Clutched (Wild Riders) (7 page)

I centered my weight on my bike as I hit the straightaway.

Lean forward
. Hoyt's words were as embedded in my head as the almost kiss. He'd literally taken over every thought in my head. The tension that had been building between us should not result in kiss. A knock-down, drag-out fight maybe, but definitely not a kiss. My body was humming from the soft, smooth way his hands moved along my hips and up to my waist as he pulled me close to him. Even through layers of clothes and protective gear, I could feel the heat coming off of him. Or maybe it was coming off me? He'd reduced me to a heated pile of submission in that shed and I had no idea what to do with the feelings. Scratch that, I knew exactly what to do with those feelings, but I was pretty sure jumping my coach’s bones would be deemed “behavior unbecoming.”

Low and inside.
I took a turn and moved my body, leading the bike tire towards the lowest rut I could find. Who did he think he was to act like an asshole ninety-percent of the time and then just put his hands on me like he wanted me?

Not too high.
I twisted the throttle as I approached my first jump, making sure to not tap out on the approach. The takeoff was as smooth as the landing. Kind of like the smooth way Hoyt had pretended to be fixing my chest protector when Nick walked in. Had he been planning on us getting interrupted or was he just that smooth on his feet? Surely he knew as well as I did that a kiss, or anything else for that matter, would spell disaster for both of our careers. We couldn't kiss. Could we?

I hit the finish jump and considered riding straight off into the sunset and as far away from Hoyt as I possibly could. He was standing next to Nick. The two of them looking down at the stopwatch that never seemed to leave Hoyt's hand.

“Nice job,” Nick said when I finally mustered up the courage to ride over to them and shut my bike off. If Hoyt could play it cool so could I. Nick looked at Hoyt's stopwatch and then back at me with a smile. “Two-oh-nine. Nice.” It was a second faster than my previous time.

“Thanks,” I told him, pulling off my goggle and helmet. The tears had surely dried up by now. If not, I'd blame it on the ride. “We've been working really hard.”

“It shows,” Nick said. 

“See what happens when you do as I say?” Hoyt said with a smirk. Smirk, smile, almost kiss, every single thing he did with his lips now seemed like the sexiest thing I'd ever seen. Even if he was still harping on me that he was the smartest man on the racetrack.

“I guess so,” I conceded. Maybe he did know a thing or two. Now I just needed to talk to him off the track and find out exactly what he was thinking when he put his hands on me.

* * *

“W
e need to talk,” I said, the second that Nick left that track. He'd filled us in on exactly what was expected at the meet and greet coming up in a few days and then bolted off the second his phone rang, as per usual.

“We do,” Hoyt agreed. “Your turns were better today, but you still need to get your weight shifted around a little more.” He helped me lift my bike onto its stand. “Maybe we need to up your weights in the gym so you can manhandle this a little more,” he said with a chuckle, slapping his hand on the seat of my bike. My performance on the track was not what I was talking about and he knew it. I could tell by the way he swallowed down whatever he was feeling about the actual topic at hand.

“Are you kidding me right now?” I stepped back from the bike and stared at him with disbelief. “You're just back to business? Are you going to pretend like nothing happened in here before Nick walked in?”

“Yes,” he said flatly. “Because nothing happened.”

“Wow.” I forced my jaw not to drop and shook my head. “Something
almost
happened and you know it.”

“I got a little carried away in a moment of trying to comfort you,” he said.

“Comfort me? I don't need any comforting,” I insisted, know that he might have been a little right. I was upset, but I wasn't about to let him know that he'd helped calm my nerves in any way. “You were the one that was all 'you really hate me?' with the puppy dog eyes.” I huffed. “I cannot believe that you just blamed me for you almost kissing me.”

“Ha!” His head fell back as he laughed.

“What?” I asked, moving over to the same side of the bike that he was on.

“Believe me,” he said, his laughter stopping the second I settled myself in front of him. His eyes bore into me as he leaned in. I felt my teeth grit together as my jaw clenched. He was infuriating. “If I was going to kiss you, you'd know.”

