Chapter twelve Clay
Chapter twelve
Clay
Practice Track, North Carolina
Inviting Slade to my early morning workout was the best idea I’d had in a while.
After some rowing and lifting, he was sweaty and hot, so he pulled his T-shirt off, giving me an eyeful of hard chest and tight abs.
When he turned around to set up a footwork drill, I got a good look at his back as well.
Like most professional dirt bike racers, he was all lean muscle.
I licked my lips, wanting to get a taste of him.
Moving closer, I grabbed his arm when he turned to face me and kissed him.
“That was nice, but I thought we were working out.”
“We are.” I winked at him.
Slade shook his head and smiled. “Let’s get this done, then shower.”
I raised my eyebrows, knowing it would still be a while before anyone else was around. I liked getting in the gym super early, so I didn’t have to deal with any of the others, but I totally wanted to deal with Slade. “That is serious motivation. Let’s go.”
The drill was basically two steps forward, two back, across the length of the area that was taped out.
Meant to help with balance, the idea was to do it as quickly as possible without tripping up.
We did the drill side by side in one direction, then back the other way, but on the third round, we got a little silly and soon were tripping all over each other.
We landed on the floor with his slick body on top of me.
He shook me with his laughter, and I joined in.
Slade pushed himself up off the floor and offered me a hand. “I’m not used to these. Usually, I just row and lift.”
“They help with—”
“Balance. I know. But doing them with you is a totally different thing.”
“Why?”
Slade grabbed a towel and tossed me one. “Because I’d rather run into you then do it right.”
“Ah…that explains why you tackled me.” I liked teasing him and seeing the blush cross his face.
His dark brown eyes flashed with mirth. “I think you promised me a shower.”
“Something like that.”
We stripped down and got under the hot water, where we took turns soaping each other up.
My hands sliding over his body was nice, and my dick licked it too.
Soon we were soaping up our cocks and jacking each other off.
After we came, I washed his hair, then he washed mine.
The act was more intimate than anything I’d experienced and threatened to get me hard all over again.
Instead, we rinsed and dried off. It was still a good half hour before the cafeteria opened for breakfast.
“Let’s walk over to the pool.” Slade thumbed over his shoulder toward the camping side of the facility.
It was nice that Zeke had set up that area like a campground and racers could stay there.
Of course, BikeMax paid for our team, but I didn’t know if Slade was paying his own way or if Zahr was picking up the tab.
“What’s it been like as a privateer for real?” It couldn’t have been easy financially, or emotionally. Surely there was a lot more pressure to do well, but then again, there was pressure on every team.
“It’s a struggle. If I didn’t have my dad and uncle working on the bike, I don’t think I’d have gotten as far as I have. It’s been a family endeavor from the beginning.”
“My parents were very involved when I was in amateurs, so I know how that goes. That’s pretty much the way most of us start.”
“With Zahr behind me now, it takes some of the financial pressure off, and let’s my uncle and brother get back to a normal life. Dean hated spending every weekend driving across the country.”
“Dean? That’s your brother?”
“Yeah. Dad said he was thinking about actually going to college now like my sister.”
“I have one brother, younger. Wyatt is two years younger than me. My folks are now running around with him in amateurs. He’s hoping to get into NEXT after next year’s Loretta Lynn’s.
” That was the ultimate game-maker for amateur racers.
If you won your division there, you tended to get signed quickly.
But not always. “I’m surprised you didn’t get signed to a team. You killed it at NEXT.”
“You noticed?”
“How could I not? Everyone was talking about it.” The SMX NEXT was previously called futures, either way, it was an amazing program with its own championship, meant to train racers up to the Supercross level.
I’d gone through it before it was called NEXT, and Gavin had already been knocking on my door to sign me.
It had taken some convincing, but this was where I wanted to be.
“Why were you so mean to me? Before, I mean.”
How did I explain that when I wasn’t even sure myself?
I shrugged. “I was pissed off that you were challenging me. I’ve worked hard to be here, and it felt like you came out of nowhere.
You’re obviously more talented, and when you get a little experience under your belt, you’re going to be winning championships.
But this year is mine.” I glared at him. “But that’s only part of it.”
“The other part then?”
That’s when I laughed. “I thought you were hot.”
“You wanted me.” He bumped into my side, and I considered pushing him into the pool. Instead, we sat on the edge and put our bare feet in the cool water.
“I was kind of mad at myself for it, but I was totally attracted to you.”
“I could tell.” He turned to look at me, those dark eyes flashing again. “By the way you pushed me up against that bus and kissed the hell out of me.”
“I’d like to do the kissing part again.”
“And again…” He leaned and kissed me softly, like it was more. Maybe it was.