He crossed the darkened living room. The sun just started waking up and casting long shadows across the floor. He followed the hallway past the other guest rooms to the stairs at the back of the house that led down to Davey’s gym. At this early hour, that’s where Davey would be, on the treadmill or hitting the weights.
The door squeaked as Tyler pushed it open. Davey stretched out on a bench with a lot of weight stacked on either end of the power bar. He was pressing more than he normally did. Tim stood behind him, spotting. Across the space, Tate stood in front of the wall to wall mirror with much lighter weights on the curl bar.
Tyler released a long slow breath that he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. No hanky panky going on. They were working and Tyler admonished himself for thinking otherwise.
“Hi guys!” Tyler said. Tim gave him a short wave, but the other two just grunted. “Fruit and yogurt for breakfast. I’m hitting the pool.” Feeling a bit foolish, Tyler ducked out quickly and jogged back up the stairs. How stupid of him to think Davey would let something happen. Tate was a good guy and Tim wouldn’t let anything happen either.
Tyler wondered if his jealousy had reared its ugly head because he missed Davey. They had crashed, skipping sex the night before. They’d played and worked hard the day before and both were tired. So missing sex again this morning was strange for them. He knew Davey was all about focusing on his training, determined to win races. He wanted to win the championship this year and nothing, even sex with Tyler, was going to stop that. It left Tyler feeling a bit neglected. Since they’d moved in together, they’d been fucking like the proverbial bunnies. Things were settling down. He couldn’t expect the frenetic pace to continue.
Determined not to pout about it, Tyler grabbed his sketch pad and headed for the pool. He liked to doodle around enjoying the morning sun. The desert heat wouldn’t kick in until a little later in the day. Living here was different than Colorado with cool nights and mornings, and afternoon heat unbelievably scorching. Colorado was almost always colder than Southern New Mexico. He thought about inviting his family to The Ranch for Christmas this year instead of leaving them to freeze up there.
Tyler’s phone started buzzing, interrupting his thoughts. He set his sketchpad on his lap and pulled out his phone. Andy’s number flashed across the screen. “Andy! What’s up?”
“Hey, sorry to bug you on break, but uh, this is important.”
“What?” Andy still worked for the KTM team as Cole and Shannon’s lead mechanic. Tyler’s stomach instantly knotted, knowing something was not right.
“I heard Parker and Cole talking about you.”
“So?”
“It’s bullshit, Ty. They’re planning something. I think they’re gonna hurt Davey. Fuck him up on the track after the break.”
Tyler pulled his knees in to his chest. His sketchpad fell to the ground and he didn’t even bother picking it up. Davey getting hurt on the track was Tyler’s worst nightmare. He thought it had come true already, but thankfully Davey had only sprained an ankle. Those two homophobes could cause a lot of damage to Davey or someone else that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. “Assholes!”
“Yeah, Parker was goading Cole on. Saying all kinds of nasty shit.”
“I don’t want to know, but, uh, they might not even be racing, Andy.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“Lawyers are involved, and uh, I can’t talk about it.”
“Okay. Just so you know, Cole had to have stitches under his eye. You totally did a number on his face. Are you and Davey okay?”
Tyler started pacing along the tiled floor in front of the pool. “Yep. Never better. This is all just getting so out of hand.”
“It must have felt good to let loose on that jackass, though. That was a long time coming. Ty, he shouldn’t have fired you like that.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“It does.”
“Well, we’re suing KTM for it. I’m probably not supposed to tell you that.”
Andy laughed heartily. “That’s great, Ty,” he finally said after calming down. “Cole is such an idiot. Listen, I can be a witness for you. I was standing right outside the pit when it all went down. I heard all of it.”
“When he fired me?”
“Yes, but what Parker was saying and all. I’m done with this shit. If KTM doesn’t clean it up, I’m looking for a new job. But, just so you know. This is all Parker. Not that Cole’s not an asshole, but Parker’s been goading him on since the beginning. He’s the one that showed Cole that picture and told him not to take your shit. Actually, he said Homo-shit.”
