I look down at my lap. “Yeah, I know you liked that,” I say to my cock, shaking my head. I decide to send her a message back. Maybe it isn’t what I think it is. It was sent the day after I last saw her.
Me: Uh… Did you send me porn?
I don’t know why I decide to lead with that, but there it is. Breaking the ice.
Nugget:
Me: that was fucking hot
Nugget: It was an accident
Me: I figured. You don’t usually send that kind of stuff.
Me: feel free to send more stuff like that.
Nugget: It was me
Nugget: Jess?
Nugget: please say something. I’m so embarrassed.
Nugget: I didn’t mean to record and send it to you.
Nugget: Jess I need you to say something.
I just need to talk to her, see what this is.
“Hello?” she answers, sounding nervous.
“Hey.”
“I swear I didn’t mean to. I’m so embarrassed. I’ve never done anything like that before. I don’t know how I—”
“Penny! Shut up for a minute.”
“OK,” she says, letting out a ragged breath.
“Why was your phone in your hand when you did… that?” I ask, sounding like an asshole.
The line is quiet. I’m sure she’s thinking not only about how to answer, but also about what she was doing.
“Nugget?”
“I was looking at one of the pictures I took of you before you left. The last night we stayed together.”
“What pictures?” I ask with a grin. I know I’m making her so uncomfortable.
“I took pictures of you sleeping.”
“Am I naked in these pictures, Nugget?” I stir the pot.
“No! You don’t sleep naked.”
“Well, that’s not entirely true. I do when I’m alone. Just not with you,” I laugh.
“Jesse…” she warns me.
“What are you doing right now?” I ask as I look at the clock. It’s almost eight in the morning. She’s quiet for a minute. “Penny?”
“I’m lying in bed. Your text woke me up.”
“Have you done that any more since then?” I ask, then regret going there. I close my eyes, wincing at myself.
“Yes,” she admits on a whisper.
I bite back a groan and look down at my cock, which hurts from being restrained in my jeans. I contemplate my next move.
“Are you touching yourself now?”
“Jesse…” she warns again.
Gripping my dick in my hand to help relieve a little pressure, I lean forward and rest my head on the steering wheel. “Are you?”
“Jess, we can’t do this.”
“Why not? Because of your boyfriend who you told me wasn’t real?” I say a little too harshly.
“Because it isn’t right. I’m sorry that video was sent. But we shouldn’t do this.”
“You could have deleted it, you know. And I wouldn’t have even known. But you didn’t.”
I hear her let out a deep sigh. “I need to go. I should get ready for work.”
“Nugget. Please talk to me. What’s going on with us?”
“I don’t know, Jess. I don’t know anything anymore.”
“I miss you,” I tell her, hoping for something more in return.
“I miss you so dang much. But you’re there, wherever that is, and I’m still traveling.”
“So, that’s it then.”
“I think it has to be.”
“Alright. Thanks for the video, Nugget. I’ll talk to you… sometime.”
“Jess—” she starts but I cut her off, hanging up. I can’t listen to her string of bullshit anymore. Especially not now.
I delete the video, open up my navigation app and start my drive across half the country. Alone.
* * *
Tech school has been interesting to say the least. It’s not as rigid as basic, but there’s still a hell of a lot of rules we have to abide by. We have more freedoms, but still plenty of regulations.
I’ve managed to make a few friends. It’s nice to have a couple people to shoot the shit with and hang out with when we’re able to get away. It’s helped the last five months of training go by faster, that’s for sure.
Tomorrow, we’re loading up and driving to our first duty stations. I’m lucky enough that my buddy Ethan Alverez—or Alvie as I call him—is going to the same place as me. We’re driving together to help break up the trip across the country from Virginia to Nevada.
Alvie bought a car out here, but I still need to get my truck. We’re making the long journey a little longer by driving through Graves so I can pick up my truck and Bear to take with me to Vegas.
Yep, that’s right, Las Vegas is where I’m headed for the next three and half years of my time. Funny how it worked out that I’ll be in the same city that houses the headquarters of Royal King, where Penny and her family spend a lot of time. Except I feel like I have acid reflux every time I think about it. And her.
I haven’t talked to her since the day I left to come here. I couldn’t bring myself to reach out to her after she shot me down, and she hasn’t tried on her end either. Doesn’t mean I don’t still miss her every day, though.
“You said you know people in Vegas, right, Jones?” Alvie asks as I’m lost in thought packing up my things.
“Yeah, but they aren’t there year-round.”
“Oh, I see. You’re fancy like that, huh?”
“No, fucker. They aren’t ‘fancy like that,’” I mock him. “They’re good people. I lived next door to them. Sort of.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Jackson asks. He’s our other buddy here, but he’s off to fucking Japan.
“Alright,” I start, sitting up, “stay with me. My neighbor, Travis, his stepdaughter is Tatum King, who’s married to Benton King, the IMR racer. Anyway, they have places in Vegas and in Illinois. Travis’s daughter, Penny—” I grit my teeth saying her name out loud— “she is my best friend and Tatum’s sister. So, yeah, sorta.”
“Wait. You know Tatum King?” Alvie asks. “How did I not know this? I’ve had her poster on my ceiling since I was pubescent.”
“Gross,” I say, shaking my head. “I did not need to know about you jerking off thinking about Tatum.”
