Page 87 of Tailwhip

I start laughing at myself. “Nick saw me this morning in my very skimpy cheeky undies and when I realized that I opened my room door in that, I jumped so fast behind the door to shield myself. I was mortified, Cora!”

Cora burst out laughing at me. “Oh my god, I wish I could have seen that and your face. I bet you got beat red!”

It is getting close for the pros to start, and I haven’t seen Anthony anywhere since Mateo’s win. He isn’t in the stands or on the deck.

The announcer calls for all the Pro Dirt riders to come up to the deck for the start and final competition for BMX. I am looking everywhere, and Anthony is nowhere in sight. “Why don’t I see Anthony up there? This is his main event, right?” Cora asks me.

“Yeah, it is. I don’t know where he is at.”

After sitting and looking around, Chase comes and sits by Cora. “Sorry I got over here a bit late. I was talking to Anthony. He was fixing something on his bike and is making his way to the deck anytime.”

Chase looks directly at me after he says this, like he knows I was looking for him. I nod my head. “Thank you!”

We watch as each rider does their runs, and some are really good. Chase leans over Cora and tells me, “Don’t worry, Anthony has an awesome ending trick. He will win it.”

Finally, it is time for Anthony to do his run. I am sitting on the edge of my seat, probably more nervous than he is, and he is the one doing these jumps! Anthony is the last rider; he rides down the ramp to get his speed up. His first set is a double back flip; For his second set, he does a barspin tailwhip 360. At least, that is what it looks like, but soon the announcer confirms that’s what it was. For his last trick he does… I don’t even know what to call it!

“Holy shit, what the hell was that? That was crazy!” Cora says with excitement.

I look over to her. “I honestly have no idea what to call that.” The announcers are going crazy and finally announce exactly what the trick is called. He did a front bike flip to a superman seatgrab. I am completely in awe of what he just did.

We all jump up once he is done and back up on deck. We are so loud with our cheering; they announce the winners, and, of course, Anthony takes home first place in dirt.

“Let’s head back over to the tent; he has some interviews. I told him to meet all of us there.” Chase tells us.

We make it over and the sun is starting to set, and Anthony has not come over. So, I start to look for him, I am not sure where to go. After searching for a bit, I text Mateo, asking him if he knows where he could be.

51

Anthony

Half of Forever – Henrik

It’s been an hour since the competition ended, and I am up on the deck with my bike, looking out at the ocean and watching the sunset. The stands have cleared out, and people have made their way to the free concert for the night. All lights have been shut off. As I am sitting there, out of nowhere, I feel something smack against the side of me, and when I look down, it’s my gloves. Before I turn around, I hear her. “So, this is where you’ve been hiding!”

I stand up and turn toward Ashlynn. No, not just Ashlynn, but Ashlynn in a sundress looking cute as hell. “Who gave me away?”

Smiling and taking a step toward me, she says, “Mateo!”

Ashlynn walks to me and stops right in front of me. “Why are you hiding up here?”

I go to put my hand on her waist, but stop myself before I make any contact. “I like to sit up here after the shows; it’s peaceful for me.”

I turn and walk to sit back down, with my back resting against the back rails. Ashlynn stands for a moment before she comes and sits down next to me and takes me by surprise by intertwining our fingers. I just stare at our hands and take in the familiar feeling of her next to me. I lift our hands and kiss the back of hers. She leans her head on my shoulder and lets out a long sigh.

Breaking the silence, she says, “Anthony, I don’t need to be ready. You have always had my heart. It’s always been yours.” I close my eyes and absorb her words. I can’t hold it in and let my smile spread. “There’s that smile I love so much!” Ashlynn says while looking at me.

I turn toward her and run my hand along the side of her face; she surprises me again by grabbing the collar of my t-shirt and pulling me to her lips for a kiss. It’s a slow kiss, and my body instantly comes alive with her lips on mine.

We sit in comfortable silence in the soft glow of the remaining rays of sunlight. Ashlynn turns her head away from me and I notice she is wiping away tears. “Are those happy or sad tears?”

She shakes her head. “I have to tell you something, and just know, I didn’t do this to hurt you.”

I put my arm around her waist and pull her to sit and straddle me. “Baby, you can tell me anything.” Ashlynn turns her head and bites her lower lip. I grab her chin and turn her to face me. “Tell me.”

She takes a deep breath and lets out a heavy sigh. “When I was in Vancouver, there was someone else. I’m sorry.”

I am taken aback by this; I wasn’t expecting that, of all things. I know that for Ashlynn to be with anyone else, she had emotions behind it, and it wasn’t just someone random. However, I was with more than one person since I left her. She lets a few tears fall silently, and while I am looking at her, I realize that I don’t care about that. I grab her face and wipe the tears away and kiss her on her forehead, down her scar, and finally her lips.

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