Behind the Wheel (Hearts & Horsepower Book 2)

by A. K. Evans

  And if she did, oh well. I didn’t care.

  All I knew was that I was no longer okay with not talking to her. I was no longer okay with pretending like it didn’t bother me we were in this situation.

  And with each step I took, I felt myself growing more and more anxious.

  I wasn’t terribly far from the bathrooms when I heard someone yell. I looked in the direction I’d heard the yelling and completely froze.

  It was Avery. She was yelling at Ricky.

  Part of me felt a bit of pride seeing it. I was glad she was sticking up for herself.

  I stayed there, motionless, as she started to walk away. I’d catch her when she started coming this way. But she suddenly stopped walking and turned back to Ricky.

  I took a few slow steps in that direction, but I was still entirely too far away to hear anything she was saying. From the spot I was standing, though, I could see the look on her face. Disgust and determination all mixed into one.

  Avery got out whatever she needed to say, turned, and was about to walk away when, before I could even react, Ricky grabbed her by the hair and smashed her face into the hood of his car. I took off running to get to her.

  By the time I was running into his pit, he had already flipped her over and pinned her between his body and the car. There was blood pouring down her face.

  As much as I wanted to see to her, I went after him.

  In an instant, I pulled him off of her. Then something else took over. Seeing what he’d just done to her, I couldn’t let him get away with it. I started pummeling him with my fist.

  “Are you kidding me, you motherfucker?” I yelled, clocking him in the jaw. “You put your hands on a woman like that?”

  Rage and a desire to protect and avenge Avery was coursing through me. I didn’t let up. I couldn’t. Too much had happened to her that she didn’t deserve. And this asshole was going to pay the price.

  Before I knew it, I had him down on the ground. At some point, a couple of guys pulled me off of him.

  “We got him, man. Security is coming. You’re going to kill him if you don’t stop,” one guy said.

  Ignoring him, I leaned down as much as I could with the guys holding me back, I hissed, “If I ever see you even look in her direction again, motherfucker, you’ll regret you even knew her name.”

  Ricky groaned in pain, rolling on the floor.

  I stood, yanked my arms free, and turned back to where I’d last seen Avery. She was bent over with her hands covering her face. Another girl had run up next to her, but she wasn’t doing anything to help Avery.

  Blood was running down her face and her arms.

  I moved toward her, put my arm around her back, and urged, “Come with me, Avery.”

  Not putting up a fight, she leaned some of her weight into me as I led us back to our pits.

  It was taking her quite a bit of time to walk, what with her face buried in her hands. I wanted to get her there as quickly as possible so I bent down and told her, “I’m carrying you the rest of the way.”

  Avery didn’t fight me.

  Keeping one arm around her back, I slid the other behind her knees and lifted her in my arms. Then, at a pace just short of a jog, I made my way back to the pit. When I was about fifteen feet away, Logan, Kieran, and Ryker saw me.

  They watched with horrified looks on their faces as I closed the distance between us. And when I’d made it to within a few feet, Logan asked, “What the hell happened?”

  “Fucking Ricky,” I barked as I walked inside the trailer. “Get Kendall.”

  A moment later, Kendall came running into the trailer just as I settled us into a chair. Maybe I should have put Avery down, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to let go of her. Kendall took one look at the woman sitting in my lap and gasped, “What happened to her?”

  “Ricky blasted her face into the hood of the car,” I told her.

  At that point, I realized Logan, Kieran, Ryker, and Nash had all come into the trailer.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Nash clipped.

  Logan held out the first-aid kit to Kendall and asked, “What do you need?”

  Kendall took it from him and got to work. Thank God Kendall was with us. She might have been a labor and delivery nurse, but I had a feeling she was Avery’s best option at that moment. Because when it came to getting cuts and scrapes, which happened frequently in our line of work, the guys and I typically ignored it and continued on with whatever we were doing.

  While Kendall worked on cleaning up Avery’s face, I stared up into the faces of my friends. And that was when I was certain they knew exactly what I was thinking.

  That moment was when Avery officially became mine.

  “She needs to go to the hospital.”

  “You think it’s worse than that superficial cut and some bruising?”

  “No, Logan, I don’t,” Kendall answered him. “I think she’s just going to have some swelling, bruising, and this minor cut to heal from, but it’s her face we’re talking about, so it’s better to be sure there’s no fractures or other head trauma. That’s my professional opinion.”

  “I’ll take her now.”

  I didn’t know how much time had passed since I’d been brought back to the trailer, but in the time that I’d been here, I hadn’t done much talking. Admittedly, I’d heard a bunch of comments since I’d gotten here, but there wasn’t any one conversation I’d actually jumped into. The only real talking I did was when Kendall was assessing the injuries to my face and getting me cleaned up. She was being completely professional, asking questions about my pain level and the like, but beyond that, everyone just allowed me to sit there and get treated.

  It was appreciated because I was in no mood. The pain on the right side of my face was awful. On the bright side, I was no longer bleeding.

