Page 82 of When We Were Reckless
It was easier on the body than motocross, and it gave me the kind of freedom I didn’t have when I was racing.
“You act like you didn’t already know that.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve watched you ride,” Mason said. “The first time you tried to pop a wheelie, you ran into a fucking tree.”
I chuckled at the memory. It had been a dare. My dad had been so pissed I’d wrecked my bike that he’d put me on laundry duty for the entire summer. With four boys in the house, we had a shit ton of laundry.
“But this shit… what you’re doing out there… it’s next level.” Mason eyed my bike. “That’s a sweet bike.” I heard the longing in his voice as I removed my jersey and body armor and leaned against the tailgate next to him.
“If you ever wanna ride with me, just say the word. I can hook you up.”
“Tempting. But I haven’t been on a bike in ten years.”
I couldn’t imagine giving up the way he had. I wiped my face with a sports towel and threw it on top of the cooler. “Do you ever miss it?”
“Nah. Yeah.” He laughed a little. “Sometimes.”
“Why’d you give it up?” I’d always been curious. Mason had been good, but one day he’d just decided he had enough and walked away.
He squinted at the trees in the distance. “Honestly? I gave it up because I was never going to be half as good as you.”
“That’s bullshit. You could’ve been just as good.”
He shook his head. “It wasn’t my life. It was just a hobby. A fun way to blow off steam. Yeah, I liked it, but I didn’t love it the way you do. I wanted to go to college and do other shit with my life. You made a lot of sacrifices to get where you are.”
It had never felt like a sacrifice. While I was training and competing in high school, my friends were partying. Did I feel like I missed out? Hell no. If I had to do it all over again, I’d still choose moto.
“And I sure as hell didn’t love the injuries.”
“They’re no fun,” I admitted, rolling out my shoulder. I’d been battered and bruised, but despite all the injuries, nothing had ever stopped me from riding, and nothing ever would. Not my retirement. Not the injuries. Not the team that had fired my ass.
“When you headed to Cali?”
“Mid-August.” I took another swig of water. I was looking forward to getting out there to train with the team. There would be twelve of us. It was going to be a hell of a stunt show. Every single one of those guys was batshit crazy. In a good way. A few of them, including Knox and Colby, were Hollywood stunt riders. Next year we were doing a live tour of North America, and Colby said they’d been talking to some execs at MTV. Everything was falling into place, and I was getting my life back together. It felt good to be excited about something again.
“Are you going to see your ex when you’re out there?”
“Not if I can help it.” Last I’d heard, she was living in L.A. I didn’t care what the fuck she was doing in L.A. or who she was doing it with. Alessia was the queen of shitty life choices, but she wasn’t my problem anymore. As long as she stayed out of mine, she could do whatever the hell she wanted.
“When’s the last time you talked to her?”
“It’s been a while.” Back in May, she was calling and texting all the time. I never answered. Deleted her texts without reading them. “I blocked her number on my phone.”
“Sucks that she did that to you.”
“Tell me about it.” Mason didn’t even know the half of it. Only Quinn knew. I hadn’t even told her everything, but I’d given her the Cliff Notes version, which was more than enough.
“Takes time to move on from something like that.”
“I’ve moved on.” I grasped my jaw in my hand and twisted my head, cracking my neck on one side and then doing it on the other to alleviate the tension that was starting to build there. Every time I thought about Alessia, it fucked with my head, so I tried my damnedest not to think about her at all. “I’ve put it behind me.”
He gave me a skeptical look. I hopped off the tailgate and rolled out my shoulders before I threw on my riding gear. Time to get back out there and work on my jumps. The last thing I wanted to do was sit around and talk about my ex-girlfriend.
“All I’m saying is that you loved her, and those feelings don’t just magically disappear.”
My jaw clenched, and I snapped. “Why the fuck are we talking about Alessia? I told you I’m over her,” I gritted out.
“Yeah, okay. But as soon as I mentioned her—”
