Motocross Me (Motocross Me 1)

“Are you excited about the Nationals?”

“Oh of course I’m excited,” I reply with little to no enthusiasm. I no longer want to talk about the motocross track or motocross racing or motocross in general. Ryan appears from behind his truck, eating a hamburger. He heads to the bonfire. I ignore him as he sits on the log and try not to notice the distance that is now between us on the fallen tree.

Seth continues, “I bet your dad’s got you working a lot, huh?” I don’t recognize him as a racer, yet even he knows I’m Jim’s daughter.

I sneak a sideways glace in Ryan’s direction and catch him sideways glancing at me. Now I have the opportunity to make him jealous. I let my stick fall to the ground and lean forward, getting closer to Seth.

“Yeah, it’s hard work for sure.” I glance at Ryan again and he is back in his conversation as if our mutual side-glance had never happened. My chest aches as I struggle to squeeze more flirt out of my flirtless personality. “How did you know I worked at Mixon?”

Seth’s sheepish grin reveals a sweeter side to him than any side Ryan has ever shown me. Maybe they aren’t clones after all. “Well, I race motocross,” he says. Still, I don’t recognize him and I am sure I know every local racer by name and bike number.

“I don’t remember seeing you around,” I say as flirty as possible. I plaster a crooked smile on my face and twirl a strand of hair around my finger, hoping Ryan sees all of this. Seth lifts the leg of his shorts, revealing a fresh scar that covers his knee from top to bottom. “Just had knee surgery, so I’ve been out of commission a while.”

Before I can respond, he leans forward and speaks in a more serious tone, as if interrogating me.

“So I bet you know all about the new track changes.”

Out of the corner of my eye I see Ryan’s shaggy hair shuffle as his head turns toward us.

“Yes I do,” I answer with a coy smile.

“Well, what is it?”

“How dare you!” I gasp, playfully slapping his arm as if insulted. “You know it’s a secret.”

He buries his head in his hands and laughs, admitting defe

at. “I know, I know,” he says. “Just thought I’d try.”

“Hey Seth, how’s the knee?” Ryan joins our conversation and a surge of power jolts through my veins. My flirting and leg touching worked and now Ryan is here to save me from the guy who tries to steal my affection.

“Just a few more weeks of rehab before I can race again,” Seth answers. Ryan nods and reaches for my hand.

“Hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to borrow Hana for a minute.” Like a zombie with no brain, I take his hand and allowed him to pull me up from the log. We say goodbye to Seth. With our fingers still interlocked, Ryan leans down to whisper into my ear.

“Let’s take a walk.”

Chapter 18

The last sunlight of the day hides behind oak branches of the trees surrounding the lake. We walk toward the thinnest part of the woods and soon the sandy shore fades into dirt. Broken sticks crunch under our feet. This is the only part of the woods that is clear enough to see through to the road on the other side. There are no streetlights, electric poles or glows from neighboring towns. That endless county road is the only indication that we aren’t lost in miles of wilderness.

Ryan’s arm rests around my shoulders as we walk. His hand hangs limply at the top of my collarbone and it smells like the charcoal from his friend’s grill. My stomach rumbles.

Normally the scent of food or anything resembling food would have my mouth watering. Tonight, the flame-grilled smell makes my stomach ache in a different way. Ash flashes into my mind, holding the spatula from Shawn’s party and standing by the grill with a crooked smile on his face. Why am I thinking of him now? In the woods, walking next to Ryan, where I am very sure he will try to kiss me again, and Ash has to jump into my brain, ruining the mood. What a jerk.

Ash doesn’t kiss me or take me on romantic walks through the woods. Ash breaks away when I allow our hugs to linger a moment past the friendship-only threshold. Ash had a dozen golden opportunities to sweep me off my feet and make me his girlfriend, but he chose to stay on the sidelines and watch each opportunity disappear. I have no reason to believe that Ash will ever come through for me. That is why I am with Ryan tonight.

So why can’t I stop thinking about him?

Ryan climbs up a large piece of limestone as wide as the hood of a car. He is now a foot taller as he turns around to face me.

“Are you having a good time?”

“Sure,” I reply out of habit and even in the darkness I can see his face fall into a frown. Maybe if I had lingered a bit longer before answering he wouldn’t have called my bluff.

“It’s because you don’t know anyone,” he says.

“I guess you’re right,” I say, taking a step closer to the rock as the darkness surrounds us.