  “Knox, why don’t you go get your truck and bring it back here so she doesn’t have to be paraded through the pits,” Kendall suggested. “Plus, if she’s got any head trauma, she might be unsteady on her feet.”

  “Okay,” he agreed. “I’ll be right back.”

  With that, Knox stood with me in his arms and gently placed me back in the chair. Without saying a word to me, he walked away. The guys followed him out of the trailer, leaving me there with Kendall. Crouching down in front of me, she held out the ice pack from the first aid kit and instructed, “Hold this on your cheek.”

  I lifted my hand to take the ice pack and pressed it against my skin.

  I watched as my friend’s eyes moved over my face. “How are you holding up?” she asked.

  “I’m okay,” I told her. “It just hurts really bad.”

  “I suspect it will for a bit,” she returned. After a moment of hesitation, she explained, “So, I know I said you might have a head trauma and that’s why you shouldn’t walk. From everything I’m seeing here, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. That said, I told Knox that because I wanted to talk to you privately.”

  “About what?”

  “I just wanted to make sure you were okay with Knox taking you to the hospital. If not, I don’t have a problem taking you,” she offered.

  “No, it’s fine. If he wants to take me, I’ll go with him. I’ve been thinking we need to talk anyway, so maybe this will be a good opportunity to do that,” I replied.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  Kendall began cleaning up all the supplies she’d used from the first aid kit when I called her name.

  “Yeah?” she responded, stopping to bring her attention to me.

  “Thank you. Not only for helping me with my face but also for giving me a minute alone with you,” I told her. “I’m not sure how much longer I could have sat in his lap without losing my mind.”

  She let out a small laugh and said, “I had a feeling that was the case. But I’m still rooting for this to be your rocky start with him.”

  “I’m still not holding my breath for that to be the case,”
I murmured.

  Covering my hand with hers, Kendall’s voice got soft and she said, “I had the perfect view of his face while I was taking care of you, Avery. That man is gutted by what happened this afternoon. I know he treated you horribly, but from what I saw, he would be lying if he said he didn’t feel something for you.”

  I swallowed hard. With everything that had just happened, I wasn’t sure I could process this information, too. Luckily, I didn’t have to respond because a truck pulled up at the back of the trailer.

  As I stood slowly, Kendall came around to stand by my side. “Are you good?” she asked. “You don’t feel any dizziness, do you?”

  I shook my head.

  When I made it to the back of the trailer, Logan said, “Ryker is going to ride with you and Knox to the parking lot so you can get whatever you need out of your truck. Leave your keys with him after you get your things. Kendall rode here with me, so she can drive it back to your place for you. I’ll follow her there after we drop the car and trailer off at the shop.”

  That was a good idea, but I didn’t want to inconvenience them. “If you want to just leave it at the shop, that might be better,” I told him. “Who knows how long I’ll be at the hospital?”

  “You can just call and let us know—”

  “We’ll leave it at the shop for you,” Kendall jumped in. “As long as she gets a clean bill of health, Knox can take her to the shop to pick up her car instead of her house when they’re finished.”

  Something flashed in Logan’s face. “Okay, if that’s what you want we’ll leave it at the shop and put your keys on your desk in the front office,” he remarked.

  “Thanks, guys.”

  I twisted my neck in the opposite direction and looked at the truck. Knox was standing at the passenger’s side door waiting for me. My eyes connected with his for only a second before I looked away to focus my attention on the open door. Then I walked over and got in.

  Knox closed my door, rounded the front of the truck, and hopped in behind the wheel while Ryker got in the back seat.

  We rode in silence through the pits, needing to pass by Ricky’s pit. When we drove by, I saw a large crowd surrounding the area and track officials there. I also noted Nash and Kieran were there.

  Apparently, something was going to happen to Ricky. I didn’t know how or why Knox wasn’t required to stay, but I wasn’t going to question it. Truthfully, I just wanted to forget this whole situation even happened.

  We eventually made it to my car, and I curled my fingers around the handle to open the door when Ryker was there opening it for me. He moved in close and held out his hand. “Stay here. Just give me the keys and tell me what you need,” he ordered.

  Handing him the keys, I said, “My wallet is in the center console.”

  “You have your phone?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “No. Um, that’s in the glove compartment.”

  He dipped his chin and moved to the vehicle. I stayed there and watched him. He returned a moment later, handed me my things, and said, “All set.”

  “Thanks, Ryker.”

  Shaking his head, he insisted, “Not necessary. Just get yourself checked out and feel better, Avery.”

  I offered him a friendly smile before he closed my door.

  Then it was just Knox and me. And in a matter of minutes I realized how ill-prepared I was for this moment. Sure, I’d been planning to figure out a way to approach him and talk about what happened last week. But I would have had time to prepare for that. I could have planned for it and figured out what I wanted to say. Now that this happened, I didn’t know what to do.

  The only thing I knew was that I couldn’t not say anything. Though I hadn’t watched most of what happened once Knox pulled Ricky off me, I had seen enough to know the man sitting beside me now, driving me to the hospital so I could be checked out, had beat the crap out of a man who assaulted me.

