Chapter Six #2
“No, Revel, it fucking isn’t.” He steps closer, voice lower now, which is worse than the yelling. “You’re talented enough that you don’t need to ride like you’re trying to prove something every time somebody gets in front of you.”
“I wasn’t proving anything.”
“Then what were you doing?”
“Winning.”
He stares at me for a long second.
I hold the look.
Finally, he points at my chest. “You know exactly where the line is. That’s what makes this shit worse. You keep dancing on it because you think knowing where it is means it can’t fucking move. But guess what, it can and all it takes is one stupid split second.”
That lands harder than I want it to.
I look away toward the small window overlooking the paddock. “I had control.”
“And if you lost it?”
“Jesus. I know!”
“Do you?”
I look back at him.
He’s still pissed, but there’s something else under it now. The same thing I saw on Cece’s face.
Worry.
I fucking hate that more than the yelling.
“I know,” I say again, quieter this time.
Andre studies me, then lets out a long breath. “Good. Because I’m not interested in scraping you off a wall because you needed one more inch. Consider yourself suspended from the next race, and you’re lucky that’s all you’re getting. Now, get out.”
“Yep, sure thing Coach, consider me out.”
I pull the door open before he can change his mind.
The guys are already packing up when I step back into the garage. Leathers are half off, helmets tucked under arms, and everyone is moving like the place is on fire.
Sayshen sees me first. “You made it out alive?”
“Shit, barely.”
Talon zips his bag. “How bad?”
“He suspended me, so about as bad as I expected, honestly.”
Echo closes her laptop a little harder than necessary. “He’s not just pissed. He’s scared of losing another rider.”
The joking drops out of the room for half a beat.
I glance toward Andre’s closed office door, then back at her. “I get it.”
Echo holds my gaze. “Then maybe stop giving him reasons to think he might.”
I grab my keys from the bench. “Yeah, I’ll think about it.”
She rolls her eyes. “Fucking idiot.”
I know she’s right.
I don’t like scaring them. Don’t like the way Andre looks at me after a close call, or the way Echo gets quiet when something goes wrong. I’m not trying to make anyone worry.
But speed is the only thing I’ve ever found that shuts everything else up.
Within twenty minutes, everyone’s packing up and heading home to shower before Cece’s set. Bags get grabbed, bikes start up, and the garage clears out fast.
I hang around for maybe thirty seconds longer than everyone else. Then I’m on the bike and pulling out behind the others.
The ride home would normally clear my head, but tonight, it doesn’t.
The race is still running through my head—the pass, the rear sliding, Ajax right beside me.
But the look on Cece’s face when I crossed the line is what sticks. She looked worried as hell, even if she’ll never admit it.
I glance in my mirror at the next light and spot her car two spots behind me.
My grin hits so fast it almost hurts.
Oh, hell yeah.
I look forward again when the light changes and pull through the intersection, but I keep checking the mirror.
She stays there.
Through the next turn and the next.
Not close enough to make it obvious, but close enough that she knows I’ll spot her.
My whole mood lifts.
Maybe she’s finally done pretending.
By the time I turn into my condo lot, she’s right behind me.
I laugh inside my helmet.
Ah shit, my girl followed me home.
I pull into my spot and kill the engine, taking my time with the kickstand because I want to see how long it takes her to come to me for once.
Her car door flies open before I even get my helmet off.
Cece gets out hard, slams the door, and comes straight at me.
Her hair is loose around her face. Black boots hitting the pavement. Eyes blazing.
She looks furious.
Also fucking incredible.
I lift my helmet free and set it on the bike. “Miss me already, Mama?”
She reaches me and slaps me across the face so hard my head whips to the side.
Fuck me, that’s hot.
Hot enough to make me grin when I look back at her.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” she snaps.
I rub my cheek and laugh once. “Well shit, that’s a pretty long list.”
“You could’ve died.”
“But I didn’t.”
She shoves both hands into my chest. “But you could’ve, cabrón. That’s the fucking point. You could’ve.”
I catch her wrists before she can shove me again and step in closer.
That’s when I see the fear in her eyes is the same as it was out on the ocean when the water got too deep, only worse. Back then, she was scared of what was under her. Right now, she’s scared of what could’ve happened to me.
“I didn’t,” I say, quieter this time. “And I won.”
Her jaw tightens. “Yeah well, the entire race I was really hoping you’d lose.”
“Liar.”
“Pendejo.”
“Still lying.”
Theres that same look from the barrier, only angrier.
Hotter, and completely focused on me.
Fuck me.