“Can’t deny she’s sexy as hell,” he adds.
“I’ll give you that,” Jackson agrees.
I shake my head again. I’ve never seen Tatum like that. I mean, sure I’m a guy, so I know she’s attractive. Just happens I’ve always had a thing for redheads over blondes.
They keep joking around about all the girls they had crushes on through the years. Me? I pull out my phone and do something stupid. I google Penny.
Instantly, I see all the pictures of her and that fucking prick Macallan. She told me it wasn’t real, yet all the evidence before me says otherwise. I knew it the second she turned me down.
“What are you looking at?” Jackson asks me as Alvie grabs my phone from my hands before I have time to react.
“Oh, who do we have here?” Alvie questions, looking at the same pictures I was I’m sure. I flip him off and cross my arms over my chest.
“Zander Macallan and Penelope Gellar were seen getting cozy together in a café in Phillip Island, Australia. As the race season comes to an end, everyone is wondering what will happen with the new IMR golden couple. Is she set to follow her sister’s footsteps and tame the racer? Or will this be the end for the rider/mechanic duo who’ve taken the race scene from fast and furious to Romeo and Juliet.”
By the time he finishes reading it, I think I might have cracked a molar from grinding my jaw so hard.
“This is who you were just talking about. Your best friend, Penny?”
“Yeah. So what does it matter to you?” I ask defensively.
“Well, you forgot to mention she’s fucking hot for starters. I mean, holy shit. What is with the genes in that fami
ly?”
“Shut the fuck up. Now,” I tell him.
“Oh hell, Vegas just a little more interesting,” Alvie says. Dick. “You’re missing all the fun again,” he says to Jackson, who agrees.
“Alright, dipshits, I’m out. Give me back my phone,” I say as I stand to leave.
Alvie hands it back, chuckling as he does.
“Go ice your wounded heart, Jones. And maybe those giant blue balls you have for her. But this better not mess us up in getting pussy once we hit the city of sin, my friend.”
I toss my middle finger over my head as I leave them cackling behind me.
Yep. This is going to be awesome.
Chapter Seven
Penny
“Whoo hoo ya!!” Zander yells as he rolls into the racing bay of Royal King. He just took first place at the IMR race in Vegas. Up until now, no one has been able to touch Benton’s record, and winning this race put him ahead of Benton and his rival, Sevrin Travers, in points to win the entire season.
He barely has his bike to a complete stop from his victory lap when he rips his helmet off and meets my eyes with a huge smile directed straight at me.
We’ve been working closely together trying to fine-tune his bike for months. He kept saying something felt off and like it was holding him back. No one would listen since he’s still considered new to the circuit. I told him I’d give it a look, and from there, things turned from friends to the whole world thinking we were dating.
We forged a friendship to help both of us through this new season. It’s exhausting with the work, the travel, the time changes, everything. We just clicked. Friendship with Zander is easy. It reminds me of my friendship with Jesse. I’m still not sure if that’s a good or bad thing, though.
“Penny! Get your ass over here!” he yells at me as he climbs off his bike. I make my way to him with a big smile on my face, matching his. Without missing a beat, he picks me up, swinging me around. “You made this happen,” he whispers in my ear. “We’re celebrating tonight.” He kisses my cheek when he puts me back down.
Everyone is going crazy around us. Benton took second place after Zander. With Royal King taking the top two podium positions, it’s a huge deal for everyone. Champagne is spraying down on all of us as everyone yells and congratulates each other on the huge victory.
“Your boy did good,” Tatum says, coming up behind me.
“He’s not my boy,” I tell her, but my smile hasn’t died either.
“You two make a good team. Don’t think it hasn’t gone unnoticed,” she retorts me with a quirked brow.
“That, I’ll give you. We do. But this win was all him. I just listened to him.” I shrug my shoulders.
“I need to go find Benton for the podium ceremony. I just wanted to say good job, even if it’ll make my husband mad later.”
“I’m not apologizing for that,” I laugh.
“Don’t worry. The angry adrenaline sex is pretty spectacular.” She smirks.
“Gross, Tate. I do not want to hear about you two doing it.”
Rolling her eyes at me, she turns to leave. “See you later, baby sister.”
I stand watching the jumbo screen as Zander is given his first-place trophy. The Paddock Girl of the day holding his helmet winks at him, and it grates on my nerves. I shake it off though and watch as Tatum—who is like the original Royal King Paddock Girl and has been the face of the company for the past thirteen years—and Benton do their usual routine that everyone expects. He gets his trophy, kisses her, and she jumps on his back, holding his helmet above her head. Talk about relationship goals.
Several hours later, I’m finally back in my hotel room. Race days are fun and full of excitement that is palpable everywhere you look, but they are also exhausting and long. I kick off my shoes and turn on the shower, needing to wash off all the sweat and grime from the day.
I strip down and am about to step into the shower when I hear my phone ping with a message.
Zander: We’re celebrating. Meet me in the lobby in 30.
Me: I’m so tired
Me:
Zander: LOL Nice try but you’re coming
Me: Not yet…
I chuckle to myself. I don’t usually joke that way with him, but I couldn’t hold it back. Call it fatigue.
Zander: Whaaa!?
Zander: All the more reason to come out tonight. I can help with that.
Always Series Box Set Page 51