by Amy Gregory
Carter let out a slow breath. Damn, I wish she’d take off those aviators so I could see her eyes. He’d just have to wait. Waiting was something he was used to. He’d been waiting for the right girl for years.
Carter tried to pay attention to the conversation happening around him, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the absolutely gorgeous girl talking on the phone a few yards off from them.
“There they are,” Carter heard Brody say. “That’s Joey, our mechanic, and of course, Molly West. She rides for my dad.” Carter was more than happy to have an excuse to continue to stare.
“There’s your pre-race entertainment.” George’s excitement was obvious as he clapped a hand on Brody’s shoulder. “I can’t wait for you boys to see her ride.”
Pre-race entertainment? Holy shit. This little thing was a trick-rider? A sudden swell of protectiveness rushed through Carter. He tried to shake himself from it, knowing he was being absolutely ridiculous. From what he knew, this girl had been a rider her entire life. Who was he to say that it was too dangerous, that she was too small, or that she was too much of any of the other million reasons he could come up for why she shouldn’t be on a bike? He cut an eye back toward her, watched her swaying as she talked on the phone, her arm moving through the air animatedly. Still he couldn’t shake the gut feeling he had that he somehow needed to protect her.
Their mechanic Joey walked toward the group. “Hey, man” He slapped Brody on the back. “By the sounds of it, you’re next.”
“Aww, shit. Is that my dad?
Carter inclined his head to listen to Brody and Joey’s conversation. He’d been silently praying she wasn’t on the phone with a boyfriend. His heart wasn’t the only thing that jumped when Brody confirmed it was his dad. He shifted in his sudden discomfort that wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
Damn.
He was going to have to get himself under control. His mind and body were getting away from him, and he hadn’t even met her yet.
“What’s going on? You guys do something to piss him off?” Jesse asked.
“No, my dad’s just a bit of a control freak, mainly when she’s involved.”
“I can see why. She’s freaking hot,” Jesse laughed and raised his eyebrows, jerking his head in Molly’s direction. Even though Jesse was one of his closest friends, Carter had the urge to punch him.
Apparently, Brody didn’t like the statement any more than he did. “Hey man, that girl is like my sister. Do not fuck with her, do you understand?” Brody glanced around the group. “That goes for all of you. She’s off-limits.”
Everyone took a collective step back from the sudden fury radiating from Brody.
Carter tore his attention from Molly and placed it on Brody, trying to read to him, sensing a whole lot more to his warning.
Carter watched as Molly ran a hand through her side sweeping bangs and mouthed, Oh my God, to Brody, shaking her head in frustration. Brody mimicked her, obviously teasing her. Rolling her eyes, she flipped him off.
Carter couldn’t help but laugh at the two of them.
“Yes, James…I know…I know…You already told me that…yes you did, twice! You’re making my brain hurt.” She rubbed her forehead. “I’m not being smart with you, James, you’re really making my brain hurt.” That sent Brody into a laughing fit and Carter found himself laughing, too. “I know, James, seriously.”
Molly had been so focused on getting James off her ass that she hadn’t paid a bit of attention to the group Brody was standing so close to. The sudden laughter caused her to become acutely aware they were all not only watching, but listening to her.
It was typical for her to be really uncomfortable around groups of guys, which was really great since she’d spent her life around groups of men. At least Brody was there.
As she talked, she looked over each of them individually as she continued her conversation.
Then she saw him.
He had short sandy blond hair, the ends at his neck curling just a tad. Lightly tanned and lean with a racer’s muscular build. He was standing there in low-slung, well-loved jeans and a plain white v-neck t-shirt, just watching her with a lop-sided grin on his face. She could tell he was a good head taller than her, but that was nothing new. She was only 5’2”, so just about everyone was taller than her. He had Hollywood good looks that could have landed him on TV, and gorgeous ice-blue eyes with long eyelashes that would make any girls heart start pounding on the spot. He must have known she was staring at him from behind her sunglasses, because he flashed her this killer smile that did something funny to her stomach.