She yanks at her wrists, but there’s less fight in it this time. I loosen my grip, and instead of pulling away, her hands stay between us, pressed against my chest.
Right over my heart.
Her eyes drop there for a second, feeling how fast it’s beating, then lift back to mine.
Neither of us moves.
The air changes so fast it almost knocks the breath out of me.
All that fear in her eyes twists into something else. Something darker. Hungrier.
I let one hand slide up her arm, slow enough to give her time to stop me. My fingers settle against the side of her neck, right over the pulse jumping beneath her skin.
She still doesn’t move.
My thumb drags under her jaw. Her breathing turns shallow, and I feel the exact second she leans into me.
Barely.
Enough.
“I like that you’re mad,” I say.
“Oh, I’m fucking furious.”
“Good.”
Her eyes narrow, but there’s no real warning in them anymore.
I lean closer until my mouth is almost on hers.
“Means you care, Mama.”
“Ay, cállate.”
The words barely leave her lips before she grabs my shirt and yanks me down and kisses me hard.
No hesitation or warning. Just heat and anger and everything she’s been trying to hold back crashing into me at once.
I catch her around the waist and pull her tight against me, kissing her back just as hard.
She bites my lip, and I groan into her mouth, her grip tightening.
Fuck.
She kisses like she’s still punishing me. Like every second she spent scared at that barrier has turned into this.
Her hands shove beneath my shirt, nails dragging over my stomach, and whatever control I had starts slipping fast.
I walk her backward until she hits the side of her car.
She doesn’t even break the kiss.
My hand slides over her hip and pulls her closer. The second she feels how hard I am, her breath catches, but instead of backing off, she rolls her hips into me.
Every thought in my head disappears.
“Mama.”
“Cállate.”
She drags me back to her mouth.
I grip the backs of her thighs and lift her as she wraps her legs around my waist instantly, like her body decided before her pride could fucking stop it.
I pin her against the car and kiss down her jaw, then her throat, feeling her pulse race under my mouth.
Her head tips back just as my name leaves her lips, low and breathless.
It nearly finishes me.
I lift my head and look at her.
Her lips are swollen and her hair is a tangled mess. The anger is still there, but now it’s buried under want.
“So you still want me to lose?” I ask.
Her eyes flash.
Then she pulls me closer with her legs.
“Shut up and take me inside.”
That’s all I need.
I kiss her again and start for the door with her still wrapped around me.
She doesn’t give me a second to think. Her mouth stays on mine, hands in my hair, nails scraping over my neck like she’s trying to drag every bit of patience out of me.
It’s working.
We make it maybe five steps before I stop and kiss her harder, because, apparently, walking like a normal person isn’t happening anymore.
By the time I get to the door, I’m breathing like I just finished another race, she’s biting my jaw, and my grip on her thighs is getting tighter by the second.
“Ay, cono. Hurry up.”
“I’m trying, Mama.”
“Try harder,” she whispers, rolling her hips against the hard length of me through my jeans while I hold her tight against my chest.
“Keep moving like that and we’re not making it inside.”
She does it again on purpose.
Fucking menace.
I finally get the door open and kick it shut behind us. Her back hits it, and I’m on her again before the lock even catches.
I try to slow the kiss down, which lasts maybe like two seconds.
Then she pulls my hair, bites my lip, and whatever control I had left fucks right off.
Her hands are everywhere—my chest, nails raking down my stomach, and straight to my belt.
“Jesus Christ,” I breathe against her mouth, my grip tightening as she drags herself over me again.
Her lips brush mine when she smiles. “Problem?”
“Yeah.” I pull her harder against me, letting her feel exactly what she’s been doing to me since the second she climbed out of that car. “You took too fucking long.”
Her eyes darken.
“Too long doing what?”
“Giving in.”
She rolls her hips again, slow and deliberate, and every smart-ass answer in my head disappears.
“Careful, Mami.”
“Why?” she whispers. “You look like you can handle it.”
I laugh once, rough and breathless. “Keep doing that and you’re about to find out.”
I drag my mouth down her throat, and she arches into me so hard I nearly forget we’re still standing by the door.
There’s no fear left in her eyes now.
Just hunger.
Hot, pissed off, greedy hunger.
Exactly how I knew she’d look once she finally stopped fighting it.
I carry her down the hall with her mouth still on mine, but we only make it halfway before I put her against the wall because she keeps pulling me closer like I’m not already trying to crawl under her skin.
“So fucking needy,” she mutters.
“You’re the one wrapped around me.”
“And?”
“And I’m losing my fucking mind.”
That gets a little smile out of her right before she kisses me again.