Chapter nineteen Cole #3
He was cranky and needed sleep. I left him to it. I grabbed a t-shirt and shorts out of my bag and changed out of my wet swim trunks. I left the room, taking my wet stuff with me and headed to the gym.
Davey’s facility had everything. Row machines.
Free weights. Treadmill. Stationary bike—one of those fancy spin bikes that were so popular lately.
I shook my head. I needed a gym in our new place, too, but I didn’t think it would be this big or this nice.
Equipment was expensive. On the far side, as promised, was a double door that led to the shower room.
Davey hadn’t spared any expense. The tiled room looked like a professional sports team locker room and shower area.
Beyond the lockers and benches, the bathroom area had three shower heads with low, tiled walls between them, two toilet stalls and two urinals on the far side of them.
Davey was serious about bringing his racers here to train.
I draped the wet towel and trunks over one of the shower walls and headed back to the main house.
Everyone had gathered in the living room where the main feature was Davey’s 250 bike with a number one faceplate on it, mounted on a stand, next to the fireplace.
For guys like us, the racers, it was perfect.
I had noticed it when we first came in, but now I got up close and examined it.
“Man. That’s cool. I never would have thought to mount my 250.
This is the one you won on that last year? ”
“Yep. It was my dad’s idea. Probably one of the last things he did before he passed away.”
“I’m sorry for your loss. I mean, that must have been hard.
” I hadn’t once stopped to think about what Davey McAllister had gone through to get to the top.
None of it was handed to him on a silver platter.
He earned it, and he’d lost his father along the way, so he did all that earning, or most of it, alone. He’d been a kid. I shook my head.
“Thanks. It was a long time ago.” He laughed awkwardly. “I wanted to have my 450 mounted, too, but Tyler said no.”
Tyler grinned like he knew something the rest of us didn’t.
“Right. If I win this year, I think I’m taking a page out of your book.” I ran my finger over the seat. “This is sweet.”
Davey mumbled a thanks at the same time Tate chimed in with, “If. If you win, Cole. I’m going to be on your ass the rest of the season, and I plan on taking it.”
“Oh, we’ll see.” I wasn’t about to let Tate or anyone take the championship from me.
The next morning, Davey and Tyler worked together to make a large breakfast of scrambled eggs, wheat toast, fresh fruit, and coffee.
Nix and Tyler had cheese in their eggs but the rest of us passed, even Davey, which surprised me.
He still ate and trained like a racer, even though he’d been retired for a year or two now.
I figured he wanted to keep up with the Apex racing team.
Rico and Tate were in prime form, and I could imagine that 250 racer, Bryce, was as well.
He was significantly younger than the rest of us.
I didn’t know about the female racer they had.
She was doing well, but I doubted she would ever move up to the 450s, let alone win the championship.
She didn’t look strong enough. If she trained like we did, she would be stronger than she looked, but that didn’t mean a woman could be as strong as us without bulking up a lot more.
It remained to be seen. In any event, the 250 racers weren’t there.
I swallowed a bite of egg then knocked my knee into Nix. “What are you doing today? Coming out to the track with us or what?”
“No. I’ll be editing some of the film I took last week.”
“You sure? Everyone will be there.” I looked over at Tyler.
His eyes widened, but when Nix looked at him, he nodded.
“Yeah. I’m late, actually. I need to make sure the bikes are ready.
Oh, Cole. Your practice bike arrived day before yesterday, but Fisher is running late.
Won’t be here until tomorrow with Brian.
I took it out of the crate, but nothing else, even though I would love to get my hands on it.
” He rubbed those hands together, maniacally.
“No. Fisher would kill me. I’ll ride it as is.”
“Suit yourself, but I know how you like it.” Tyler leered at me. He was talking about the bike, referring to when he had been my mechanic before I lost my marbles and fired him, but it was also flirty. Too flirty.
I cleared my throat. “Fisher would kill me.”
Tyler held his hands up in defeat.
Nix got up and rinsed his plate in the sink before dropping it in the dishwasher, along with his fork. He didn’t even look at me as he left the room.
“Yeah. I need to get ready.” I followed Nix’s steps to clean up and head back to our room. When I got there, Nix had already started setting up his laptop on the small desk. “Is that enough room for you? I mean, Davey could find a more spacious area for you to work.”
“No. It’s fine. I need to be able to control the light. Can you shut the blinds and pull the curtains?” He nodded his head toward the window.
“Sure.” Once that was done, the room was dark, and I couldn’t see Nix’s expressions very well. “Is everything okay?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“You seem mad.”
“I’m not mad, Cole.” His words and his tone did not match.
“Yes, you are.” I sat on the bed. “Talk to me.”
“Get ready and go practice. This is an important day for you.”
“Nix…” I left it at that. I didn’t know what to say. If he wouldn’t tell me what was wrong, I couldn’t fix it.
“No. I’m fine. I’m, uh, still tired. It’s fine. Go.” He shooed me off.
So, I left.
I joined Rico and Tate, and we geared up. Davey had his own track behind his house, only a short walk beyond the pool area. Over to the side, construction was going on.
“What’s that?” I asked him.
“We’re expanding. We want to continue using the Ranch for training, but we want to bring more people in. Not just racers, but trainers, mechanics, you know, but the main house is too small. This is easier.”
“Think about bringing mental coaches, too.”
“Mental coaches?”