  Knox deserved something. Thanking him for what he’d done might have been a good start, but evidently, I was interested in righting my wrongs first.

  So, after we’d been driving for a good five minutes in absolute silence, I finally spoke. My voice was just a touch over a whisper when I called, “Knox?”

  In an instant, the air inside the cab of the truck changed. I didn’t know what it was or what it meant, but the shift was so profound I couldn’t miss it.

  “Yeah?” he returned.

  Swallowing past the lump that had formed in my throat, I hesitated briefly and continued to stare out the window before I rasped, “I’m sorry I told you to never speak to me again.”

  Almost immediately, Knox’s hand reached over the center console. He took my hand in his and gave me a squeeze. “Let’s not worry about any of that right now, Avery. I’ve got my fair share of apologizing to do, and I’m not interested in doing it right now while I’m driving and can’t look at your face to do it.”

  We came to a red light. I couldn’t stop myself from looking at him. His eyes were already fixed on me.

  God, he was handsome.

  “We can talk about it. I want to,” he promised. “But not now, okay?”

  I nodded slightly. “Okay.”

  With that, he gave my hand another squeeze before he pulled his hand away and focused his attention on the road. When the light changed to green, he started driving again. And the rest of our trip to the hospital was silent.

  Only, this time, the silence didn’t feel so heavy.

  A little over an hour later, I’d been taken in to be x-rayed and examined. I don’t know why, but when they called me back from the waiting room, I turned to Knox and asked, “Will you come with me?”

  He didn’t hesitate to oblige me. “If that’s what you want.”

  “It is.”

  Now I was sitting in a hospital bed in triage, waiting for a doctor to come in and give me the news, and Knox was here with me. He was sitting in a chair at the side of the bed.

  Since I figured we had some time, I decided to try a different approach to talking to him. I wasn’t going to bring up what happened last week or in the days leading up to it, but I could bring up what happened today.

  “Knox?” I called.

  “Avery?”

  Our eyes locked, and I murmured, “Thank you for being there today. Thank you for helping me.”

  Knox looked down, lifted his hips slightly, and scooted his chair closer to the bed. When he was close enough to rest his forearms on the bed, he reached for my hand.

  “I wish I hadn’t stopped walking toward you when I saw you there with him,” Knox declared. “If I had any clue he had it in him to do what he did to you, I never would have stopped. I’m sorry he had the chance to hurt you.”

  I looked down at Knox’s hand covering mine. That’s when I realized all of his knuckles were red, and a few had open lacerations on them. I took my thumb from my opposite hand and ran it gently over his knuckles. It was ever so slight, but I felt Knox’s fingers twitch at my touch.

  “I’m thinking that Ricky is far worse off than I am right now,” I told Knox as I brought my eyes back to his face.

  “He deserved everything he got and then some,” Knox declared.

  “I heard what you said to him when those guys pulled you off him,” I said.

  Knox dipped his chin. “I meant every word, too.”

  “I don’t want you to get into trouble because of me,” I shared.

  “The only one who has trouble on his hands right now is Ricky,” he insisted. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine so long as you’re okay.”

  “I’m okay,” I assured him.

  He gave me a wink before he suggested, “Let’s wait for the doctor to confirm that.”

  God.

  That wink.

  That wink did things to me I didn’t know a wink was capable of doing. In this industry, I’d received my fair share of winks, but none of them ever meant anything.

  That wink coming from Knox, though. It made an impossibly h
andsome man a devastatingly handsome one. It just wasn’t fair.

  Before I had the chance to deal with everything that wink and Knox’s gentle voice was making me feel, the doctor finally walked in. Knox sat back but kept his hand on mine.

  Shaking his head back and forth, the doctor said, “Well, I don’t know how it’s possible based on what you told me happened, but you’re one lucky lady.”

  “I am?”

  “Yes. I’m happy to report there are no broken bones or symptoms of a head injury,” he began. “That said, I’m still going to recommend you watch for any changes over the next twenty-four hours.”

  “What should we be watching for?” Knox asked.

  We? What did he mean by that?

  “A variety of things, which we’ll list on your discharge papers, but stuff like confusion, passing out, extreme sleepiness, slurred speech, vision problems, and a host of others,” the doctor answered.

  “Do I need to restrict any activities?” I wondered.

  “I don’t recommend you do anything that has the potential to cause injury to your head for at least the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours, but otherwise, you should be fine to resume normal activities as you feel up to them,” he replied.

  “What about the bruising and swelling?”

  “That should all heal just like any other bruise you’d get,” he began. Then he added, “The cut on your cheek looks good, too. Whoever cleaned you up before you got here did a good job.”

  “My friend, Kendall. She’s a labor and delivery nurse here,” I proudly declared.

  “Hmm. I don’t know her, but it’s clear she knows what she’s doing.”

  “I’ll be sure to pass the message along,” I told him.

  “Do you have any other questions for me?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “No, I think that’s all.”

  “Okay. Give us a few minutes and the nurse will be in with your discharge papers,” he shared.

  At that, he walked out, and I turned my attention to Knox.