Page 74 of Played

“Sink fixtures.” Mal held up her glass saluting.

“Light fixtures, ceiling fans,” Ben chimed in, tapping his glass to Mal’s.

“Outlet covers,” Dan added.

River put her glass up, toasting her friends. “Kitchen cabinet doors, doorknobs, drawer pulls.”

“Crown molding, and I think you even took lightbulbs from recessed lights.” Dan laughed.

“We took it all. If the granite counters hadn’t been so heavy, I would have taken those as well.” River took a drink, smiling at the thought of Laurel walking into a stripped house.

“You trashed the pool also,” Riot stated.

“No, that was not me. The pool had been giving Cypress issues.”

“So, tell us what happened when Laurel took possession.”

“She took me back to court to sue me. I asked the minutes to be read back from the original court hearing. It clearly stated that all she was awarded was the house as in the shell, not the contents within.” River shrugged, popping an olive in her mouth. “And that’s how you take out all your frustrations, anger out on someone without killing them.”

“Laurel never replaced anything that she didn’t have to. The rooms she doesn’t use she never fixed. I always wondered if she had taken the stuff and sold it for money.”

“Now you know.”

For a moment everyone was silent. No one laughed, they just sipped their wine quietly thinking. River spoke softly because she needed to say it out loud. She needed to hear it spoken not just in her head. Maybe if she told someone the burden she felt would lighten some. “When I crossed the finish line it was the exact moment Cypress hit the wall.” There. It was out there for the world to know. She didn’t cry. She wasn’t angry about it; it was a fact. She watched that damn race and the clock counter so many times she drove the track in Georgia in her head simultaneously as she watched the race in Fontana. “Life’s cruel sometimes, wouldn’t you agree? You can’t have all the happiness it gives without knowing it can take it back.” She took a sip of wine as her mouth felt dry. “I’ve been hiding for seven years where life couldn’t take anything else from me. I’d like to take a chance again to see what life has to offer this time around the track.”

Riot handed the platter of meat to Ben, set the tongs down he had been using, and went to her. Crouching down in front of River, he took her wine, drank a sip, and set the glass aside. Tunneling his hands through her wild hair, which he loved, he brought her to him. His lips gently caressed hers, his tongue licked over the seam of her lips, waiting for her to let him in. When her lips parted, he deepened the kiss. He held her right where he wanted her so she could know he would catch her if she needed to fall apart. Riot would pick her up, carry her off, and remind her she wasn’t alone anymore that she had him to lean on, to depend on. He loved the way she responded to him, always willing to let him have that control she held so tight to herself. When he ended the kiss, he looked into the grey eyes. They were a little glazed, and her lips were puffy and red, beckoning for him to kiss them again. He smiled, giving her a wink. “I swear I will be waiting at the finish line every time.”

She leaned her head against his. “Sorry I got lost in that place.”

“Do you feel better now that you’ve told us?”

“Yes. I felt guilty all these years, as if he gave up his life for me to have the life I wanted. Like fate couldn’t just let us have both. Foolish, isn’t it?”

Everyone chimed in, telling her it wasn’t. Each of them had a story about that day, so while they ate, they talked about all the little things that had happened. All the laughs and aggravations, all the feelings that they all held tight. They each put out there for everyone to know, hoping that they could all heal this time. “This is our time, River. This is not just your team sitting around here—we are your family. On and off the track. Got it?”

“Got it.”

They had come a long way in the last weeks after she had blown up in her kitchen, wrecked her truck, and turned the documents about Laurel to the cops. “I’m thankful for each and every one of you.” Raising her glass, she toasted Cypress for a life he had lived his way, and for the family he had given her.

Epilogue

First race of the season and the butterflies were on a serious roll. The weather couldn’t be more perfect. Standing on the track, River closed her eyes and tilted her head back as she let the sun warm her face.

“Are we walking the track or standing praying to the sun god?”

Laughing, River glanced at Mal who wore her serious face. “I think we will walk the track.”

“Are you worried about today?”

“No, but it’s our thing.”

“Yes it is.” Mal waved to her husband, who stood with Ben talking to Archer, Jonesy, and Devon. Dan walked out knowing the deal, it was part of their race day rituals and you never messed with the hoodoo, according to River.

Archer yelled out, “Can anyone join in on the track walk?”

River yelled back, “It’s a team thing.”

She didn’t look back to see who caught up with them, she knew by their voices joining in on the conversation that the trio had already begun.

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