Page 10 of Burnout
Laughing, he cuffs me on the shoulder. “Come on, I want to introduce you to some of my team.”
Colter leads the way, stopping to grab another beer out of the cooler in the back of his truck. “Are you sure you don’t want something to drink?”
“I’m sure.” As much as I’d like to drown my sorrows in a bottle, I need to be clearheaded to figure out my next move. I can’t have worked this hard for it all to be over after one season.
I could try to jump on another team. Though, that seems unlikely. All the top teams are set with big name riders they aren’t going to let go of unless someone gets hurt or retires. I don’t see where there will be an opening for me. Maybe I can jump onto a small team. But they don’t have the same budget, so I’d probably be better off with a couple of sponsors. The nice part of a team is that they take care of a lot of the bullshit so I can just race.
He grabs another for himself and then walks up to a group of people chilling in front of an old, beat-up RV. I recognize the shirtless guy sitting on the steps of the vehicle not just from tonight’s event but from several over the years.
“Knox, this is Sam, but we call him Oak,” Colter says, pointing to the guy. Then he tips his head toward me. “Knox and I grew up racing here in Valley. I used to let him kick my ass on the track.”
Let?
“You wish.” I scoff, then offer a hand to Oak. He’s tall and thin with locs that come down past his shoulders. “I’ve never seen anyone land a Volt that easily. That was awesome.”
“Hey, thanks, man.” We shake and then Colter moves to the only woman on the team.
She has long, fiery red hair and adon’t fuck with meexpression. Sexy but not my type. The energy she puts off is too much like my own. I’m not interested in fucking a version of myself. The smirk she gives me says,right back at ya, buddy.
“This is Brooklyn.”
“You look familiar,” I say as I step closer and get a better look at her face. There’s something about the wide set of her eyes and the way she holds her mouth that reminds me of someone. “What’s your last name?”
“It’s not important.” She suddenly looks bashful and that’s an odd look on her. Now I’m intrigued.
“Her dad is—” Colter starts but she punches him in the stomach before he can finish. He doubles over and wheezes through a laugh, but as soon as he gets a hold of himself, he mouths the name to me.
My brows shoot up as I piece it together. “No shit?”
“Tell anyone else and I’ll castrate you,” she says to me before punching Colter again and then turning away with a flip of her ponytail.
Colter stands upright and lets out a breath.
“She seems sweet,” I say dryly. I think my balls just crawled up inside of my body for protection.
His voice is still strained as he says, “She takes a little bit to warm up, but she’s great at organizing the events and working with the venues.”
“I guess she’s not close with the old man.”
“She just wants to make a name for herself. Can’t be easy being the daughter of a legend.”
I huff a short laugh. Yeah, I wouldn’t know anything about that. The only thing legendary about my dad is how shitty he was at being one.
“And this is Shane. House mom of the group.” Colter winks.
The big guy sitting on an overturned crate sends the man next to me a mock smile before glancing my way and giving me a chin jut. “Hey. Knox Holland, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.” I cross my arms over my chest.
He nods slowly, then reaches up and strokes his beard. “I was in Salt Lake City for the championship last month. I’m sorry about how things went down.”
Fresh anger and disappointment surge through me. I ball my hands and drop them to my sides. I don’t know what else to say but “Thanks.”
Before either of us can say anything else, a petite dark-haired girl squeezes by me and throws herself at Colter’s side.
He wraps an arm around her waist and then places a quick kiss on her lips. “Babe, I want you to meet someone.”
He turns them so they’re facing me. I recognize her instantly. She was sitting with the smokeshow, prissy chick earlier tonight.
