Bottomed Out

by Brooke May

  My teeth are caked with mud, and I can barely see through my goggles as I slowly move off the track, but the reception waiting for me makes me feel like I won.

  And in a way, I did.

  I overcame the odds and did something many people would say I shouldn’t be able to.

  My helmet is barely off when Len quickly flings herself at me, sealing a kiss on my chapped and muddy lips before whispering, “I love you. You did amazing.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “I have to go.” Kissing me once more, she releases me and heads out in a hurry. I was really looking forward to surprising her, but it will have to wait.

  “Jaxson!” Like Len, my mom pays no heed to how dirty I am and launches herself at me. “You did it!”

  “Yes, he sure did.” Dad pats me on the back while my mom continues to suffocate me. “Now let the boy breathe, Willa.”

  “I’m so proud of you.” She kisses me on the cheeks, and I would say no words ever sounded sweeter to my ears, but I would be lying. Hearing Len tell me she loved me for the first time beats my mom every time.

  “I think we need to do a little celebrating.” Levi cuts in with Axle by his side.

  I look up at both of them. A couple of drinks won’t hurt me, right? It isn’t like I’ll find my way to a jail cell tonight.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  I know what you’re thinking.

  Four grown men sitting around a table, each taking a turn bringing their beer bottle to their lips. Well, except for the newly converted Parker. He’s promised to be our designated driver, so he is nursing a soda over our preference of beer.

  “I feel like we are an up-to-date of King of the Hill.” Levi snorts, his eyes wandering in the hopes of finding someone he hasn’t been with before to entertain him tonight.

  So far, it’s been humorous enough that he hasn’t found a single woman who is willing to give him the time of day. There have been a couple, but he wasn’t too interested in them.

  “This is what happens when you sleep with and then burn women.” Pointing my bottle at him, I’m feeling pretty good. It’s been a while since I last got shit-faced in public with my friends without the worry of getting home safely.

  “You need to learn to take care of a woman.” Axle mimics me before falling back into his seat. He is relaxed so much since his trip to Greece that I see an entirely new side to my friend.

  “Take it from me,” Parker begins. He and Megan have had an interesting story, one only he can tell, but I know that there is still a great deal he is trying to figure out. “Treating a woman how she should be treated is the way to go.”

  Axle drunkenly regards Parker, but just as he is about to say something, a black figure slides onto his lap. At the same time, a much lighter one follows suit onto mine.

  “Hey, handsome.” Pushing the long part of her hair from her face, Len steals my focus from my friend and hers as they lock lips.

  “All done?”

  “For the most part.” She shrugs. “It doesn’t look like you guys are truly celebrating.”

  “That’s because you weren’t here.” Capturing her lips, I show her how much I’ve missed her in the past couple of hours and ignore the gagging sound Levi is making.

  “Aren’t you a smooth man?” she teases before turning to the table. “And they’re right, Levi. You’ll attract better insects with honey than your salty ass is currently willing to share.”

  This ignites the entire table into a fit of laughter. Even Paige has her head thrown back in a fit.

  “Ha, fucking, ha, assholes.” He pushes back to get up and leave us, but then he freezes. A look of shock takes over his face as he stares past us. I know that look; he has just seen something he wants. I had the same look when I first saw Len in my office.

  “That’s a look of trouble,” Axle points out.

  I can’t keep from turning to see who may be behind me. At the door is a blonde. Tall and shapely, she’s wearing a skintight red halter top and painted-on jeans with matching red pumps. I’ve never seen her before, and I know Levi hasn’t either based on his reaction to seeing her.

  “We stay out of it,” Len whispers in my ear before biting on it. My attention is stolen once more by my girl. Returning my gaze to her, I find hers are heated with desire. “Have you had enough?”

  “You just got here.” Reaching up, I play with one of the charms on her earring. “Don’t you want to cut loose?”

  “You rode here with Ax, right? I’ll drive us home, and I’ll show you how proud of you I am.”

  “Oh, yeah?” My back isn’t the only thing that grows stiff.

  “Yeah.”

  “You two are going to end up getting arrested if you don’t knock that shit off.”

  “Our hands are in plain view.” Lifting my arms, I wave at both Axle and Parker. Levi is still in his stupor. “We are leaving anyway.” I begin to push us backward. “Thanks for the beers, guys, but my brand of celebrating is centered around this woman right here.”

  “Night.”

  “Don’t knock her up!” Parker shouts as we leave.

  “Give me a minute?” Len hops off my lap as I stop us next to the high-top table the blonde is sitting at with a couple of friends.

  “What are you up to?”

  “Just go get whatever you drove here.” Swatting her butt, I turn my attention to the woman who has captured Levi. “Pardon me?”

  Green eyes look around for me before finally settling down at me with confusion marring her pretty face.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m sorry to bother you, but my friend over there.” I point at Levi across the room. He isn’t looking our way right now. She follows me. “He was quite taken with you when you came in.”