“I guess being a homophobic asshole is a requirement to be on the KTM team.”
“Hey, don’t lump me into that crap. I’m straight as a board, but I don’t give a fuck who you sleep with, dude.”
Tyler sat down on the edge of the pool, dangling his feet in the cool water. “I know, Andy. You’ve been such a good friend and I appreciate it. I gotta go, though. I need to have a talk with Davey’s manager.”
“Okay. Call me if you need anything, bro.”
“Will do.” Tyler ended the call. Nothing Andy had said was news to him, just confirmation of what they’d suspected. Parker Shannon was the king douche and he was dragging Cole along with him, not that Cole was resisting any. He was dragging 250 racers in on it too. Hell, they were probably who Shannon had got to vandalize the RV. Shannon was a heap load of bad news any way you looked at it.
As soon as Angel and Stewart got up, he’d let them know what Andy had said.
47
Last Day of the Break
Davey watched as people splashed in the pool and ate from the buffet they’d set up. Stewart grilled steaks, burgers, chicken and veggies on a skewer. Alcohol flowed. His dad had thrown parties here in the past and Davey couldn’t help wish the man was there with them. He would have loved Tyler’s friends. Janie’s boyfriend had her on his shoulders, playing chicken against Angel who sat on Jessie’s shoulders. Dillon and Tim sat at the table talking about bikes. Davey knew that would be good for his cousin. Tate paced along the far side of the pool on the phone. He missed his boyfriend. Davey’s man splashed Janie and Angel, cheering them on while Davey sat on the edge of the pool with his feet in the water, enjoying the chaos.
A buzzing from the table got Davey’s attention. “Hey, Angel that’s yours!” he called to her.
Jessie dumped her into water. She came up splashing everyone and flinging her long black hair around like a dog and laughing. Tyler dunked her again and swam away fast. Janie launched herself off her boyfriend’s shoulders to grab Tyler and dunk him. Davey laughed at his friends playing around.
The front door rang and Tyler yelled out, “Jessie, why don’t you wrap up in a towel and go answer that.” Davey laughed, remembering how they’d almost broke up over that exact thing, and happy both guys could joke about it now.
“Fuck you Ty!” Jessie called back, but he did exactly what Tyler had asked. He wrapped a towel around his waist and headed inside. In a minute, Tony and Luke followed him back to the pool area.
Tony had a petite girl on his arm. She had long brown hair and elfish features, pointed little nose, narrow eyes, and thin lips. Davey thought she was attractive enough, but then she smiled and it lit up her whole face, making her supermodel stunning. Well, if she’d been taller. “This is Marie,” Tony introduced her around.
“Join the party. Food, drinks, pool,” Davey pointed to each thing as he said it.
“Thanks. Good to meet you.” Her voice rang out sharp and lyrical like a bell. Davey could see what Tony liked about her. He’d probably like her too, if he wasn’t in love with Tyler, who to him was the ultimate blond bombshell. No other could compete. He looked around for his fiancé.
Tyler splashed around with Janie in the pool. He had missed his friend and Davey was happy that she could come and visit. They had been best friends since childhood and they’d been roommates when th
ey’d moved away from home. It had to be hard for Tyler to be so far away from her all the time. She was like his bratty sister and Davey was beginning to love her like that too. How could he not? Besides loving her because Tyler did, she was smart and foul mouthed and rambunctious.
“Hey!” Angel called out, getting everyone’s attention. She stood by the table holding her phone, after having got out and dried off at some point. “Listen up. News from Apex.”
Everyone quieted down. “Go on,” Davey prompted.
“KTM dropped Parker Shannon. Cole Lindt suspended for two races. Well, they’re both suspended for two races, but without sponsors and being on a team, it may be longer for Parker to come back.”
Davey crossed his arms over his chest. “Feels like a victory, but a small one.”
Stewart put his tongs down and leaned over Angel’s shoulder to look at the message. “Shannon doesn’t have his own bike or resources. Without a team or sponsors, it’ll be a while. Plus it’s not going to be easy for him to get on a team. He hasn’t shown anything but his ass since coming to up to the 450 team.”
