorize Shakespeare in school." Don remained persistent.
"What are you trying to say?" I knew exactly what Don was trying to say. Normally, I would have grinned more enthusiastically than him, ordered a few bottles of the best champagne, organized some women, and had a proper night out.
Maybe I should do exactly that? In the past, I had always had a lot of fun and thoroughly enjoyed myself at such events. But strangely, the thought of a wild party with everything I could wish for now didn't spark any anticipation in me.
"Damn it, Carter. You've achieved all your goals. More even. And you're walking around here with a face like a wet weekend." Don wouldn't give up. It was really getting on my nerves. He wasn't a damn psychiatrist who could rummage around in my feelings like a homeless person in one of the trash cans in Central Park.
At that moment, Cameron walked past me. To my surprise, he stopped. "Well, do you feel better? You've won here too. brOTHER." He spat out the last word.
"It must be hard for you to face your own incompetence," I shot back. This remark made me feel better instantly. If I could snap at Cameron, it felt somehow familiar. I could blow off steam.
"I never wanted to manufacture those stupid batteries anyway," Cameron growled.
"Well then. Do something else." I shrugged. I really didn't care about Cameron. I would have wished anyone else good luck in pursuing their dreams. But not my brother.
He had once destroyed my dreams.
"You can have the contract. But I'll never forgive you for sucking up to our grandmother like that." Cameron's eyes narrowed to slits as he looked at me. In the past, that had been a sign he was about to attack me.
A fight would suit me just fine right now. Giving Cameron a good thrashing was long overdue anyway.
"What do you mean, sucking up?" I retorted. "Our grandmother just loves me."
And not you.
But I only thought that, I didn't say it.
"She's leaving you half the money. And that's even though your fiancée turned out to be a total failure." Cameron clenched his teeth.
"Shut your mouth!" I balled my hands into fists and raised them in front of my chest. Don put a hand on my arm. He wanted to calm me down. I shook off his hand. I DIDN'T WANT to be calmed down.
"Oh? Shut my mouth? Is that all you can say?" Cameron sneered.
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. Maybe it was better not to start a fight so close to the award ceremony, but to simply ignore Cameron's provocations. "Our grandmother just realized that her strategy to get me married off wasn't the best. You can't force a happy marriage after all."
"What's that supposed to mean? Are you saying Hanny isn't happy with me?" Cameron snorted indignantly.
"I couldn't care less." And I really didn't. My brother could do whatever he wanted. Grandma Ruth had explained to me shortly after his wedding that she wanted to divide the inheritance equally between us, regardless of whether we were married or not. In my mind, I heard her words.
That was a mistake, Carter. I wanted you to be happy and used completely wrong means to achieve that. Happiness can't be forced, especially not at a specific time. You'll find the right woman for you eventually.
I wasn't convinced of that, but I had been careful not to contradict Grandma Ruth. I didn't want to take away her hope of seeing me married someday.
"Hanny and I are happy. She would never play such a false game with me like that slut you brought to the wedding." Cameron grinned at me.
At that moment, I saw red. I lashed out. Quick. Hard. My fist landed in Cameron's face. My brother stumbled down a step and stared at me indignantly. Then he made a forward motion.
"Stop!" A hand was placed on Cameron's shoulder from behind.
Tony.
And at the same moment, I felt Don's hand on my shoulder.
"You're not going to start a fight here." Tony looked at me intently.
"Why not?" I countered aggressively. The punch had felt good. I felt relieved. Finally, a part of the anger I had been carrying around for weeks for no apparent reason had left my body.
I could hardly wait to strike again.
"You don't want to be disqualified after the fact, do you?" Tony kept Cameron firmly in his grip. Don had a bit less trouble with me. I wouldn't strike as long as Cameron couldn't defend himself. I wasn't that unfair.
"This isn't about the race." I wanted to get rid of Tony as quickly as possible.
