Page 23 of Played

Mal shrugged. She hated for River to listen to anyone else when it came to the bikes. It didn’t matter how the bikes felt to anyone but her. “You need to run it and feel it out for yourself.”

The damn thing had sucked donkey balls yesterday on the track, even after she wound it up. Today wouldn’t make any difference. Her ankle still screamed at her when she put her riding boots on. “Fine, but Mal…”

“Yeah?”

“I’m gonna open her up all the way.” Shoving her helmet on, River gave Mal a wink when she flipped her off.

Mal knew something more was knocking around in River’s head the past few weeks. Ever since she went to that meeting in Fontana. She had nothing to say about it and told both Mal and Dan not to ask her about it again. River would crack soon and then they would have to pick her up again. “Save some of that energy for training later.”

“Hey, cut me some slack, will you.” Six weeks the doctor said it would take for her ankle to heal properly—which meant six weeks to get all the parts in to fix the damn bike. Even her back up was being worked on. All of that to get back on the track, and now Mal was riding her like an old lady.

***

For weeks Riot had been driving out from Santa Maria to watch River test bikes at WeatherTech Raceway. Somehow Ben had agreed to let him know when she would be there. Riot had forgotten how fierce River was when she was on the track. If the woman could get any tighter to the sleek machine she straddled, he was sure she would. The two looked almost fused together.

Sheer amazement was what he felt watching her handling the bike at speeds over one hundred miles an hour.

Standing with Ben, observing River’s performance on the track below, Riot thought her form was good, but the bike seemed to be giving her some issues. He knew this was her first run on the track since healing from the Austin crash on this bike. Riot had to wonder if she was having issues with the bike on an emotional level. Racers sometimes had issues getting back in a car after a bad accident, why would a bike racer be any different?

He checked the time on the track and knew she wasn’t pushing the bike to its full capacity. He had a lot to learn about the bike side of racing, but he still knew some things. Just not everything he needed to know. That would come, he had no doubt. “What was her speed in the straightaway?”

“One hundred twenty,” Ben replied as Dan called the time.

Something must be off with River today. Could she still be nursing her injuries from Austin? It had been almost four weeks. If she isn’t completely healed, she ran the risk of reinjuring herself. “What’s keeping her from running faster?”

“Well, it’s just testing the bikes, so she’s getting the feel of all the adjustments that have been done to this particular bike.”

“Is this a different bike than what she normally runs?” He really needed to become knowledgeable on the bikes—and fast.

“Yes, the other bike is the one your girlfriend’s boytoy helped fuck up. It’s in pieces at the shop.”

“She’s not my girlfriend, she’s my keeper.” If Ben knew why he had remained living at Laurel’s—other than him being addicted to pain pills and alcohol—he would hate him. Ben and Cypress had been tighter than any of them. When people spoke about friends being family, it didn’t compare to the bond Ben and Cypress had.

“So, you’re a prisoner now, Riot?”

“No, I just can’t walk away just yet. She’s trying to destroy River and I want to know why.”

“Wake up, son. Laurel has been trying to take everything from River since before Cypress died. It’s the simple fact that River won’t go down that fuels that bitch’s fire.” Sounded good to him, even if it was a half lie.

Ben was probably right. Laurel had a hard on for River when she first got cozy with Cypress, but there was so much more to that story. “Can you see if she can push the bike a little more?”

“Not my call, that’s Dan and Mal’s. They’re her crew.”

“You mean her guard dogs?”

“Mal does bite.”

Riot laughed. It sounded foreign to him because for years he had nothing to laugh about. Hell, he had nothing to smile about. He had found himself doing more of both since Austin. Grabbing the headset from Ben, he told Mal her girl was slacking on the straightaway, and whoever was caring for that piece of shit bike needed to be fired. When he handed the com back to Ben, the man stared at him like he was an idiot until Mal came across the speaker and told him to fuck himself.

As they watched the track below, they saw Mal hold up a sign that said to open her up next lap. Now they would see what the bike and the rider could do together. Riot had an appointment with D&T later that evening. He needed to learn about superbikes and their side of the track. “Ben, would you be interested in helping me with a project I’m working on?”

“What’s it gonna cost me?”Better to keep the devil close.

Riot knew Ben had to learn how to trust him again. The big question was: why? That was a loaded question. Riot was learning fast that everyone he thought had deserted him thought the same about him. He had made the decision to remain at the house in Santa Maria to look for clues about what Laurel had been doing behind his back and what she had in mind for the future. “Time. And if things go the way I hope they will, you’ll get paid nicely.”

“I won’t work for Canyon Racing under any circumstances.” Ben stared hard at Riot. However, he got a little more interested when Riot explained he didn’t work for Canyon and that he never would.

Ben shrugged. “You’ll have to explain all of it to me one day.”

---