“You can say that again,” Tyler murmured, standing beside Davey. Water dripped from his hair that had started turning more a white blond, bleached from the sun, and down his tanned face looking very lickable. Davey leaned over and sucked at his lips, making Tyler giggle. That was Davey’s favorite sound in the world, so he did it again.
“Geez, Cuz, get a room!” Jessie complained, but everyone else just laughed along.
“The thing is. We don’t know that they’re behind everything. The threats and vandalism. So, security measures stay in place for now,” Angel said, pointing at Davey and Tyler.
“Sure, Angel,” Davey agreed. It couldn’t hurt to keep security in place. The KTM troublemakers had been up front and blatant about their threats. The other threats had been significantly more covert. Letters, emails, and messages from accounts that opened and closed on the same day, making it almost impossible to trace. Secretive and more scary than Shannon’s verbal diarrhea.
Despite all the fun they were having, most of the people at the party had to catch flights the next day. The next race was in Texas, so the flight would be short, but once they got to the track, work started. Luke and Tony had the earliest flights. The RV and bike trailer had already been parked in Arlington, but they had to be driven to the track.
Davey was ready to get back to work. The training with Tim had been great. On the track, Tate had helped push him harder, and he knew he’d done the same for Tate. It would pay off in the long run, and Davey couldn’t wait to get back to racing to show off what he’d picked up.
The party broke up and Tyler joined Davey in the shower to rinse off the chlorine from the pool. Davey ended up on his knees, sucking Tyler off because he couldn’t stand not having his hands on his lover for one more instant. With Tyler’s cock hot and heavy in his mouth, his hand roamed up his muscular thighs and grabbed on to his ass. His cheeks filled Davey’s hands, as he pulled Tyler closer, deep throating him, and swallowing twice before pulling off. He reached down to his own cock, stroking himself fast and hard as he sucked Tyler’s cock. It only took a minute before he came all over the tiled floor of the shower and Tyler grunted, thrusting into Davey’s mouth as he came hard, too. They hadn’t been having sex as regularly as they were used to. Davey planned on making that up to Tyler, immediately.
He stood up and wrapped Tyler in his arms. “Come to bed, baby. I missed you.”
“Mmm. Missed you too.”
They crawled in bed together, entwining their naked bodies together and totally wrapping up in each other. Davey felt secure and loved and perfect. The break had been exactly what he needed and in Tyler’s arms was exactly where he needed to be. The only thing that could be better was if the threats against them were over with, but he was afraid they hadn’t seen or heard the last of Parker Shannon or their mysterious menace. “Hey, Ty.”
“Huh?” Tyler snuggled him, burying his nose into Davey’s neck.
“I want to try to work out a truce with Cole.” Davey didn’t give a shit about the suspension. He didn’t care about punishment or revenge. He just wanted it to stop.
“What the hell?” Tyler pulled away, propping himself up on his elbow and staring down at Davey with fierce green eyes.
“Maybe with Shannon out of the picture, he’ll back off. You know? If Andy was right and this was mostly Shannon. We can just get back to racing without the bullshit.”
Tyler dropped down onto Davey’s chest with a sigh. “I don’t know, baby. Cole had it in for me before all this shit came up. I think it was just an excuse to do what he wanted to do in the first place. We never got along from day one.”
“Why’s that?”
“Beat’s the hell out of me. I never did anything. I thought things were turning around between us after I was assigned lead for his bike. He’d seemed happy enough after he won. Then, the picture fucked it all up.”
Davey pulled Tyler in tighter, wanting to protect him from every kind of hurt. “I think we should try.”
“Okay. I guess it couldn’t hurt. Just don’t expect much, Davey.”
48
Round Thirteen Race
Tyler wiped his sweaty hands down the front of his jeans for the fifth time. He had no idea why this meeting had him so nervous. He didn’t like the idea of Cole Lindt coming to the RV. It felt like an invasion of his privacy. The rig had become home away from home for him throughout the season, and he had met Davey here. It held ample memories, but he certainly didn’t want to add meeting Cole here to the list.