She swallowed hard. She didn’t notice guys except to figure out which ones to avoid, and she had no idea why she was suddenly fixated on this one. “Um, what did you say, James?”
Then the guy winked at her.
“Um…James, Brody wants to talk to you, so gotta go, love you, bye.” She spit out the last part as fast as she could and shoved the phone into Brody’s chest.
“Dad…okay…I know…yeah…I know.”
Molly couldn’t help but snicker. James was the biggest pain, always worrying more than he should. She knew why, but still, it was hell to get stuck on the phone with him.
“All right, well, George is here, so we’ve gotta go,” Brody said before he rushed out a quick, “Okay, bye.” He hung up and smiled at Molly. The phone didn’t ring back, meaning James had apparently given up for the moment. The tiny victory was theirs. She mouthed a silent thank you to her partner in crime.
George crossed to Molly with his arms open wide, the smile making his warm eyes crinkle. “Hey, sweetheart, how’s my girl?”
“Hi, George.” He hugged her tight, picking her up off the ground for a second. “I’m good. How about you? You still like running the big boys circuit? Wasn’t it way more fun with the kids?” Still in his arms, Molly grinned with the tip of her tongue barely touching her top teeth. She remembered how much fun they had with good ol’ George. Well, mainly Brody, but the two of them were never separated, so she always got blamed too.
“These boys aren’t nearly as entertaining or as maddening as some racers I know.” He laughed and patted her back the way he’d done when she was young. “So, I see James is still as overprotective as always.”
She had missed sparring with George. “Oh, he means well.” She smiled up at him briefly before she raised her eyebrow in defense. “And maddening? I never gave you a lick of trouble, old man.” Brody and George both laughed as if that was the funniest thing they’d ever heard, and she threw her hands up. “What? Did I say something funny?”
“Sweetheart, your ass is the reason for most of the gray hair I have.”
Molly rolled her eyes to disagree. “It was all Brody and you know it, George. I was only guilty by association.”
“So how much of that conversation was about riding?” Brody cut in.
“Roughly three minutes out of about twenty,” she said, shaking her head again at Brody, sure the pink in her cheeks gave away that she was embarrassed by the guys snickering at her.
Jesse grinned. “So, I’m going to venture to say your dad is more than a little worried about his little girl being surrounded by all these boys?” Molly didn’t answer him, but Brody gave him a look that told him to drop it.
George’s laughter died down to a light chuckle. “All right…all right, let me introduce you to these guys. This is Cody, Jesse, Eli, and Carter. This is my girl, Molly West.”
She politely shook hands with each of them, Carter being last.
When he took one of her hands in both of his, she immediately felt tingles everywhere and her heart started beating faster. She looked down at her hand, then back up to his face. She watched a slow, sexy grin come across his face, and she started to blush as she tried to pull her hand back away.
“Um—” It was barely more than a whisper “—you still have my hand.” She bit the right side of her bottom lip, grinning shyly.
Confidently, he smiled back. “Yeah, I
do, Gorgeous.”
Oh God. He was sunk, hook, line, and sinker. She’d lowered her sunglasses with her free hand, since he wasn’t about to let go of the one he held, and now he was looking into the most beautiful deep blue eyes he’d ever seen.
She blushed and looked down.
“Well, Sterling’s smitten,” Cody teased.
If it was possible, her ivory-skinned cheeks flamed even more.
Yep, he was done for.
Carter squeezed her hand before letting it go.
Those innocent smiles and blushing cheeks were a welcomed change to the constant offers he got, but continually denied.
When they all headed over to sit outside Brody and Molly’s bike trailer, he made sure to sit in one of the chairs closest to her and patted the other one for her to sit next to him, hoping she’d take it instead of one of the empty ones by Brody.
