Page 84 of Fall to Me
“Alright, that’s enough!” Coach yells. “Graham! Get your ass off the bike.Now!We have a game tomorrow, and I won’t have you risking an injury.”
Fucking dammit!
I look over my shoulder and huff. “You know, Coach? I think I liked it better when you weren’t a part of this family. Can’t you just . . . you know . . . turn your head and pretend not to see this?”
“Off. The. Bike.”
The boys look between me and Coach, a question in their eyes as Coach arches a brow, waiting for me to defy him.
“If you boys forfeit and declare River the winner, I’ll fly your entire family out to New York to watch one of our hockey games. All expenses paid. Owner’s suite and everything.”
“No way. I’ve been waiting to race for eleven years!” Tucker says, his face scrunching up. “Plus, what kind of deal is that for me? My mom owns the team.”
Hayes chuckles, shaking his head. It’s then I realize how seriously they all take this dirt bike race.
“If you played pro football, I might have considered it. But we don’t give two shits about hockey,” Hayden says.
“That’s twenty dollars in the swear jar,” Tucker retorts.
My head whips around, and I crane my neck to look at him. “I thought it was only five dollars.”
“Inflation.” He shrugs.
Full on shoulder-shaking laughs wrack my body. I dismount the bike and hold onto the handlebars, directing my attention to her uncles. “Either one of you want to take my spot?”
“What? And take the chance of messing up all this?” Kyle gestures at his body. “No, baby. I’ll stand here and watch.”
Well, that doesn’t make me feel any better.
I look at Matt, and he shakes his head.
“New deal,” I say, walking over to River.
“Nope. I’m racing. A deal’s a deal.”
Fuck.
Cal saunters over, handing my phone back to me. I look down to find three missed calls on my screen.All from Lee, the private investigator. Pocketing the cell, I turn and kiss River on the forehead. “Fine. I know this is fun for you, but the thought of you getting hurt isn’t fun for me. I can’t watch you take that jump again.”
I begin to walk away but she stops me.
“You should stay. I might just spin the bike around or do a flip in the air. You never know what I’ll pull out of my ass, but I promise it’ll be something exciting.”
My heart beats wildly at the thought.
“Fucking quit it. You’re gonna give me a heart attack.”
She giggles. “I’m kidding. I can’t do that shit. I’ll be careful. Promise.”
Nodding, I take off walking down the driveway to return the call to my PI, but before I can press the call button, my phone buzzes in my hand again.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Graham. We found activity on the perp. The last purchase on his credit card was about thirty minutes ago at a gas station in Stroud.”
Stopping in the middle of the road, I kick a loose rock and look off into the woods. The way this PI is able to get credit card information has me wondering if he’s legit or not. Honestly, if he’s giving me valid intel and doing the job I’m paying him to do, should I really even give a shit? No. Probably not.
A gunshot rings in the air.
