Page 80 of Dash

“Hey,” I say as I pull him to where he has to lay down on the bed, with his feet still planted on the floor. I look down at him. “Why are you lying?” I ask softly as I run my hands through his hair.

He sighs. “Because this isn’t what I asked for.”

“I know, but you won your first race. Why shouldn’t you celebrate it?”

He stands up and turns around to face me. “I did. I celebrated it with you. Why do you think I followed you back to the trailer after I won instead of doing the interview?”

“Uh…” I don’t have an answer.

“Because I didn’t want to do some stupid interview.”

“You did that interview with me after the pics leaked,” I remind him.

“I did that interview because it was how I felt about you, not because of my racing.”

I sit up on my knees and stare at him confused. “I don’t understand what you’re trying to say,” I say truthfully. “I don’t understand why you don’t want the world to see how great you are. You won your first race…”

“God, I wish people would quit saying that,” he all but shouts, causing me to scoot back on the bed. “It was just a stupid race,” he adds with a growl.

“Whoa. A stupid race?” I question shocked. “How can you even say that?”

He runs a hand through his hair and his muscles flex at the motion. “You wanna know why I don’t want a party with reporters and photographers?” He doesn’t allow me to answer. “It’s because I don’t want to rub it in people’s faces. I don’t want to plaster that I won all over the papers or the TV. Yes, I won; we celebrated at a nice quiet dinner afterwards with my friends and the crew. Let’s leave it at that.”

This isn’t like the Dash I know. The cocky one who thinks he’s the best. The one who gives that sexy smirk and gets everything he wants. Why would he not want to the world to see…? Unless… “You’re afraid.” He narrows those beautiful gray eyes at me. “Afraid that you won’t win the next one.” Of course. Like my father said, he came out of nowhere and won. Winning will bring haters. And those haters will laugh in his face if he were to lose the next one.

“Babe, it’s okay to be afraid. But you’re gonna win the next one,” I tell him.

He gives a right laugh. “Because you can see the future?” he asks sarcastically.

“No because I know how hard you have worked. And how hard you’re going to continue to work.” I crawl over on my hands and knees to the end of the bed and place my hands on his face. “There’s nothing wrong with being confident, Dash. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating your victory. You don’t have to mention anything about the next race or the fact that you’re going to blow everyone out of the water.” He rolls his eyes, but his lips tug at the corners. “Let the world see what you have accomplished. Let the world see the support system that you have. There are other people out there who believe in their dreams; let them know that they can be achieved.”

He places his hands on my face and leans forward placing his forehead against mine. “I love you.” His voice is soft.

“I love you, too.” I reach out and undo the button of his pants. I look up to his beautiful gray eyes as I slowly undo his zipper.

“What are you doing?” he asks softly.

“I wanna show you how much I love you.”

He gives me a soft smile. “I like the sound of that.” His pants fall to the floor and he steps out of them and then removes his boxers. I reach up, bring his face down to mine, and kiss him as I pull him onto the bed. Ready to give him everything that I have.

He rolls us over to where he’s straddling me and I smile up at him.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

DASH

“Nothing is more amazing than this,” I say truthfully, as I run my hand down her stomach.

“Really?” She cocks an eyebrow. “You’re comparing winning a race to sex?” she questions with a laugh.

“No.” I shake my head. “I’m comparing it to you.” I place my hands on both sides of her face. “Nothing in this world compares to touching you. Winning that race was all I ever wanted. Until you.” She smiles. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to wake up every morning knowing that you’re mine.”

“I am,” she says without a doubt.

“Nothing in this world could compare to that feeling.” It’s true. You could win every award there is in the world but having the feeling of knowing that someone loves you—well, nothing could beat that. Because all those awards are just gonna sit on a shelf and collect dust. People will forget what you worked so hard to accomplish—that dream. But she will wake up every morning loving me. And every night knowing that I love her just as much.

“Why am I so emotional?” She lets out a little laugh.

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