Page 76 of Down & Dirty

“Okay, we’ll be back.” He pushed up from chair and held his hand out to me. “Come on.”

After zipping me into my enormous coat, Cory led me down the front steps and toward a path across from the house that I hadn’t noticed when we pulled in. There were little solar lights stuck in the ground every ten feet or so, and even though I wouldn’t consider myself a city girl, I was glad to have them giving us some way to navigate as we headed deeper into the dark woods.

“You’re sure you’re okay?” I asked again, the off-feeling from before lingering even with my hand in his and both of us taking deep breaths of fresh air.

He dipped his head. “Yeah, sorry about that. Family stuff has always been a bit of a sore spot for us.”

“Because they don’t come to your races anymore?”

He shook his head. “They never really did.” He sighed heavily, like I’d hit one of those landmines right on the head. “They’ve always thought motocross was a bad idea.”

“But they had to have seen how talented you were. Why wouldn’t they have supported you?”

My parents had gone all in for both Ronnie and me when we’d shown them how serious we were about motocross. I couldn’t imagine that Ronnie would have gotten to where he was today without their support. To think that Cory had been on his own this whole time made me sad.

“When I first started riding, I wasn’t in to win. I just wanted to scare the shit out of myself.”

I slowed down, trying to understand what that meant, but he only shook his head.

“Long story.” He tugged me back into stride beside him. “But anyway, they just never did what your folks did.”

“And do you think he feels bad about that now?”

Cory’s laugh was hollow. “No. I think he wishes we were all closer. But he’s not willing to change his mind on much to make that happen.”

His steps slowed, and suddenly the woods we’d been walking through opened up to reveal a black expanse. A pond. And above it, a sky so packed with stars my breath got caught in my chest. I dropped Cory’s hand and spun in place, my mouth hanging open.

“I’ve never seen anything like this.”

The sky wasn’t just black behind the sparkling lights. It was indigo and purple and shades of both that I’d never seen. It was like someone had cut a hole in the sky I’d known my whole life to reveal this other version, and all the skies I’d seen before this one paled in comparison.

“Cory,” I whispered.

The crunch of leaves was what told me he was close, because my eyes were still stuck upward, sweeping over the density of lights hanging low over our heads.

“What do you think?”

“Think?” I sighed, finally tearing my gaze away. He was watching me, his lips curled into a satisfied smile. “Is this why you brought me out here?”

“Yeah,” he said, shrugging as he gave the stars a passing glance. “I thought you’d like it.”

I looked back up, spinning again to take in the full swath of sky the pond gave us access to. “Likeisn’t the right word.”

Cory’s body heat was what I felt first, as he slipped into the space at my back. Then his arms, coming around my waist like they had that night in the hospital. He banded them around me and I leaned my weight into him, reveling in the feel of his sturdy hold.The crisp chill of the air was cut down by the warmth of his breath on my throat, and then the trace of his lips against my ear.

“If I could give you stars like this every night, I would,” he whispered, nuzzling into the crook of my neck. “But they still wouldn’t be as beautiful as you.”

My breath held, trapped inside me as I felt his words vibrate to my toes. The conviction in his voice spun through me, ripping and tearing at whatever composure I was holding on to. This was like that moment in the truck, only more intense. And once again, no one was around for the show.

Which meant it wasn’t a show at all. Right?

I swallowed hard. “Are you practicing again? Prepping me for another red carpet?”

His arms cinched tighter, as he growled in my ear. “No. Nothing is happening this weekend but us having a good time.”

“No cameras?”

“Nope.”

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