Page 96 of Forever Yours

“I was planning on going home next weekend with the guys. Come with,” I suggested.

Mom’s wedding was in two weeks, something I was agonizing over more and more as the date drew nearer. I still hadn’t spoken with her, only Brad’s assistant. Julien, with a lot of help from Fallon, had arranged to fly from Virginia the morning after his Friday match to meet up with me in South Carolina.

“Hot guy weekend? I’m in.”

“I swear you confuse the hell out of me sometimes.”

Ash wasn’t gay or even bi-curious, but he said he appreciated beauty, and joked that Ryder was his bromance crush. And Fallon.

David’s dorm door opened right as I was about to knock.

“Ready?” I asked.

He shrugged his football jacket on. “Yep.”

We were going to the Friday night drag wars at a nearby racetrack. Fallon and Ryder had been going to the track on the regular the past month. Ryder needed it. Racing was in his blood. It helped ground him like running did for Julien and fighting did for Jayson. I’d gone with Jayson to one of his fight circles—still a dumbass name. But I had to admit, watching men pound the shit out of each other was kind of cool to watch. Each fighter only fought once. There was a five-minute time limit to punch your aggression and stress into each other. Once the five minutes were up, the fighters shook hands, laughed, slapped backs, and congratulated each other, then stumbled out of the circle for the next two people. No grudges. No animosity. Just a good time—if you consider getting your face bloodied a good time. It was weirdly intriguing; however, I wouldn’t do it. Spectator only.

“Your car is electric, right?” David asked.

He and I had gotten closer over the weeks. We talked a lot during our pool sessions. He shared what happened to his boyfriend, Daimon, back in Durham—suicide—and how that fucked him up mentally. Apparently, I resembled Daimon. Similar curly, blond hair and hazel eyes. Made sense why David instantly gravitated toward me when we first met.

“My POS Prius? Yeah.”

We took the stairs and burst through the stairwell exit doors to the outside. I was glad I wore a long-sleeved shirt. The weather had been making its subtle transition from summer to fall, bringing cooler evening temperatures.

“Aren’t electric cars supposed to be quicker off the line? Something to with all torque and zero RPMs?”

Ash laughed. “You sound like a used car salesman.”

“I’m not racing my Prius. That thing is older than dirt. Fallon is letting me drive his Porsche 550Spyder.”

That was correct. I was racing tonight. Me versus Ryder in his Hellcat.Just like old times, except instead of dirt bikes, it was cars. There was no way I would win. Ryder was too good. But I was excited. I’d been forcing myself to try new things, live those new experiences. I was finally finding my place at CU. I was finally finding my happy.

“Hot damn.” David whistled. “Can I ride shotgun?”

“Don’t see why not.”

Jayson’s truck pulled up to the curb, and his window rolled down.

“Get in. We’re going to be late.”

Even though he drove a Silverado crew cab, it was still a tight fit for David and Ash in the back passenger seats. Julien had ridden with Ryder and would meet us there.

Jayson’s eyes slid to his rearview mirror. He didn’t much care for David, probably because he saw us hugging and was territorial of me because of Julien, but Jayson hadn’t said anything more to me about it.

“I made a new playlist,” I said, taking out my phone.

“Go for it,” Jayson replied.

He pulled out of the parking lot onto the main road that would take us directly to the interstate.

I connected to his truck’s Bluetooth and hit play. Shania’s country twang sang through the speakers, and the cab filled with groans.

David was seated directly behind me and leaned forward. “Blondie, we’re going to have to work on your taste in music.”

“Just kidding.” I tapped on another music file.

“Did you see her Super Bowl performance, all pregnant and shit? That was pure badass,” David said when a Rihanna song started playing.

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