Molly had just started to pull her sweatshirt over her head when Dylan, a rider from another team, walked up. Carter groaned.
Dylan Martins was such an asshole. When Dylan whistled, Carter’s stomach clinched at the thought of her with him.
“Damn, what a hottie,” Dylan said, walking up close to Molly as she pulled her head through the sweatshirt. “And a very pretty face to match. Hey, babe.” He grinned at her like the jackass he was.
The protectiveness Carter had felt earlier came swooping back. He bit his tongue.
She pulled her hair out the sweatshirt with one graceful sweep. It fell almost to her waist.
Carter was shocked when she raised her eyebrow and squared up to him. “Excuse me?” she said, “you may want to back up.” Her blue eyes were locked on him, her head tilted as she gave him a look that said you’ve got no chance in hell. Molly let out a disgusted snort.
“Come on, babe…come hang out with me. We can go back to my trailer.” He ran a finger down her arm.
She yanked her arm away, stumbling back as she glared at him. The back of her legs hit the white plastic chair he now had her backed up against. “You don’t even know me.”
“I want to get to know you, all of you.”
Carter was on his feet before he knew it. “Back off, Martins.” Carter put his palm against Dylan’s chest and physically backed him up a couple of steps.
“Come on, I’m just messing with her.”
“No, you’re not. Are we clear?”
Dylan backed away, laughing. “Whatever. See ya, babe.” He gave her a creepy wink before he turned and walked away.
Carter looked back at Molly after Dylan disappeared around another trailer. “You okay?”
She nodded and said, “Yeah,” but he knew she was shaken up.
Molly took a breath as she looked around the pits. Underneath the stadium was nothing but concrete, the floor, the ceiling, and the walls. But what they could transform it into to make the pits a fun place for fans to walk through on race days was something she’d always loved. She had missed this. The vendor trailers and factory semis completely covered in sponsors’ names and logos, all parked close together, the camaraderie of the various teams, mechanics yelling back and forth in moments of panic, the smell of exhaust from the bikes, all of it. She missed being in the pits just in general, indoor or outdoor, it didn’t matter what series. She had missed hanging out with other riders. It was a different world and she fit in there. Well, she missed most of the riders.
Usually the riders were fine and didn’t mess with her—treated her like one of them. But then there were always guys like Dylan that James and Brody tried to protect her from. She could usually back them down with the glare she’d perfected, but some guys just couldn’t take a hint. She was fine until they tried to touch her.
“I’m sorry about that, kiddo.” George ran his hand through his hair.
She shrugged and put back on the hard exterior Dylan had managed to crack. “Ah, no biggie, George, occupational hazard.”
“That’s why Dad taught her how to box,” Brody said proudly, glancing over at her. She knew he was checking to be sure she was okay, though he played it off for the guys. She said a silent thank you as he continued on. “Pissed Mom off, but I’ve seen it come in handy several times. You can’t see it very well—” He looked around at the guys, then at Molly who still stood by Carter. “—but she’s got enough red in her hair to have an attitude.”
“Bite me, Brody.” She couldn’t help but laugh and was thankful he was trying to lighten the mood.
“And the temper to prove it, huh, little girl?”
She grinned and shook her head.
Carter sat down and Molly sat down in the open chair next to him. She didn’t know why, but something about him felt safe. She guessed it was because he’d automatically jumped up to help her when that pervert Dylan had hit on her.
It definitely wasn’t that wicked grin.
“So,” Eli said, “seems like you know who we all are, what about you? Tell us more, you obviously know George here.”
“Yeah.” Molly lovingly looked up at George and he winked back at her. “We go back a few years, huh? I don’t know. I raced, went pro, retired, did freestyle, retired again, now I do paying jobs. End of story.”
“I hate to say this out loud, but you don’t hear much about women’s racing in the media,” Cody added.
