Chapter 13 Slade
Chapter thirteen
Slade
St. Louis, MO (East/West showdown)
Nate got his clearance from the doctors and shot me a wave as he rode by, headed out with Andrew to the starting gate for his heat race.
I was working with Pete to tweak the last few things on the bike.
Unlike the old days with Dad, he had a tablet hooked up to the bike, giving him the data he needed.
It was more efficient and made the bike so much better.
“Hey, Bro!” I glanced up at the familiar voice, and saw my sister, Brooke, walking up to the pit. I left Pete to his analysis and gave her a big hug.
“Hey, squirt. How’s it going?”
“Eh…school sucks. I needed a break. This is Maya.” She waved at a young lady standing beside her. She had soft brown curls and glossy lips.
“Nice to meet you, Maya.”
She shook my hand and winked at me. What was Brooke up to? Was this her girlfriend or a set up?
Brooke grabbed the Twizzlers stick out of my mouth. “Brat.”
Mom walked up behind them. I hadn’t seen her in a while, though we did talk a few times during the week. “Don’t call your sister names.”
“Mom.” I gave her a big hug. It felt like comfort, like home. “I didn’t know you all were coming out.”
“Your dad thought this was a good race for us to come out to. I’ve missed you.
” She tweaked my cheek. She’d done a lot of our marketing and tried to get sponsors in the past. It took a lot of her time, but with Zahr taking over, I didn’t know what else she had to do.
The race was probably a good distraction.
“I need to get going though. My heat is coming up. We can talk more after the race.”
Maya jumped closer and gave me a huge hug. What the heck?
Before I had a chance to process that, Clay showed up. “What’s going on? Thought we’d ride out to the gates together.”
“Sure. Clay, this is my mom, and my sister, Brooke.”
“Nice to meet you.” He didn’t sound happy, and he was giving Maya the death glare.
I didn’t introduce them, but it was time to go, so I had an excuse. I rode out with Pete on the back of the bike.
During the race, Clay was aggressive. Not that it was all that unusual, but something was off. It felt like he was gunning for me in particular. When he came at me again on the final lap, I let him pass without fighting back. I’d still get second, which would still give me a great gate pick.
I stuck around to watch the reporter interview him to see if he said anything to clue me in.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one to notice the change.
The reporter asked him about it and then stuck the mic in his face.
“I wanted the win. Going against the West is no joke. Yeah. Each step of the way there’s a goal.
Get a good qualifying time. Win the heat and get first gate pick.
Win the Main.” He went on to thank his sponsors after that.
I’d noticed racers tended to do that when they were done with the interview.
That was something I needed to remember.
Clay left without even a word, leaving me feeling slighted.
During this week’s practice, we were practically inseparable.
More early workouts, more making out, racing together on the track and learning from each other, long walks to talk about life.
And a lot more kissing. This was a complete three-sixty from him, and I didn’t like it at all.
If he was pissed off with me, Maya, or anything else, he needed to talk about it.