Davey sat next to him on the couch and grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together. “Baby, this is for the best.”
“I know.” Ending the feud with Cole had to happen. Everyone including Angel, Apex, and the race officials agreed that they should try to smooth things over. Cole’s suspension had ended and there had been no more incidents on the track. Of course, Parker Shannon still wasn’t racing. He’d made a reputation as a troublemaker for himself and no other teams wanted him. It highlighted the difference between Davey and Shannon. When Princeton dropped Davey, it only took one independent race before he’d rung in a new sponsor. Davey may be gay, but everyone still loved the All-American kid with his clean-cut looks and winning attitude. Tyler couldn’t be more proud of him.
Tapping at the door brought Tyler’s head up and had his heart racing. Davey let go of his hand and crossed the living room. “Hey, come in.”
When he backed up and sat next to Tyler again, Cole followed him. Davey gestured for him to sit at the table, and he did without a word.
“So, you know why you’re here,” Davey said, softly, reassuringly.
Cole swallowed hard and stared at the table. “Uh, I know. Look,” he lifted his head and met Davey’s gaze, “I’m sorry. I let things go too far. I should never have tried to hurt you on or off the track. I was a kind of a dick. Sorry.”
“Kind of a dick?” Tyler asked. “That’s like saying you kind of like Supercross and I don’t believe either of it.”
“Tyler.” Davey nudged him.
Cole huffed. “I said sorry. What more do you want?”
“I want you to mean it. I want you to stop being a dick. I want you to tell me why the hell you have it in for me so badly.” As he spoke, Tyler’s tone got louder and he almost stood up. The pressure around his temples increased, making him want to punch Cole all over again.
Cole looked down at the table again and bit his bottom lip. “Look. You’re young and outgoing. Successful without trying. Everyone loves Tyler Whitmore. I’ve had to work hard and scrap for everything I’ve gotten, but you. You? Fucking everyone just hands you everything like you deserve it for just being you.”
Tyler wondered where the hell Cole had gotten that impression. “That’s so not true.”
“It is,” Cole whined. “You’re all blond hair and cute smile. You look like a fucking angel and everyone treats you that way.”<
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Tyler started to protest, opening his mouth, but he wasn’t sure what to even say to that.
Cole continued, “Hell. You can do no wrong. You even come out as gay and look at you. You land the number one rider in Supercross, pick up a fabulous sponsor. You’re now the darling of all Supercross, not just one team.”
“I’m not anyone’s darling. Well, except Davey’s.”
Cole laughed, but it wasn’t humorous at all. “You just don’t get it. I had to compete with you on my own team. My team. I hated you because of it. So, when you came out—”
“We were outed. I didn’t come out.”
“Whatever, dude. You know what I mean. I used it as an excuse. Tried to get rid of you. I got you off KTM quick enough, but that didn’t get Tyler Whitmore out of Supercross. No. You jumped all over Davey’s team. Again. Everything just handed to you.”
“You know what?” Tyler asked. This time he did stand up. “You don’t know a god damned thing about me.” Tyler leaned into the table, planting his palms in front of Cole’s. “I’ve worked hard. As hard as anyone. No one has handed me shit. I’ve earned this. But here’s a lesson for you Cole. You get a lot more out of life by being nice. By sharing with others. Your dick moves aren’t ever going to get you anywhere except sitting beside Parker fucking Shannon. On the bench. Is that what you want? Because KTM won’t keep you around if you keep this shit up.”
Cole leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. He made eye contact with Tyler for the first time since he walked in to the RV. “I said sorry. I let it go too far. I’m not going to keep being aggressive to either of you, on or off the track. But, that will never make us friends, Tyler.”
Davey pulled Tyler away from the table and back to sitting on the couch. “Thanks, Cole. We truly don’t want trouble from you or anyone. Vandalizing the RV and making death threats is never okay.”
“What? I didn’t do that.” Cole held up his hands. “I wouldn’t put it past Parker, but I didn’t. I swear I had nothing to do with that. All I did was bad mouth you, and shove you around. You know, the fight.”
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