Page 39 of Fast

Her fingers twined with mine, bring me more comfort than I ever thought possible. I feel like I need to explain a few things to Zara, since she’ll be living in my father’s house.

“His death left a gaping wound in my family, and we’re still smarting over that loss. After Bridgeport PD concluded their investigation without being able to find the person on the motorcycle that hit him, Dad shut down.” I begin.

Her green eyes are full of understanding. I usually hate to talk about it. People’s pity just makes the pain worse. The look in her eyes is different, though; it isn’t pity, it’s compassion. And that makes it easier to open up to her like I haven’t been able to do with my dad and with Ares, with my therapist… not even with Lev.

“You weren’t able to reach us, because Dad made us delete all our social media while the investigation was ongoing. Heather’s too. Her dad is the town’s sheriff, and he was adamant that we shouldn’t talk to anyone while Bridgeport PD was still looking into the events of that day. I actually didn’t mind deleting everything. Dad is still pretty famous from his pro hockey days, and the media went into a frenzy. We had photographers camped out at our house for weeks. They were outside school, at our hockey games. Everywhere we turned, we were ambushed and asked for a statement or a comment.”

It looks like Zara understands, at least partially. “I can only imagine. That kind of stuff is part of why Mom moved us as far from Dad as possible and went back to her maiden name. I mean, she hates Dad. But when they separated, every gossip site, every sports news outlet, wanted an interview. She just couldn’t deal with it.”

The urge to touch her is strong, but there are a few things I want to tell her before I succumb to it.

“I’m sorry about your parents’ divorce, but in a way, if they were still together, we might have never met.” I tuck a strand of silky brown hair behind her ear.

“True.” She whispers. “I was really worried about how living with my mom’s new husband would be. But now I’m excited. I never thought I would get to see you and Lev again.”

I try not to let the fact that she just mentioned Lev bother me.

“I’m looking forward to hanging out with you guys. Maybe one of these days we could go out for a ride? The old road that used to connect Star Cove to the rest of the coast before the interstate was built looks perfect for riding.”

Yeah, I definitely need to make Zara aware of a few things.

“Zara, I don’t think we’ll be able to do that. I really don’t ride anymore.”

“Oh.” She flinches. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be insensitive. It’s understandable after… you know.”

She doesn’t say Atlas’s name out loud. Good. We don’t really talk about him in the house. It hurts too much.

“Yeah, there’s that, but it isn’t the only reason. Things have changed in town since Dad became mayor.”

“What do you mean?”

Every time I have to explain that to someone from out of town, I know how crazy what I’m about to say is going to sound.

“The first thing Dad did when he was elected was to ban motorcycles within the town limits. Owning or keeping a motorcycle in Star Cove is illegal.”

“What? But what about Star Arrows? Did Lev and Ares quit racing too?”

I really hate talking about this, but I feel like Zara needs to know how deeply the loss of my brother affected our family and the entire town. “They had no choice. Dad had started campaigning for the ban even before he decided to run for mayor. He blames motorcycles for what happened to Atlas. Hemanaged to convince the majority of the town that motorcycles aren’t just too dangerous; they’re noisy and they encourage reckless behavior, attracting undesirables into our peaceful, wealthy town.”

Zara shakes her head. “I’m sorry, but that’s crazy. Not everyone who rides a motorcycle is reckless, or a thug.”

I agree with her. “You’re right. I guess different people react differently to grief. Dad wanted someone to blame. He even sued the racetrack and got them shut down.”

Her next words surprise me. “He isn’t wrong there. I told Cal on that first day that the track lacked some important safety features. Like air fences. Those are one of the most important safety features. Most MotoGP racetracks have them.”

I sigh. “Yeah, I know. The Super League didn’t require them back then. They have since changed their regulations, but Dad is out to get them too. He’s lobbying with the governor to get the League entirely banned from California and, if he has his way, entirely shut down.”

She frowns. “Wow. When I saw your dad, I wasn’t surprised that my mom liked him. No offense, but he’s still very handsome.”

I can’t help but tease her a little. “Do you have the hots for my dad?” The fact that Zara finds my dad attractive is actually good for me. Everyone says I’m his carbon copy, just thirty years younger.

“Stop,” she snorts. “He could be my father. I meant that I can see why my mom was attracted to him. But now that you told me about the ban, I bet that his hatred of motorcycles was something they totally bonded over.”

She isn’t wrong. “Yeah. Your mom was a huge supporter of his ban idea.”

“So Ares and Lev didn’t fight the ban at all? Did they just close Star Arrows? What about the Blue Lightning contract and their MotoGP contract?”

“Atlas’s death didn’t just change Dad’s life. Ares wanted nothing to do with bikes, either. But that isn’t the only thing that changed for him. The twins had a deal with Dad. He would support their racing careers as long as they got college degrees. They were both going to attend Star Cove. Dad was so proud that all three of us wanted to go to his alma mater. But after what happened that day at the track, Ares wasn’t himself for months. He ended up dropping out of college and applying to the police academy.”

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