Page 45 of Finding Jeremy
“It’s gonna take time before we can just sit down and have that beer,” Reggie admitted. “I know me and some of the boys have made it a point to make things as difficult as possible for you in the hopes that you’d take off and never look back. There are still a few guys pissed off that you didn’t leave after Gray got locked up. Chaos and I always kept the details to ourselves about the plan that night, so no one else has ever been privy to what happened, and we plan to keep it that way. In hindsight, the trust levels just weren’t there when we rushed into things. I think that’s on all of us.”
“I can accept that,” Gerald said. “And I can let it be now that you all finally know the truth. I get that it will take some time for the glares and threats to stop. It will just be nice to move around town without feeling like I need to have eyes in the back of my head. When I heard Gray was getting out, I started worrying about him coming after me and wound up giving myself an ulcer, which was why I was in such a hurry to find him and put this thing to rest.”
“Well, it’s over now,” Gray said, holding his hand out across the table for Gerald to shake. “Consider it dead and buried. I justwant to move forward with the plans I’ve been making for the future. I don’t wanna hold a grudge against anyone any longer. Not even Wilson. He played us, and I paid for it. That’s my penance for getting involved in the first place.”
Even Gerald’s handshake lacked the firmness of years before. In their own way, each of them had paid the price for their lapse in judgement years before. Mistakes had been made, and bonds had been broken. That night had changed the course of their lives, and they had to live with it and do better moving forward; it was as simple as that.
Personally, Gray was all for the part about doing better, especially now that he had Jeremy in his life.
Chapter 18
(Jeremy)
“You ready for this?” Gray asked as he held Jeremy’s helmet out to him.
“How cliché would it be to say I was born ready?” Jeremy asked, winking at him.
Gray just groaned and shook his head. “A hundred percent. Now get your ass over to staging and do what you and I both know you are capable of.”
Jeremy went up on tiptoes, fiercely kissing him. “I got this,” he whispered against Gray’s lips when they broke apart.
“Be safe. Pick your moments,” Gray said. “Don’t take any unnecessary chances. Be patient, press but don’t be reckless, keep your head on a swivel, and be waiting to take advantage when one of them fucks up.”
“Now who’s being cliché?” Jeremy teased.
“Just be lucky I can’t tickle you until you beg for mercy,” Gray grumbled. “Now get moving.”
The jokes and wisecracking comebacks faded as he pulled his helmet on and tightened the strap. He’d been itching to do The Gauntlet ever since the parts had arrived; now the moment was here, and he just hoped he was up to the task. Four laps on that dirt track with all of its winding, snakelike curves, jumps, two rhythm sections, a wide tabletop, rollers, a triple, dragon’s back, and the dreaded drop-off would test his endurance to the limits.
He’d have been an idiot to try this race on the Yamaha. He was just grateful that he had people around him that had been willing to call him out on his bullshit.
Haven stood from where he’d been kneeling beside Jeremy’s bike, making a last-minute adjustment. “She’s good to go,” Haven declared before pulling Jeremy into a hug. “Go slay it out there.”
Nodding, Jeremy straddled the machine, fired it up, and joined twenty-four other guys waiting for the start of the race. He’d drawn a good position too, near the center, where he wouldn’t have to worry about the edge crumbling out from under him like the last time. Now all he had to do was hold it.
Focused, eyes forward, he felt the butterflies in the pit of his stomach as they waited for the race to start. Red, yellow, then the green light came on, the gates dropped down, and Jeremy roared onto the track, throttle open wide, looking for an early lead. Surging forward with three other bikes, he drew on the lessons his old man had taught him when he’d first been learning to ride.
Be one with the bike.
Feel the rhythm, listen to the engine, and be mindful of what was going on around him but not so mindful that he allowed it to distract him from what lay in front of him on the track. Thistime through the rhythm section, there were no issues with his hair distracting him. The track was dry as hell, and dirt flew from beneath the tires next to him, but as he raced into the triple jump, he caught good air and sailed ahead, kicking a leg out to help him take the first S curve faster. Tighter turns meant less loss of ground, allowing him to catch up to the only other bike ahead of him. Neck and neck they went into the climb leading to the drop-off, and with great positioning this time, Jeremy had no issue with the obstacle.
Another bike crept up on his right as the three of them went into another curve. Those S’s got crowded this time, and the bike to his left went down. Up the incline, down the dragon’s scales, round the S at the bottom, his back tire skidded, but he kept from sliding and only lost a couple spots as they headed into the final stretch before the second lap. He just had to be careful not to let it happen again.
His second lap was better than his first, but he got clipped in the third and narrowly avoided wrecking when he fishtailed in front of another bike. The other driver managed to miss him, and Jeremy fought to get the bike headed back in the right direction, but it cost him his placement near the front as well as the position he’d been able to hold near the middle of the track.
Forced to fight his way out of a tight pack, he put his faith in the bike and the three men in his life who had worked to make it the best racing machine he could have, and foot by foot he started gaining ground again. Air and the S curves, which was where he’d gotten his best time and placement in the earlier laps, so he doubled his efforts in them, popping the nose up on every jump and launching into the next one as he went through the triple. He could see the leaders as he rounded a third S curve and caught them going into the drop, taking second as they came into the S curve out of it and hit that second rhythm section.
He ran out of track before he caught the leader, but the feeling of launching off the final jump in second place was exhilarating and one hell of a victory. His heartbeat in his ears and the roar of the crowd were the only things he could hear as he brought his bike to a stop. Doubling over, he fumbled with the strap, wanting the helmet off so he could breathe a little easier, but his fingers were cramped from the grip he’d had on the handlebars, and in the end, he was forced to leave it on.
He raised the visor, though, and that’s when the roar truly hit him, there atop one of the mounds beside the winner, waving his hands towards the sky to get the people to roar louder, and they didn’t disappoint. His shoulders ached, and his thighs trembled with the effort of holding himself and his bike up, but dammit all, second place was just as good as winning after everything his team had done to get the bike ready for him.
Combined with his third-place finish in the freestyle earlier, his point standings would shoot up, which was what he needed after the events he’d missed. Flashes were going off all over the stands, and he was completely exhausted after the day he’d had, but it was the best kind of exhaustion. The slow ride off the track felt like it took forever, but in the distance, he could see his Pops, Haven, and Gray celebrating.
Somehow, they’d gotten Haven up on Chaos’ shoulders, and he was pumping his fists and waving at Jeremy as he approached. As soon as he pulled up beside them, Gray vaulted the barricade and hugged him so hard he and the bike almost fell over. All Jeremy could do was cling to him.
“Ya did it, kid, ya did it!” His Pops hollered from somewhere to the left of them.
“Get his helmet off him,” Haven yelled over the celebration.
