Chapter six
Tyler pushed his bright, neon green Kawasaki up to the mound they used as a start gate.
He had his new matching helmet on and all his pads, his chest plate, and boots.
He straddled the bike, pulling on his gloves as Davey rolled up beside him on his blue and red bike.
Both bikes had splashes of neon yellow, and both were equally impressive mechanically as well.
Tyler spent a good deal of time ensuring they stayed that way.
Even if Davey wasn’t racing in the Supercross events anymore, he still couldn’t keep off the track.
“I’m gonna get you some green boots, too. Maybe for your birthday.” Davey nodded down to his old beat-up boots.
“I don’t need riding gear.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Stop arguing. It makes me happy.”
Tyler rolled his eyes. “Fine.”
“Rico’s never going to buy you riding gear like this.”
“What?”
Davey looked guilty. He pulled his helmet and goggles on quickly. “Come on.” He gently cranked the engine, rolling the kick-starter. The bike purred to life. Tyler went through his startup, but he was determined to get back to Davey’s comment later.
They rode around the track relatively slow the first time.
They’d walked it earlier to be sure there wasn’t anything that would surprise them.
Sometimes rain would wash parts of it out, though that was rare.
The bigger thing they looked for was what wild animals might have done—digging or defecating.
Once they were satisfied, they’d rolled the bikes out, but the first trip around was always slow.
Safety first, even on dirt they knew well.
They hadn’t been playing with the set up lately, so it didn’t take long before they were riding full out.
Tyler had always been more comfortable working on the bikes, but he loved riding, especially when he was on the track with Davey.
They went through the whoops section, and not surprisingly, Davey pulled ahead of him.
On the next jump, he gave it his all and caught a ton of air.
They weren’t competing, it was fun, so he didn’t care that Davey was farther ahead.
Davey had been scrubbing the jumps low and getting better speed on the track, but for Tyler, the higher he could jump the better.
On his third time around their course, Davey lapped him. When he passed on the turn, Davey roosted him, mud flying everywhere. Tyler stopped and pulled his goggles off.
Davey slowly pulled up next to him, throttling down. “You’re not supposed to stop!” Davey yelled over the bikes.
“So!” he yelled back. He didn’t want to ride anymore. He shut his bike down, and Davey followed suit.
“Are you mad ‘cause you ate dirt on that last turn? That’s what the tear offs are for.”
Tyler shook his head. “I’m not feeling competitive.”
“What is it? I thought we were having fun.”
“Yeah? What was that comment about Rico then?”
Davey blew out a loud breath. “I just, you know. You were flirting with him...”
Tyler shook his head. “I didn’t—”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m just being stupid.”
“It’s not stupid. It’s how you feel. I didn’t mean to make you jealous.”
“I’m not. It’s fine. Come on.”
Tyler knew he wasn’t fine. Davey didn’t want to argue, so he acted like it didn’t bother him. Tyler should have known better. He should have picked up the clues when they’d met with Rico, but he’d been having too much fun. The argument wasn’t over, it’d only been postponed.