“Yeah, Brian Knapp has been great for me.”
“Ahh…He’ll be here tomorrow. I look forward to chatting with him.” He clapped my shoulder. “Here’s Ty with your bike.”
I hurried over to take the bike from Tyler. He was the only mechanic here with three bikes to deal with. I didn’t want to be more of a burden. “You said Fisher will be here tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” Tyler answered, letting go of the bike. “I did a basic prime, but I didn’t check out your set up or anything. You really can trust me, Cole.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you still looking at me like that?”
“Huh? Like what?” I threw my leg over the bike, feeling the need to get the hell out of there—away from Tyler Whitmore.
“Like, oh…I don’t know. Like I stabbed your sister or something.”
“I don’t have a sister.”
“You know what the fuck I mean, Cole. Look.” He waved his arms around in a weird manner as if he was totally frustrated.
“I’m trying here. I’m being nice. Not being a dick.
I’m honoring our truce. Not simply keeping my mouth shut, you know.
I’m actively working at being friends here. So, give me something, man.”
“What? What do you want from me?” I gripped the handlebars, feeling the tension from my hands to my shoulders and down my spine.
“Like, like…why are we enemies to start with?”
“Geez.” I rubbed a gloved hand over my face. “You can’t be this dense. You know what the problem is. Or was. Whatever.” I reached for the starter so I could get the hell out of there, but Tyler stopped me.
“Cole. I don’t get it. I don’t. Clue me in.
” He held his hands straight up over his head, then dropped them with a shrug.
He was even cuter when he was frustrated, but not cuter than Nix.
“Maybe if I know what’s wrong, we can fix it, because obviously we’re going to be stuck together from time to time.
Like this.” One hand went up. He was so expressive with his body.
I sighed. I didn’t want him to be this aggravated, and he might have been right, but I was a little pissed that I had to come out and say it.
“Okay. Fine. The problem was that I liked you. Like-like.” I was about to admit my attraction, but Tyler’s eyes grew wide.
Not like he was surprised at what I was saying, though.
No, he was looking over my shoulder. I turned around.
Nix stood behind me, close enough to overhear our conversation, and from the way he crossed his arms over his chest, I would have bet my entire savings that he had heard the last part.
“In the past. You know that, Nix.”
He glared at Tyler then at me. “Whatever.” He turned and stormed off.
“Fuck.”
“Shit. I’m sorry, Cole. That wasn’t my intention, and I didn’t see him coming up behind you until—”
“It’s not your problem, Tyler. And we don’t keep things from each other. He’s always known how I felt about you. Notice that’s in the past tense? I don’t have a problem with you. Okay?”
“Yeah.” He looked down at the brownish dirt. It was dry and the top layer easily blew off in the breeze. It would be a killer track. I wanted to get on it. Needed to.
But I also wanted to chase Nix. I didn’t like leaving this misunderstanding between us.
Then Davey called for us to get ready. I hit the starter, loving the sound and feel of the bike. On the track, I could let all that shit go. I would deal with Nix when we took a break.
Practice was long and hard, but mostly good, when I could keep my mind on the track instead of on Nix. When Davey called our first break, I handed the bike off to Tyler and headed back to the house.
I was dirty and planning on heading back to the track afterward, so I didn’t want to clean up. I didn’t want to track dirt through the house either, so I yelled for Nix from the back door. Twice.
He finally came wandering out but stopped at the far side of the kitchen. “What?”
“Come here. I want to talk.”
He rolled his eyes but crossed the kitchen to face me. “What?”
“Why are you mad? You know I didn’t mean I liked him now. I was talking about the past.”
“I don’t know that. It’s not how you’re acting.” He crossed his arms over his chest, signifying that he was pissed at a DEFCON 2 level.
“How am I acting? Tyler wanted—”
“There. Right there.” Nix pointed his finger in my face. He got louder as he spoke. “Tyler. Tyler. The only reason you want me is because I’m here. In front of you. Available.”
“Not true.”
He didn’t listen to me. He yelled. “Ugh! If Davey wasn’t in the picture, you’d go after him. You’re settling for second with me.”
I tried again, holding up my hands. “Nix. Listen. That’s not true.”
But he kept on going. “I’ve been there, too. I did everything I possibly could to adjust my schedule to be there for you. At your practice, at your races. You’ve never once adjusted for me.”
“I have.”
“Oh bullshit. Racing is first. Always. And I get that. But I’m not even second, Cole.” He flipped his hand in the air. “I’m third. Behind Tyler always. And I won’t stand for it.”
He was being totally unreasonable. Angry for nothing.
He wasn’t third to me. He was first. Even when I was on the track, I thought of him, especially today, but he wasn’t listening.
And he pissed me off. Maybe that’s why I opened my big mouth and growled out, “Well, if you feel that way, maybe you should leave.”
“Yep. Because you only want me because I’m here, and now you don’t want me here. I’m gone.” He turned around so fast, I was surprised he didn’t give himself whiplash.
Nix stormed down the hall and back toward the bedroom. I shifted my weight from foot to foot, trying to decide what to do. After a moment, Davey put his hand on my shoulder. “You okay?”
“No. What do I do?”
“I can’t answer that for you, Cole.”
“What would you do?”
Davey sighed. “I’d go the fuck after him.”
I was still standing there when Nix stormed out the front door with his bags in tow. My heart shattered.