Page 8 of Burnout
“Is he still looking this way?”
“No. Well, maybe he was, but now he’s a little occupied.” Her voice takes on a playful singsong tone.
I look back at him in time to see a stunning brunette straddle the seat of his motorcycle, facing him. Her arms dangle over his shoulders. He isn’t touching her at all, but he’s eating up the attention, judging by the way he leans closer to her. Almost lazily he cups the back of her head and brings her mouth to his, kissing her in a way that makes my stomach bottom out.
“Do you know him?” I ask Quinn.
“No, but I recognize some of the guys with him. They’re local riders. Colter will know. We can ask him later. Maybe Colter can introduce you and we can double date!”
“No thanks. He is so not my type.”
“That man is everyone’s type for at least a night.”
She’s probably not wrong about that.
The rest of the event goes by quickly and before I know it, Quinn is dragging me to a side area of the parking lot where Colter and the other riders are loading their equipment into trailers. A small crowd has formed nearby, and I spot my tattooed bad boy among them, but I’m careful not to get caught staring at him again.
Quinn takes off in a run toward her man. He’s still dressed in all his gear, minus the helmet. He catches her and holds her up to kiss her, which he does, quite thoroughly. I walk slowly toward them, closing the distance while they say hello to each other like it’s been months instead of hours since they’ve seen each other.
Colter lowers Quinn back down to stand in front of him, but keeps his arms locked around her. He’s a head taller than her and uses that height advantage to smile at me over her. “Hey, Avery.”
“Hey, yourself.” I smile at him. Colter is really easy to like. The fact that he makes my friend so happy is just a bonus.
“What’d you think of the show?” he asks.
“It was incredible. Your lines were straight and clean. I’m so proud.”
His smile widens. “Thanks.”
More of the crew is working around us. Colter drops another kiss to Quinn’s lips. “I gotta help the guys. Are you two sticking around for a bit? There’s a cooler of drinks in the back of my truck.”
My friend looks to me hopefully.
“Yeah.” I lift one shoulder in a small approving shrug.
“Cool. Grab a drink. I’ll be back soon.” He kisses Quinn again. Seriously, these two can’t get enough of each other and it’s as heartwarming as it is nauseating to witness. When Colter is gone, Quinn turns on her toes to grin at me. One look at how happy she is makes it hard to be anything but happy for her.
I’m not looking for that, but it would be nice if the universe could send me a gorgeous, sweet man that wants to make out occasionally. After the crappy year I’ve had, that doesn’t seem like too much to ask for.
THREE
“Knox fucking Holland.”Colter steps down from his lifted truck, a big smile splashed across his face. In all the years I’ve known him I don’t think I’ve ever seen him without that same goofy, happy smile on his face.
My own much rarer smile loosens as I approach my longtime friend.
“You made it,” he says, striding toward me with a huge grin on his face. We shake hands and he pulls me into a one-armed hug. “What’d you think?”
“I think I could still kick your ass in any race.”
His dark eyes dance with amusement as he laughs. “No way. You’re lucky I quit when I did. I’d be stealing all that prize money from you.”
“You name the time and place, and we’ll test that theory,” I say, knowing he won’t take me up on it. Neither of us let the other’s ribbing get to us. I’ve known Colter since we were kids. We grew up in Valley together, met in elementary school, and have been racing dirt bikes just as long. About a year ago, the same time I started competing again, he switched to freestyle.Now he spends his days doing crazy stunts on his bike instead of racing.
Coincidence that he stopped racing at the same time I came back? I think not. I don’t blame him. I’m fucking fast.
“I’ll race you as soon as you can do the Kiss of Death double backflip.” His expression dares me to attempt the crazy stunt where the rider flips the bike and holds on to the handlebars for dear life with their legs straight up in the air.
“I like all my bonesinsidemy body.”