"What's it about then?" Tony wanted to know.
"None of your business." My tone was unfriendly. Dismissive. Rightly so. This matter was none of Tony's business.
"Ever since that slut cheated on him, my poor brother has been as sensitive as a woman about to get her period." Cameron grinned at me.
At that moment, I didn't just see red. I blew a fuse.
"You... miserable pig..." I wanted to rush down the stairs and knock all of Cameron's teeth out. Don barely managed to hold me back.
"You'd both better go home now," Tony said. "This isn't the right place for your family disputes." With these words, he grabbed Cameron even more firmly and led him across the graveled parking lot to his car.
I stared after them angrily. I felt truly cheated.
Cheated out of a good, proper fight where Cameron would have lost all his teeth. The vein at my temple was pulsing violently.
"Do you miss her?" asked Don, who was still clutching my arm.
"Who?" I growled.
"Who else. Isabella, of course."
"NO!" I tore myself away from Don and whirled around. I stared at him angrily. "Why would I miss her? What makes you think that?"
"Honestly, Carter. You've achieved everything you wanted. The big contract is yours. You're getting your share of the inheritance. You've also won the club championships, even with a new record. You've beaten Cameron in every way. Yet for weeks you've been in a mood that couldn't be worse. And just now you almost lost it because Cameron insulted Isabella."
"I always almost lose it with Cameron. I don't care what he calls Isabella!" I glared at Don angrily. "I just never want to hear about her again. You should know that! She cheated on me and lied to me and betrayed me in the worst way possible. I'm done with her!"
Don looked at me silently.
"What? Don't you believe me?"
Don was still silent, studying me from head to toe. He really did think he was a psychiatrist. Don't they also like to stay quiet and wait for you to answer your own question? But I wasn't going to do Don that favor. No way.
Don then asked, "What actually happened? You never told me. But the way you're acting, one might think she jumped into bed with your brother at Cameron's wedding."
No.
With me.
I quickly banished that memory from my thoughts.
Being reminded of Isabella's naked body was really the last thing I wanted.
"She's engaged to someone else. They have a shared apartment, or rather a shared mortgage for that apartment. She probably just wanted to earn some extra money from me."
"You've told me that before. Honestly, Carter, that's all just hearsay. Donovan Hayden Ellesmere told your grandmother. You have no proof that Isabella and this man are still involved. Apartments are scarce these days. There are quite a few people who break up but still have to live under the same roof. Because the one who wants to move out simply can't find an apartment." Don raised his arms. "Becoming homeless isn't an option either."
"Then she could have told me that. She didn't. At the hotel, she pretended this guy was threatening her. A dirty trick to improve her chances with me." I snorted angrily.
"Maybe he really did threaten her?" Don suggested.
"Whose side are you on anyway?" I eyed my buddy suspiciously. Don raised his hands defensively.
"Yours, of course, buddy. I'm just saying, maybe everything is completely different than it seems. Why don't you talk to Isabella again?" Don nodded at me.
"What good would that do?" At the thought of seeing Isabella again, my cock throbbed in my pants. That only made me angrier. "Talking won't help, not at all. It'll just lead to an argument. I'm not in the mood for that."
"Talking can also serve to clear up a misunderstanding." Don was living up to his reputation. He had always been stubborn in school, not giving up easily.
But so was I.
"If there was a misunderstanding. That's not the case here. I don't need Isabella and I don't miss her either. What I need is another woman. One who can distract me and with whom I can spend a few nice hours."
"That's up to you." Don gave up. Almost. He added, "I would talk to her again. You have no idea what really happened. Maybe everything is completely different than you think."
"NO!" I turned my back on Don and walked past him into the clubhouse to get my things.
Misunderstanding. Absolutely ridiculous. The situation was as clear as day. And it was also clear that I didn't miss Isabella.
Why then, at the thought of her, my cock throbbed in my pants and my heart beat faster, was a mystery to me.