“Well,” I said, trying not to focus on the way we kept inching closer to one another with each breath. Each word. Each blink. I couldn't keep myself in one place, and neither could he. “You'd know if I was going to
let
you kiss me,” I paused, reaching up to place my hand on his chest. It took every ounce of self-control I had not to paw at his firm chest and feel the flex of his muscles under my touch. His gaze fell on my hand and I knew that he could feel the energy moving between us. He could pretend all he wanted that he was “comforting me,” but he was just as surprised by the moment as I had been. We were alone now, there was no one or nothing to stop us from continuing, or finishing, what had started earlier. Nothing but that little voice in the back of my head that was saying I had too much on the line to screw it up. And so did he. “Which I was not.”

I was as surprised by my admission as he was. Mainly because it was a flat out lie. I was going to let him kiss me and I was going to kiss him right back.

“Good.” He nodded. “Because this...” he said putting space between us, “is a terrible idea.”

“Right,” I agreed. “Terrible. There's too much on the line.”

“Exactly.” He crossed the shed toward the exit, and I could feel my chest constricting as I watched him walk away. A part of me wanted to chase after him and make him admit that he'd felt something. The other part was flipping him off as he walked away. Especially when he opened his mouth and reminded me exactly what he and I were here for. “Gym. Eight A.M.” he said before giving me a small wave. Just like that he was back to business. As soon as he was gone, I kicked around the shed for a few minutes pretending that it hadn't bothered me that he was so nonchalant about the whole thing. I mean, sure, I knew it was a bad idea and I didn't want to risk Nick or anyone else at Throttled catching us in a moment of weakness, but it still stung a little. I might have played hard and fast on the track, but that didn't mean I wasn't the tiniest bit hurt that he'd been able to play off a moment that had happened between us. It was real. He was going to kiss me. He could deny it all he wanted.

I
couldn't get out of that shed fast enough. Truth be told, I wanted to do a whole lot more than kiss that smart little mouth of hers. My mouth was not the only place I wanted her lips. It was painfully obvious as I walked across the property to my truck. I adjusted my cock, which was currently standing at full attention, and promised it a cold shower as soon as we got home.

God bless Nick Pilsner and his fantastic timing. Thankfully, he'd walked in and stopped me from crossing a line with Chayse that couldn't be uncrossed. As I made the twenty minute drive back to my apartment, I kept reminding myself how important this job was to me and how important this opportunity was to her. As tempting as fucking her seemed, it wouldn't be worth it if we both ended up losing our jobs with Throttled. I'd been working too hard to prove myself to throw it away over a piece of ass. A tight little ass...

That'll be enough of that.

I smacked my hand against the steering wheel as I slammed on my brakes. I'd nearly missed the red light thanks to my ill placed thoughts. I had to get her off my mind and fast.

I was surprised by the moment as she was. When she wouldn't look at me and admitted that I could be
intolerable
. I wanted to prove her wrong. I wanted her to see that I wasn't the dictator she'd pinned me to be. My moment of weakness had almost led to something. Something that I'd wanted to do since the first moment I'd laid eyes on her. When she wasn't being a complete pain in the ass she was kind of charming and irresistible. Not that I'd be telling her that anytime soon. If we were going to make it to the top of our games then things needed to stay the way they were. We needed to be coach and student. Nothing more.

We had a good thing going. She was finally starting to listen to my advice—a fact she'd never admit. Her times were improving. Her form and execution were that much stronger. I knew that if she kept applying what I taught her there would be no stopping her on that track.

When I finally made it back to my place, my couch and the
Speed Channel
were calling my name. I needed to do something to keep my brain from wandering back to her. What if I'd just revved her all up and sent her to find Link? What if he was going to be the one to douse the heat that I'd started? What if I put my fist through his face for even thinking about touching her?

Son of bitch.

So much for not thinking about her. I slammed the front door of my apartment shut and leaned back, letting my head fall with a thud against it. I had never been this worked up over a female. Especially one that I wasn't dating.

