Page 56 of Send It
His face twists and I can tell he’s worried about it too.
“Besides my ruined racing reputation and your brother cutting my balls off?”
He pushes his bike up onto the stand and I can’t help but notice that he looks nervous.
“Hey,” I say, placing my hand against his forearm. “If we go down, we’re going down together.”
“I don’t know, Lincoln. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I can keep my dad off my back and keep my hopes of going pro alive, but Landon is out for blood. You won’t have anyone on that track that can help you. Reiss is my teammate but when we hit that track, we’re both out there to win. Plus, he won’t know it’s you.”
“I can take care of myself out there,” I argue. “Plus, we both know I’m tough. If I go down, I’ll be okay.”
He doesn’t like my answer.
“It’s risky,” he whispers. “And if we get caught, it will ruin us both.”
I shrug, “So we don’t get caught. Which means I need to be out here sweating my ass off for the next month, otherwise we are definitely getting caught.”
He nods tightly but I can tell he doesn’t like it. In fact, he doesn’t say another word for the next thirty minutes while he changes the oil in one of our practice bikes. I sit on the stool and play with the sleeves of my pink racing shirt until I can’t take the silence anymore.
“I wouldn’t tell Reiss what happened between us. I just said that because I wanted you to let me help you. I just want to be here for you.”
He tosses the metal tool onto the top of the toolbox with a bang. “I know, Lincoln.”
“Then tell me what I can do to make you stop looking at me the way you have for the past four hours, because I hate it when you look at me like that.”
“Like what?” He asks, using a towel to wipe sweat from his brow.
“Like you would rather be anywhere else but here with me.”
He shakes his head, “You know that’s not true.”
“Isn’t it? It seems like ever since the other night you just…”
He stops the words before they come out of my mouth by pressing his lips to mine. The urgency is unfamiliar and the way he forcefully grabs my neck and pulls me into him proves me wrong.
Slipping his tongue against mine, he pulls away breathless. “The other night is all I want. You are all I want. The only thing.”
His sage colored eyes are wild and my heart is beating out of my chest. The passion in his eyes makes my pulse absolutely skyrocket.
“No,” I whisper as I try to push him away. “I can’t keep doing this. You can’t keep yanking me around.”
He pulls me close to him by the hem of my shirt. “I’m done pretending. The second Nationals are over, I'm telling Reiss everything.”
I wince at the thought of telling him that we had sex, “Everything?”
His eyes sear into mine, “I’m going to tell him that I love you.”
Those three words fall from his mouth so quickly it looks as if he scared himself by saying them. But he doesn’t falter.
“I don’t want to live without you, Linc. I can’t stand seeing you with someone else and I won’t sit back and watch you fall for anyone else when you are clearly mine.”
“Yours?” My voice cracks with emotion.
“Yeah, baby Bane, mine.”
I throw my arms around his neck and he wraps me into a giant hug. My legs link effortlessly around his waistwhen he lifts me to grab me tighter. I bury my watery eyes into his neck and try to keep myself from sobbing.
“What happens until then?” I ask, not moving an inch away from his shoulder.
