Page 19 of Drive To Survive

Not for the first time, the challenges she faced tugged at me. She must be constantly on edge, watching every single word that spilled from her lips.

Lips that right now I was staring at.

I tore my gaze away, but not before she noticed. Damn it. I didn’t want to give her any signs of encouragement. Sure, I fancied her like hell, the stiffy rubbing against my zipper testament to that, but if I bedded her, it’d be a onetime thing, and then it’d just get awkward around the track. I wasn’t capable of getting into any kind of a relationship, and Everly was too nice a woman to mess around. She had it hard enough as it was without me fucking her about and then dropping her once the night was over. Better to avoid any entanglement in the first place. Save us both a lot of shit down the road.

Our food arrived, and the waitress also brought a drawing and some crayons to keep Rhett occupied. Once Everly had seen to him, she picked up her own burger and took a delicate bite. A spot of ketchup settled in the corner of her mouth. She wiped it with her little finger, then licked it off.

“Jesus,” I muttered.

Everly caught my eye. I shifted my position, my rock-hard dick giving me grief, constrained as it was by a tight pair of jeans.

“Adele told me about your accident,” she said, empathy softening her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

My dick deflated. I clamped my jaw shut, my hands unintentionally curling into fists. I hated being pitied. Hated it. Even more so by a woman like Everly. She oozed sympathy and compassion. I didn’t want either. Not from her. Not from anyone.

“Thanks.” I took a huge bite of my burger, chewed, swallowed, and took another bite, all the while staring out the window.

“If you ever want to talk, I’m a good listener.”

I barked out a laugh, and the sarcasm in it was obvious enough that even Rhett lifted his head from his coloring and gave me an odd look. I pinched one of his fries and winked, the attempt at diversion working when he laughed and wrapped his arms protectively around his plate.

Once he started drawing again, I looked over at Everly. “I’m good.”

She drew her teeth across her bottom lip and nodded. “Well, the offer stands if you ever change your mind.”

Fuck. This woman was too nice for her own good. I didn’t want or covet nice. I wasn’t comfortable with nice. I didn’t want a dreamy romance, all hearts and flowers and shit. I wasn’t that kind of man. I preferred harsh, hard, frayed at the edges. One night of hot, sweaty sex and then “See ya, babe.” No ties. No disappointments.

No regrets.

I almost got up and left, but worried that might generate questions from Rhett, and especially as the kid already had issues of abandonment, I kept my arse on the seat. I didn’t want him to think I’d cut and run because of him. So I stuck it out, answering Everly only when I had no other choice. She caught on pretty fast, eventually falling into silence.

We finished our food. I threw a bunch of notes on the table, dismissing Everly’s objections with a flick of my wrist. She smiled thinly, then ushered Rhett out of the restaurant and walked to the corner where she’d parked her beat-up truck.

“Thanks for the invite, bud.” I tweaked Rhett’s nose, which earned me a giggle. Somehow making this kid laugh brought warmth to my chest. Even more reason to deny whatever feelings I had for his mother. The very last thing Rhett needed was for me to bed his mum and then have all this awkwardness between us. Kids picked up on stuff pretty easily. And what if she stopped bringing him to the track? No, better to leave things as they were.

“See ya, Nico,” Rhett said as his mother lifted him into the back seat and strapped him in.

“See you,” Everly corrected.

“Got a losing battle on your hands there,” I said, not wanting to leave when there was this unspoken tension hovering in the air.

She straightened and closed the door, then turned to face me. “Thank you for paying. You didn’t have to.”

I shrugged. “I know. I wanted to.”

She shielded her eyes from the sun and tipped back her head. “No coercion, right?”

“Correct,” I said, offering up a wry smile.

A moment passed between us. Our eyes locked, and despite the promises I’d made to myself five seconds earlier, I lowered my head to kiss her.

“Nico?”

“Hmm.”

She ran a hand down my arm. “I meant what I said. If you ever want to talk, I’m happy to listen.”

Her altruistic comment broke the spell, and I straightened, a torrent of harsh words on the tip of my tongue. I should have swallowed them. I didn’t.

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