Page 67 of X My Heart

He shakes his head, probably not understanding the reference. What an asshole.

“One that will get you more chicks.” His voice is slick.

“Tell me something I don’t know, and I’m good man,” I mumble, waiting for him to stop talking.

“Have you ever thought about branching out?” he asks, pulling up his sleeve and showing off his gold Rolex.

“Branching out?” What the hell does he want from me?

“Yes, more sponsor deals, a modeling contract, the works,” he says, sounding excited.

“A modeling contract? Man, come on.” I push my hair back. The dude is full of shit.

Neil takes out his wallet, eyeing the stack of one-hundred-dollar bills in there, then he hands me his card. “Here, I got a new number. Since our deal hasn’t started yet, I don’t see why I can’t earn some money from you now. Start recouping on my investment.”

“I don’t have time for that shit. I’m still with Jay.”

Neil holds up his hands. “For now,” he says, walking away.

I keep staring at the card and his name in gold letters on it. “Neil!”

He turns around.

“You know what my deal is with Jay, don’t you?”

He flashes me his too-white smile. “Jay isn’t here right now, is he? And I haven’t forgotten our deal. Have you?” He spreads out his arms.

Watching him walk away a second time, I mutter, “No.”

I stare at my reflection in the window of the bus. Okay, maybe I could make some money on the side. Girls like the bad-boy BMX package. Fucking depressing to think about it. But whatever, my dick doesn’t complain so I shouldn’t start. At least, I didn’t, before those brown eyes began haunting my dreams.

Shaking my head, I kick my boots against the bus. Whatever. Screw Neil. I’m not going to become a centerfold. Fuck that shit.

I hop onto the bus. Mac is reading a magazine, and Drew is busy working on his laptop.

“What was that about?” Drew asks.

“Nothing concerning you,” I tell him, parking my ass on the leather couch, twirling the card in my hand.

“Hunt?” he asks.

“What?” I grunt, searching for a pack of Lucky Strikes.

“You wouldn’t really be thinking about leaving Jay?” he sounds concerned.

I throw Neil’s card on the table toward him. “Fuck no,” I state, shaking my head.

I’m not going to tell Drew about the deal I made with Neil when Jay was burning money faster than it was coming in, and how I used the advance to sponsor the kids. I’m in deep, and even with my winner’s earnings, I’m never going to be able to pay Neil off. “You know he offered me a modeling deal.”

Drew snickers. “With your ugly mug?”

“Yeah, I know.” I grin, staring out the window and lighting one up. “Shit is fucked.” But I don’t know what or whom I’m referring to.

I spend the whole night awake in my bunk, thinking about her. Jay and Sky meet up with us the next day, a couple of hours before the race is planned to start. I try to focus on the task at hand, but I can’t seem to find my center.

“You okay, man? You checked your bike ten times already,” Drew says, while he goes over the videos of my races from this morning on his iPad.

“Five minutes!” Jay yells into the trailer. I give Drew a look.

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