  “And?”

  “Give him hell. I can tell you’re a smart woman, don’t be like all the others who fall all over him. When he approaches you, and he will, give him hell.”

  The seriousness she was sporting lightens, and a small smile graces her face. “Thank you …?”

  “Just call me your fairy godfather.” With a single nod, I carry on my way. “Have a great night.”

  “You too.”

  Once outside, I discover Len already out front with a truck and the tailgate down.

  “You couldn’t keep your nose out of it, could you?”

  “He needs to learn.” Shrugging, I push around to the passenger side, and together, we get me in. “He gets off far too easily.”

  “Maybe I shouldn’t let you get off easy.” I know she is teasing me, but I’m unable to say anything until she is in the cab.

  “The fuck you will, woman.”

  Chapter Forty-Six

  “You need to quit yawning.” The tips of Len’s fingers glide against my bicep in her weak attempt at slapping me. “Your family is going to think you were up all night.”

  “Len.” I can’t fight back the shit-eating grin. “I don’t care if they know we were up all night.” I fight back another yawn as I pull us into the driveway of Josie’s house, thinking about the naughty little woman seated next to me and the wicked things she did to me while wearing my race shirt.

  When she woke me up an hour ago, telling me we needed to get ready, I was slightly confused. I didn’t plan to do anything today except rest, especially after our wild night. I had a difficult time seeing her up and dressed in a pale pink sundress and white flip-flops while I looked and felt rough from our partying the night before.

  She has plans for us.

  Plans that are at my sister’s house, apparently.

  “What are we doing here, anyway?” I fight back another yawn. We didn’t roll into the apartment until well after two this morning, and our fun didn’t stop there.

  “You’ll see.” Hopping out, she skips around the front of the van and waits for me to get out. The journey down to the ground level gives me a couple of minutes to look around. Along with Josie and Nolan’s vehicles, my dad’s truck is here as well as a car I don
’t recognize.

  “What’s going on?”

  She’s grinning like a madwoman at me as I push away from my ramp. “You’ll just have to wait and see.” Signing to me, she comes around behind and begins to push me to the ramp Nolan installed for me right after I got out of the hospital.

  “You should know, I’m not a huge fan of surprises.”

  “I was informed of that, but you don’t get a choice on this matter.” Hurrying around me, she opens the door.

  “SURPRISE!”

  Josie, Nolan, Ruby, my mom and dad, and Len’s parents all shout at the top of their lungs at me as I wheel into the living room decorated with balloon quads and regular ones.

  “What the …?” Trailing off, I move into the middle of the crowd. Each person has a smiling face beaming down at me. Ruby’s is the biggest by far, and I don’t think she really gets what the other adults are cheering for.

  “That was a great race yesterday, Jax.” Nick, Len’s dad, claps me on the shoulder.

  “You watched?” I’ve only met them the once, and it wasn’t under the best of circumstances, so I didn’t think they would watch me race.

  “Len made sure we were able to watch you on TV,” Chris, Len’s mom, supplies, having that motherly ability to read minds.

  “Thank you.” Much like yesterday, today I feel on top of the world for only coming in third place. The placement means more to me than any of the races I have ever won in the past on my bike. I didn’t think that was possible until I lost it all.

  Looking back, I never valued my wins for something more than just another hurdle met before moving onto the next one. I didn’t embrace each win and cherish my placement. There wasn’t ever going to be an endgame for me back then. I only had a drive to keep racing until I was old and tired with a fat stack of cash to keep me entertained for the rest of my days.

  When I lost it all, I had to rethink my life.

  And that path has led me to right where I am now.

  My family never once threw a party for me after any of my motocross wins, and they always supported me.

  We’ve come a long way.

  “I’m so proud of you, Jaxson.” Mom makes her way over to me, kissing me on the cheek.

  “Uncy!” Ruby crawls onto my lap and showers kisses all over my face just because she can. “Party!” She giggles.

  “Yes, let’s have some fun, Rubes!” Spinning us in my seat, I hear her laughter as she holds on tight to my neck. And the laughter doesn’t end.

  My favorite lunch is served out on the back patio. My family and Len’s meld together effortlessly. Our dads get along well, and so do our moms. They find something in common, their worry over their children.

  “I’m just happy that Len finally found someone who makes her happy,” Chris gushes from across the table. “She’s very lucky to find a wonderful man like Jax, who understands and supports her.”

  “I’m the lucky one, Chris.” Tightening my grip on Len’s hand, I turn my smile to my girl. “She’s the love of my life.”

  Silence descends across the table one person at a time as if individual candles are being blown out. This is the first time this sort of declaration has been made aloud in front of either of our families. The I love yous have been kept just between us until now.

  “She’s everything to me; my girlfriend, my chosen pit crew, the one to make me laugh, and someday, I plan on asking her to be my wife and the mother of my children.”

