Page 132 of Happy Hour

Sometime during all this, I looked up in the midst of the people hounding me for autographs, my eyes focused on Ashley.

I wanted to run from her but couldn’t, so instead I gave a fake smile as she asked her questions.

Ashley Conner and I had an encounter back when I was racing in the Busch series. And I say encounter because to me, that’s all it was, though Ashley seemed to have other ideas about that.

“Another pole for you Jameson, what do you think your chances are here to pull off another win? You wrecked last weekend, do you think you can pull through this time?” Ashley flashed a trained seductive smile and attempted to be flirty by tossing her black hair around.

Immediately, my eyes dropped avoiding her. The last thing I needed would be to give her the wrong impression here and let her think I was interested again. I wouldn’t even say I was interested before, she was just a means to itch. An itch I no longer had.

“We’ve had some ups and downs the last couple weeks with this number nine Ford Simplex car but I think we pulled some things together.” This was my standard answer most of the day. “I think we’ve got a shot at the win here. Cole is fast as well so we’ll see how it goes. The clouds make a difference here—it can change the track drastically throughout the race.”

Ashley thanked me, her cameraman walked away but she stayed near the car. “So Jameson...I was wondering if you’d like to grab some dinner tonight after the race.” Her voice grew soft and persuasive.

Still not looking at her, I leaned my head towards her but continued to sign autographs. “I don’t think so Ashley.”

“Oh, come on. We’ve haven’t been out in months.”

“Try years, not months, and my answer is stillno.” I finally looked over; her blue eyes sparkled with desire. “I’m seeing someone.”

Ashley’s eyes narrowed. “Jameson Riley doesn’t date,remember?”

I recalled telling her those exact words at one time. “I do now,” I barked back turning towards some fans that had gathered beside my car.

This pervasive curiosity into my personal life and who I was or wasn’t dating annoyed me. All I’ve ever wanted to do was race but with that came everything else, sacrifices.

If there was such a thing as hell on earth, I was in it without Sway. I hated being without her and to make matters worse, I hadn’t been able to reach her on the phone prior to the race. So now there I sat, running in twenty-second position with a car that could easily win the race, all because I didn’t hear her voice and she wasn’t here with me.

What the hell had this girl done to me?

I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I couldn’t escape the sound of her voice, the feel of her touch, the smell of her skin, and I vividly remembered the way she felt under my hands, against my body, the way she tasted. I was a mess without her.

I’m pathetic,reallyfucking pathetic. After the race, I should call her and ask for my balls back.

To make matters worse, I started hummingPurple Rain, which wasn’t helping, so then I started belting out the lyrics at the top of my lungs. All of this did was remind me of a time when Sway was with me.

“How’s the car handling?” Kyle asked. “Did the wedge help?”

Instead of answering him, I belted out the lyrics as loud as I could while Aiden laughed.

“You’ve lost your mind!” Kyle laughed.

“I know,” was my only answer because I had in fact lost my mind.

“Get your shit together Riley and win this race for me,” a soft voice ordered over the radio.

My face broke into a wide smile at those words. “Sway?”

She came for me. My girl came for me. If I didn’t already love this woman so much, I just fell in love all over again.

“Nope, it’s Mandy Moore, now stop butchering prince and bring me home some candy.” She giggled.

“That I can do, honey.”

After that I was on a mission to show my girl I could win this one for her and became the same hasty version of myself I could be on the track.

“Come on, bud.Stayfocused.” Kyle insisted as I was ranting continuously about the slower cars in front of me. “Be patient.”

“Yeah right,” I mumbled. “Give me lap times.”

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