Page 141 of Lemon Crush

Lucy was serious about his system.

“Tell him you’ll record it for him with your audio dongle-thingy so he can add it to his edits,” Bernie said, popping up on the other side of Rick suddenly enough to make him flinch.

“I thought you were in the tent,” he muttered.

“I’m freakishly fast,” she warned him. “You’ll find out later.”

Lucy was nodding slowly at her. “I can do that.”

Kingston looked like a vein might burst in his temple at any moment. “Fifteen minutes ago, you specifically said there was no way you could do that.”

The redhead shrugged. “You didn’t turn your body into a pretzel for the judges.”

“Does anyone know where my sister is?” Morgan asked helpfully.

“She was aimed toward the parking lot a few minutes ago,” Rick said. “Moving fast. Green around the gills.”

Bernie’s smile turned worried. “That’s not good.”

“That’s normal newbie nausea,” Gene countered when his wife glanced at him in concern. “I wasn’t feeling great before my first few races either, remember?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t eat hot dogs for breakfast,” Chick muttered.

“I’m going to go check on her.”

Everyone looked at me with varying levels of interest and worry.

“Don’t get distracted,” Gene warned. “We have less than forty minutes before the car is on the track.”

“You’ve got to be cooler than this, man,” Lucy said, shaking his head. “I know you’re living together now, but women don’t like being chased. They dig the mysterious guys who act like they don’t give a shit about them.”

That probably explained why he spent so much time in the doghouse.

“That’s a rumor started by insecure men who need coddling,” Chick said dryly, earning an interested look from Kingston. “If it’s the right man, women love to be chased.”

“As long as it’s consensual,” Bernie added, “otherwise it’s stalking.”

“Only females under thirty love a mystery man,” Morgan agreed with an amused look. “The rest of us have smartened up and want something different.”

Honesty, orgasms and comfortable shoes, I’d heard. “I appreciate all this input I didn’t ask for.”

They knew better and so did I. I loved the hell out of them all, but right now, August was the only one I could think about.

“Excuse me?” The leader of another group of paddock wanderers waved to get our attention. “Could you all move out of the way? We want to take a selfie with 71.”

“I’ll be back,” I said to no one in particular, escaping before I could get sucked into another discussion that wasn’t about the race or what my life was going to look like after it.

Rick said she’d been heading toward the parking lot. I’d start there.

I strode through the forest of trailers and campers that would transform into a small community campground as soon as the day was over, rudely ignoring everyone who recognized me and waved or called my name.

They were all good people and I’d apologize later. Right now, I needed to get to August and find out what was spooking her. And then I needed to make my confession.

I still hadn’t been completely honest with her, and it had been rubbing me the wrong way all day. I hadn’t told her how I really felt about her or how long I’d been feeling it. I hadn’t told her that the last few months had been the happiest I’d ever had, that I was crazy in love with her, and that I needed her to start thinking about the future again instead of just living in the moment, so I could find a way to be a part of it.

After she’d opened up enough to let me in, I’d realized that all my worries about becoming my father were bullshit. The people I loved would always be important to me, and August was one of those people now.

If—Whenher books took off and she needed to travel, I wanted to split my time between joining her and keeping the home fires burning. If she wanted to buy the damn RV from Chick and start wandering the countryside, I would be there beside her.

---