  Epilogue

  Len

  If you know how Axle and Paige’s story ends, then you know how Jax’s and mine does. But in case you don’t, allow me to tell you.

  My life with Jax has blended effortlessly after the day he told me he loved me and proclaimed to our families that he would marry me someday. Everything has been relatively perfect since then.

  Sure, we argue, but it is rare, and the makeup sex is fucking fantastic.

  His job at Double X is still as good as ever, but he added an amateur quad racer to his current employment. With all his sponsors, as well as his company and the twins, backing him, our weekends are packed with traveling around Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Northern California, and Idaho for races. There are no big leagues in his future, though. That’s where the money is, but that isn’t important to him anymore.

  I suggested to him one night that doing talks while we travel and even at local schools would be good for him as well as the many people who are where Jax has been.

  He truly is an amazing man who I fall in love with a little more every day.

  Two months after he declared he would marry me, he proposed.

  Of course, being my sassy, difficult self, I told him no for a year. On the day of the first anniversary of his first quad race, we ended up trading off for an automatic quad to make it easier for him to fly around corners.

  And when he did that first time, I was waiting with a whiteboard.

  I could see the panic in his eyes when he saw me holding up the board.

  Waving it back and forth was my very own proposal.

  Jax, if you win, I’ll marry you!

  It was on after that. Winning didn’t matter much to him anymore, but it certainly did that day. He blew everyone out of the water and won the race.

  We got married in a small ceremony with just our families and closest friends on the dirt track at Piston Motor Sports. There was no glamour to it, but it was perfectly us.

  It wasn’t too long after at another race that I gave him another sign. Josie had to help me with a part of it.

  You’re doing great, Daddy!

  Josie held up a blown-up image of an ultrasound that, to this day, I still struggle to find the baby in it.

  Now, I’m sitting here, in another hospital room far from the one I lost my brother in. But there are no beeping machinery to be heard anywhere near me, just the sound of water running in the en suite and the soft whimpers of the tiny little dark-haired boy in my arms.

  Matthew Owen Hunt came screaming into this world three hours ago, and we still can’t get enough of him. It is amazing to hold this new little life in my hands. Since the moment I learned I was pregnant, I have imagined what a person created by us would look like. From the first moment he kicked up until this morning when his head came out, I hoped he looked just like his daddy.

  His dark head of hair is all him too, so are his mushed up features. I can’t imagine not coming out of a tight hole like that and not look like a conehead. His eyes were screwed up tight when I gave my final push according to Jax, and he slithered out and released the first in a series of powerful screams.

  Jax couldn’t stop staring at him. Even when he cut the cord and did his best to reach up and kiss me, Jax’s gaze was filled with amazement. He had to tease me, of course. He joked that he thought he would have to roll me in Willy Wonka style because I was becoming more baby than myself, but in the end, I proved him wrong. I was at work when my water broke and was calm as Paige drove us to the hospital.

  Jax was the nervous wreck when he arrived.

  We picked his name to remember Owen. I told Jax many stories about the type of person Owen was before his accident, and he told me that we needed to honor the man who was important to me.

  “You’re going to be an amazing young man, aren’t you?” Jax kisses the top of his capped head as I lean closer to him.

  “Why wouldn’t he?” I look at my husband. “He’s his father’s son.”

  As I look at my two guys, my heart swells with all the love and emotion I want to shower them in it.

  “And he has his mother’s eyes.”

  Note from the Author

  Dear Reader,

  I started this journey with Axle and Paige back in the summer of 2016. It took me all summer, but I got their story together. I want to thank you for joining their adventure and mine. Axle holds a special place in my heart, as does Paige.

  I hope the conclusion had to guessing and in tears, because that’s how I wanted it to happen.

&nbs
p; Axle, Paige, and the gang will be back in stories surrounding Jax and Len, Parker and Megan, and Levi.

  If you enjoyed Pinned, please consider leaving a spoiler-free review on the site you purchased it from , Book Bub, and on Goodreads. Reviews are beneficial for both future readers and for me to grow and improve as an indie author.

  Love,

  Brooke

  Acknowledgements

  I’ve always tried to thank everyone individually but the list keeps growing so I’m condensing it into one massive thank you.

  For everyone in my life who helps me in making my dreams come true, I can’t thank you enough for always having my back and being by my side.

  About the Author

  Born and raised in Northern Wyoming. Brooke spent a great deal of her childhood and even well into her adulthood in her imagination and creating different stories. With an overactive imagination life has been truly entertaining.

  A mother of two wild and reckless boys and a wife; Brooke keeps busy year round doing things with her pups and family. When she isn’t writing, can usually be spotted walking somewhere in town, at the library with her youngest, or up in the mountains four-wheeling, hiking, fishing, and some hunting. A notebook and camera are never far from her side when she is out on her adventures with her family.

  She loves hearing from readers and anyone who feels like talking. Feel free to pay her a visit whenever.

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