Chapter 26
Twenty-Six
Carter
River fires up her dirt bike and throws on a helmet. I stand in front of her, clipping and tightening the straps. “I have to admit, you look hot as fuck sitting on that bike, but I don’t know how I feel about you racing.”
“We do it every year after Thanksgiving dinner. The Hendrix dirt bike race is a rite of passage.”
Harley and Harper are on either side of River, revving their engines.
“Alright,” Rhett says with his pistol at his side, standing off to the side and facing the dirt bikes.
“Y’all know the rules. First race winner secures the girl’s slot.
Second race winner secures the boy’s. The final round is girls against boys, and winner takes the three-hundred dollars in my pocket.
” Rhett’s eyes meet Aspen’s. “You sure you don’t want to race this year? ”
“No, I’m good.” She shakes her head and leans back against Cal’s chest as he wraps his arms around her.
“Hannah?”
She looks to her dad then back at Rhett. “No, but thank you.”
Rhett nods. “When you hear my shot.”
I back away from the bikes and stand by Aspen and Cal as Rhett holds his gun in the air.
“Ready.”
“Set.”
He fires into the air, and the girls take off, passing him. River pops a wheelie, then disappears through the trees. I’m gonna spank her ass for that. Sweat drips down my temples even though it’s forty-five degrees outside.
“You look nervous,” Aspen says to me with a laugh. “Just wait till she hits that jump on her way back.”
She points at a mound off to the right that I didn’t notice.
A few minutes later, River clears the trees and takes the jump, flying through the air.
My heart stops beating. Her cousins follow behind her.
Each one right on her back tire. Landing hard, she pushes the bike forward, then pops another wheelie before slamming it down and skidding out in front of us, kicking up dirt.
She hops off and places her helmet under her arm, walking up to me, all smiles. “I am the weener!”
“Damn. I think that was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” I say pulling her into my arms. “But also, I don’t know if my heart can take you doing that again.”
“Oh, that’s nothing compared to some of the other stuff we do. Wait until this summer. We all go base jumping as a family.”
“Like into water?”
She shakes her head giggling. “No. We have the whole outfit and everything. You actually soar through the air like a bird . . .”
“More like a kite,” Aspen corrects.
“It’s the coolest thing,” River adds.
I stare at them for a few seconds, my stomach becoming queasy at the thought of River freefalling from a tall structure.
I must turn a shade of green, because Aspen bursts out laughing. “We're fucking with you, Carter.”
“I may be an adrenaline junkie, but I’m actually afraid of heights,” River giggles. “Anyway, I’ve raced every year for over fifteen years, except for last year; I know what I’m doing. And before you even say anything, it’s not about the money; it’s about the bragging rights.”
My cell rings as the boys mount their bikes.
I take the device out of my pocket as I walk over to Cal.
The name scrolling across the screen stops me in my tracks.
I look back to River. She’s joking around with Hannah and Aspen, but she looks at me, so I silence the call and hand the device over to Cal. I’ll return the call in a few.
I turn to her, tilting her chin up with my fingertips. “I don’t know if I can handle you getting back on that bike.”
“Carter—”
Pressing my fingers to her lips, I silence her. “I want to make a deal with you.”
“A bet?”
“No. A deal.”
She looks around at her family as they watch us with curiosity.
“I’m listening,” she says, eyeing me skeptically.
“If I win this race, you let me declare you the automatic winner and we don’t race each other. If I lose, you can race in the final for those bragging rights.”
I can tell by the look on her face, she doesn’t want to agree, so I sweeten the pot. “If you agree to this deal, we’ll pay for all four of your cousins’ college tuitions. No matter the cost.”
“That’s a lot of money.”
“We have a lot of money.” I shrug a shoulder.
I don’t miss the confused expression River gives me at the word “we”.
She turns to look at her cousins. They all watch to see what she’ll say, their eyes practically begging her to agree to my terms. I know her uncles do well, but sending all four of their kids to college practically all at once will probably be a hardship for them.
Am I playing dirty? Yes.
Do I care? No.
I’m doing everything in my power to keep my wife safe, yet here she is putting herself in danger. River hesitates before holding out her hand.
“Deal.”
Thank fucking God.
We shake, and I place a kiss on her lips, then strut over to the bike tucked between Hayden and Hayes. Tucker sits on a bike at the end with a big smile on his face.
“You’re going down, Uncle Carter,” Tucker cackles.
