Page 89 of When We Were Reckless
My jaw clenched, and I rolled out my shoulder, the one that still gave me trouble after an old injury to the rotator cuff.
“Do I know you?”
“We’re big moto fans. Been to a lot of your races.” His friend nodded in agreement. “But nah, you don’t know us.”
“Then I’d appreciate it if you would mind your own business.”
He held up his hands. “Didn’t mean to hit a nerve. Just curious is all.” He took a pull of his beer and watched my face as if he was waiting for an explanation. I didn’t owe him a damn thing, so he wasn’t going to get one from me.
“Hey, Jesse.”
I turned to look at Quinn, who gave me a big smile as I walked over to her. She tucked a few loose strands of blonde hair back into the messy knot on top of her head and jabbed a hairpin in it to keep it in place.
“What can I do for you?” I leaned my hip against the bar and resisted the urge to grab the back of her head and pull her into a kiss. Didn’t think Mason would be too impressed if he came back to the bar and caught me making out with his baby sister.
She smiled and licked her lips, her voice low and seductive. “Well, I can think of a few things.” Her gaze darted around the room before returning to my face. “But we might get arrested.”
I laughed. “Then we’d better just stick to your drink order and save the fun for later.”
She lowered her lashes and bit her lip. “Yeah, we’d better do that.”
Quinn put in her order, and I filled three glasses with ice and Coke and grabbed two bottles of beer from the cooler. Flipping the caps, I slid them across the bar along with two glasses.
“Do you know that guy you were talking to?” she asked, transferring the drinks to her tray. “The guy in the ballcap.”
“No. Why?”
“No reason. It didn’t look like a friendly conversation.”
Quinn was perceptive. “He seems to have some opinions about my career.”
“You know what they say about opinions. They’re like assholes. Everybody has one.”
A laugh burst out of me, alleviating some of the tension.
She smiled. “That’s better. You were looking a bit tense. Thanks to my yoga sessions, you should be all loosened up by now.” She gave herself a little pat on the back and sashayed away in those fucking tiny shorts she loved to wear. As if she felt my eyes on her, she put a little extra sway in her hips, and I kept my eyes glued to her ass until she disappeared onto the patio to deliver her drinks.
Damn. That girl. She was so cool, and I was dreaming up all the different ways I could get her screaming my name later.
A few minutes later, I was washing glasses when trucker hat asked for another round. I finished the task at hand before I served their beers.
“Is it true what they’re saying?” he asked.
I should have let it go. I shouldn’t have taken the bait. If this had been a year ago, none of this would have fazed me. I wouldn’t have been concerned about what anyone was saying about me.
“You’ll have to be more specific.”
He rubbed his hand over the stubble on his jaw. “They’re saying your team fired you.”
My whole body tensed, but I schooled my expression, so it was neutral and didn’t give me away. After I cleared a few empties from the bar, I wiped it down before I asked, “Where’d you hear this?”
“Guess you don’t check the moto forums.”
“Nah. Never put much stock in them. Just a bunch of trolls talking shit.”
“Yeah, guess that must be it. Because there’s no way the moto legend would do something bad enough to get fired.” He shook his head and took another pull of his beer. “Just seems like you had it all, and then poof, it was gone. But that’s life, ain’t it? When you’re down on your knees, life kicks you in the balls.”
He had no idea how accurate that was.