“No, it’s definitely not as big as men’s racing, but that’s okay, it cuts down on the stalkers that way.” She laughed, more out of nerves because Carter had just rested his arm on her chair, touching hers. She let out the breath she was holding and bit her lip.
“How many wins did ya end up with?” Jesse smiled.
She could feel the heat on her cheeks. “I don’t know. I didn’t keep track,” she answered, then mouthed help to Brody, but he just grinned at her.
“I’m not buying you don’t know your own stats! Nice try, girl! Fess up,” Eli said.
Her chest heaved as she sucked in an uncomfortable breath and then looked down. “Seven.”
Carter patted her leg and then just kind of settled in to rest on her thigh. She couldn’t take her eyes off the spot where his large palm engulfed her leg, the heat from his hand burning through her jeans and spreading through her.
What in the hell? She should have been freaking right about now.
“Seven wins is awesome!”
His answer barely registered with her.
“Um….not…wins.” She finally looked around bashfully then quietly answered, “Titles.”
Eli choked on his beer. “What?” Eli asked, wiping his chin from the beer he just spit everywhere. “Did I hear you right? Did you say titles, as in seven AMA Pro Titles? Not amateur, but we’re talking pro?”
“Yeah, well, women’s, so WMA, but yeah,” she answered shyly.
Molly had never bragged about her career; the titles, the medals, the winning. She competed because she loved riding. The winning came easy because she loved being on a bike. Plus the fact that it made James and Brody so proud, that was all she ever cared about, except for one. The first year she went to the X-Games was Brody’s last. They both won gold that year, and to stand with her brother with matching medals and wearing his number on her jersey—that was the highlight of her career as far as she was concerned. She had that 8x10 framed on her dresser at home; they were hugging, his cheek resting on top of her head, both with the biggest smiles they could produce, showing their matching medals to the camera. That one moment was worth more than the other eighteen years of motocross wins combined. That one picture was more precious than all the trophies, medals, jerseys, and plaques James still had displayed with all of Brody’s.
“That’s my girl!” George boasted. “You boys don’t even want to ask her about the amateurs.”
“Whoa, I knew you were good, girl, but…” Jesse said, his Texas accent thick with embarrassment.
“Should’ve paid more attention to those girls, huh, Frost?” George joked sarcastically. “If it makes you feel better, James wouldn’t have let any one of you within fifty
feet of this one.”
George winked at her. “So really, what do you have up your sleeve for me? Did you bring the big ramp?”
“Maybe. It’ll depend on your track and if Brody can get the ramps situated properly. So…speaking of which, when can I get on your track?” She batted her eyes at him.
“For you, tomorrow afternoon, but don’t tell these guys.”
Carter put his hand on her arm. “What’s the ramp for?”
She glanced down at her forearm that was resting on the arm of the chair. He was lightly holding it and stroking it with his thumb. She knew there had to be sparks shooting from it because she could feel them, even through the sweatshirt.
“Um, what?” She was dazed and he only made it worse when he flashed her that perfect smile again. “Oh,” she finally said, gazing up at him, “um…a flip.”
“A flip,” Carter said in a tone Molly didn’t quite understand, he’s eyes narrowed as he looked at her.
Eli slapped Carter on the shoulder. “Hot damn girl, it’s gotta be crazy at your guys’ house.” He laughed.
Molly shook her head in disagreement. “No, for two reasons. We were homeschooled so Karen was almost always around, and two, James would never allow that. And Brody learned everything the hard way, either by being taught tricks by people who could do it but didn’t know how to really teach them or by working on tricks with his buddies and teaching themselves, which didn’t always turn out very well. I just have to do what he says, and he’s good at explaining exactly how to do stuff so I don’t get hurt…usually.” She raised one eyebrow at Brody. “And since he had to retire completely from competing a few years back, let’s just say I get his undivided attention,” she said flatly with her head cocked to the side. Brody just smiled back innocently. He knew just how hard he worked her, but she knew it was for her own good.