“Rough day?” a voice called out from the kitchen. I opened my eyes, half expecting the voice to be in my head. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I wasn't going completely insane. My brother was standing in the door frame, arms crossed over his chest, and wearing his signature smirk.

“You have no idea.” I let a second pass before I pushed myself off the door and walked over to greet him. “When did you get back in town?”

“A few hours ago.”

“It's good to see you,” I told him giving him a pat on the back as we hugged it out. Maybe Reid being back would be a good thing. Maybe I could talk it all out with him and he'd give me some perspective on the whole shit show I was currently starring in.

“You too, brother.”

I followed him into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and I took the beer he offered without hesitation. It was a drink away my problems kind of night.

“You cooking me dinner?” I asked when I caught a whiff of something delicious and saw the pots and pans on the stove top. It might have been the first time that they'd ever been used. Reid and I had been sharing this apartment for a couple years now—neither of us staying in it long enough to make it feel like a home. Now there was food cooking and the fridge had food and beer in it. If I didn't know any better I'd think...

“Hey there,” Nora Bennett said as she walked into the kitchen from the short hallway that led to the bedrooms. Her appearance answered all of my questions. Her milk chocolate colored hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and she looked down right at home in a pair of yoga pants and a Travers' Racing t-shirt. I had to give it to my brother. Getting Nora to give him another chance might just have been the smartest thing he'd ever done. If you can find a girl that looks good in anything then you hold on to her. Nora was definitely one of those girls. A tiny part of me was jealous that he had her. She was sweet and funny and seemed to be genuinely happy to be in a relationship with Reid again.

“Hey,” I said, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a hug. “You let my brother talk you into coming back with him, huh?” I should have known that once Reid won her heart back, he'd make sure that she didn't get away again.

“No,” she said with a grin as she looked at Reid. “Actually it was my idea. Besides, this place needs a woman's touch, don't you think?” she pulled away from me and walked over to the stove.

“I can't argue with you there. I'm starving,” I said with a laugh as she pulled the lid off the pot and used her hand to waft the smell of what she was cooking in my direction. “Is that?”

“My mom's spaghetti sauce?” she said. “Yes. Yes it is.” Becky Bennett's sauce was the stuff that dreams were made of. It had been years since I'd had any.

“I'm definitely happier to see you than my brother now,” I said, reaching over the counter to give my brother a slap on the shoulder. He was too busy checking out his girlfriend's ass as she tended to the meal she was preparing to even retaliate.

“Whatever, dick,” he finally said.

“Go set the table,” Nora said handing Reid and I plates and silverware. “We can talk about how much you both love me after Hoyt fills us in on what's happening with this new rider of his.”

“Nothing,” I blurted out. And nothing was how it was going to stay.

“That's not what Brett says,” Reid argued. “According to him she's got you all riled up.”

Traitor.

“I called to check on him.,” I told them. I was worried and wanted to talk to Brett. He said he’s doing well but he still had about six to eight weeks to recover if he sticks with his therapy “I didn't say anything about anyone being riled up,” I clarified.

“Yeah, you seem so calm.” Reid laughed as he and I sat down at the table. Nora brought over the most appetizing meal I'd seen in ages.

“Your brother is blowing things out of proportion,” Nora said as she sat down. “All Brett said was that she was giving you a hard time during training.”

“That much is true,” I confessed. I'd thought about asking for their advice about the way I was feeling about Chayse, but that seemed like a terrible idea now. “She doesn't listen worth a shit. If she would she'd be riding a hell of a lot better, that's for sure.”

“What's she like?” Nora asked. “Maybe there's a reason she's not listening to you?”

“She's untrained and hard headed and thinks she knows everything,” I tried to explain Chayse's attitude. Just talking about her had my heart rate speeding. It seemed to be one or the other with her—thoroughly pissed off or thoroughly turned on. “But every now and then she does listen.” Like the day I told her about Brett. She listened then and showed me a side of her I hadn't seen. A side that was warm and comforting. A side that made me want her in a way that I shouldn't have been.

“I know the type,” Nora said as she placed her hand on top of Reid's.