“We’ll see, buddy,” I say to him, then turn to Hayden. “Tell me about the track.”
He runs me through where to go, and I start the engine, ready to race without a helmet because I don’t have one and River’s won’t fit me.
“Alright, that’s enough!” Coach yells. “Graham! Get your ass off the bike. Now! We have a game tomorrow, and I won’t have you risking an injury.”
Fucking dammit!
I look over my shoulder and huff. “You know, Coach? I think I liked it better when you weren’t a part of this family. Can’t you just . . . you know . . . turn your head and pretend not to see this?”
“Off. The. Bike.”
The boys look between me and Coach, a question in their eyes as Coach arches a brow, waiting for me to defy him.
“If you boys forfeit and declare River the winner, I’ll fly your entire family out to New York to watch one of our hockey games. All expenses paid. Owner’s suite and everything.”
“No way. I’ve been waiting to race for eleven years!” Tucker says, his face scrunching up. “Plus, what kind of deal is that for me? My mom owns the team.”
Hayes chuckles, shaking his head. It’s then I realize how seriously they all take this dirt bike race.
“If you played pro football, I might have considered it. But we don’t give two shits about hockey,” Hayden says.
“That’s twenty dollars in the swear jar,” Tucker retorts.
My head whips around, and I crane my neck to look at him. “I thought it was only five dollars.”
“Inflation.” He shrugs.
Full on shoulder-shaking laughs wrack my body. I dismount the bike and hold onto the handlebars, directing my attention to her uncles. “Either one of you want to take my spot?”
“What? And take the chance of messing up all this?” Kyle gestures at his body. “No, baby. I’ll stand here and watch.”
Well, that doesn’t make me feel any better.
I look at Matt, and he shakes his head.
“New deal,” I say, walking over to River.
“Nope. I’m racing. A deal’s a deal.”
Fuck.
Cal saunters over, handing my phone back to me.
I look down to find three missed calls on my screen.
All from Lee, the private investigator. Pocketing the cell, I turn and kiss River on the forehead.
“Fine. I know this is fun for you, but the thought of you getting hurt isn’t fun for me.
I can’t watch you take that jump again.”
I begin to walk away but she stops me.
“You should stay. I might just spin the bike around or do a flip in the air. You never know what I’ll pull out of my ass, but I promise it’ll be something exciting.”
My heart beats wildly at the thought.
“Fucking quit it. You’re gonna give me a heart attack.”
She giggles. “I’m kidding. I can’t do that shit. I’ll be careful. Promise.”
Nodding, I take off walking down the driveway to return the call to my PI, but before I can press the call button, my phone buzzes in my hand again.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Graham. We found activity on the perp. The last purchase on his credit card was about thirty minutes ago at a gas station in Stroud.”
Stopping in the middle of the road, I kick a loose rock and look off into the woods.
The way this PI is able to get credit card information has me wondering if he’s legit or not.
Honestly, if he’s giving me valid intel and doing the job I’m paying him to do, should I really even give a shit? No. Probably not.
A gunshot rings in the air.
“Thanks, man. I’ll tighten up security. Keep me updated if you have anything else.”
We end the call.
I’m not too concerned about him coming out here, though I wish that bastard would fucking try. I’ll kill him myself, and if I can’t get the job done, I know Rhett certainly can.
Texting security, I ask them to post up here, out of sight, then I head back toward the house. My phone vibrates in my palm.
Diesel
If we cross paths with Mrs. Graham, she’ll need to know she can trust us. When can we meet with her?
How the hell do I tell her about them? I know my wife.
She doesn’t trust anyone. If I introduce her to three strange men she doesn’t know and tell her they’re her personal security, she’ll fight me on it and tell me she doesn’t need security.
I pocket my phone, deciding to deal with that later.
Another gunshot echoes around me as I begin to make my way around the back of the house.
River’s blonde hair whips behind her as she heads through the trees.
I slide in next to Cal, Aspen, and Hannah, and wait for River to make the jump.
“My dad would kill me if he found me on one of those,” Hannah says, then turns to Aspen. “Why didn’t you race?”
“I’m too full,” she fires back quickly.
Hayden comes out first, clearing the jump, then River. She lands the bike and tries to speed past Hayden, but he has her beat.
Killing the engine, he takes off his helmet, then saunters over to Rhett, snatching the three, one-hundred-dollar bills from his hand. “I’ll take that, thank you very much,” Hayden says.
River jumps on Hayden’s broad back and wraps her arms around him.