High-Sided: An Armed & Dangerous Novel (9 page)

I’
d barely slept the past several nights, and last night had been no different. My eyes felt like sand had been ground into them, and my mind was foggy. All I could see were images of Levi and Logan swirling through my brain. Why the hell did he have to show up now, after all these years? I thought for sure he’d try to come see me, but he didn’t. A week had passed, and nothing. It wasn’t like I would return the conversation anyway, but it was kind of a smack in the face. It was stupid to think he’d changed after all these years.

I was on my way over to my father and Angela’s house, so I could catch him before tryouts. With our recent reputation for disaster, I’d be surprised if potential riders showed up at all. The garage door was closed, but their front entrance was unlocked.

I opened it slowly, peeking my head inside. “Dad?” I tiptoed inside, not sure if Angela was still sleeping. “Dad, you here?”

A set of pots clanged together from the kitchen, and I heard Angela’s voice. “He’s not here, sweetie. Why don’t I make us some breakfast before you head over to the track?”

“Sounds great.” My stomach growled and it was probably because I hadn’t eaten much in the last few days.

I turned the corner and Angela was already at the stove, scrambling eggs. Her blonde hair was in a messy bun and she had on a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt. She was my stepmother and I loved her, but she was nothing like my mother. My mom was down to earth and never cared much about fashionable clothes. Angela always wanted to take me shopping and to get my hair done.

“I can’t believe we’re already having tryouts. It feels too soon,” I grumbled, taking a seat the table.

Angela scooped some eggs onto my plate and sighed. “I know, sweetheart. It sucks. But you have to know your father didn’t want to do this so soon. It’s just, you all still have a business to run.”

She had a point, but it still hurt to think about life going back to normal. Nothing was going to be normal without Levi. “Thanks for cooking me breakfast, Angela. I swear I didn’t come over here to eat your food.”

“Oh, enough of that nonsense. I’m glad you came,” she said, setting the bacon on the table. “It gives us a chance to catch up.” She fixed herself a plate of eggs and joined me at the table. “Is there anything you want to talk about? Maybe something to get your mind off everything?”

I shoveled huge bites of food into my mouth and sat back in the chair. There were a gazillion things I wanted to say and they all involved Logan. “Not really,” I lied.

Picking up her coffee cup, she stared at me over the rim, the steam billowing into the air. “You sure? I seem to recall a certain young man who made his way back into town.”

I stiffened and clenched my teeth. “Logan can kiss my ass.”

She sipped her coffee and stared at me, as if she could see the turmoil I felt. “You always have Sean.”

The way she said it made me tense, almost like she meant it in another way. “He’s a good friend,” I said, gauging her reaction.

Her lips pulled back into a smile and she laughed softly. “I already know about you two, Kassidy.”

I froze. “What do you mean?”

“Your relationship with my son. I know you were intimate.”

Swallowing hard, I stared at her in horror. “It was a long time ago. It’s not like that anymore. We ended things before you and my dad got married.”

She nodded. “I know, but I see the way Sean looks at you, and how he always wants to protect you. It kills me that I ruined his happiness.”

“Why did it take so long for you to say something? Does my dad know?”

“No,” she murmured, “and I don’t plan on telling him. But honestly, I don’t think he’d have a problem with you two being together. You’re adults, and it’s not like you grew up together as brother and sister. I married your father a little late in life.”

“Why are you saying this to me?” I asked. It was almost like I was in a twilight zone. Sean and I had kept our relationship a secret, so it wouldn’t cause problems with our parents. Now, I had no clue what to think.

She reached over and grabbed my hand. “I’m saying that if you and Sean want to be together, I’m not going to stop you. He loves you.”

I squeezed her hand. “Thanks for your blessing. It means a lot to me. And you should know, I love Sean too, but since we’re both owners of Bennett Racing now, it might be best to stay as we are. Anything more could complicate things.”

She let my hand go and smiled. “As you wish, sweetie. Just know that you’re free to do as you will.”

“I appreciate that.” I glanced down at my phone and groaned. “I hate to eat and run, but I’m about to be late.” I said my goodbyes and hurried on my way to the track.

The track wasn’t huge, only a half mile in length, with a couple of curves. My father and Donnie Baker chipped in and had it built not long after Logan left us, so that the riders from Bennett Pro Racing and DB Racing could practice. Needless to say, it pissed Hendrix off that we beat him to the land before he could purchase it.

When I pulled into the parking lot, I could already see the riders on the track, zipping by as they raced against each other. There were a ton of them. My father and Donnie sat by themselves, both pointing at various riders on the track. Trey, Daniel, and Miller – our other racers – sat off on one side of the stands, while Sean sat by himself.

“Kass!” Sean shouted. I hurried over and sat beside him, debating on if I should tell him what his mother said. He nudged me with his shoulder and smiled. “Runnin’ late, huh?”

I blew out a heavy sigh. “Just a little.”

“Don’t worry, I just got here too. Your father started tryouts earlier than expected.”

I glanced over at my dad and he waved. It was hard to stay mad at him, but dammit, I wanted the truth. Sean nodded toward the track. “We got some good riders out there. I hate I’m not racing anymore.”

We watched the riders for a few minutes, and I couldn’t help but notice the two riders out in front. The one on the red and black Honda was trying to run the other guy off the track. “Do you see what’s going on?” I asked, pointing at the two racers.

Sean shrugged. “It’s a competition, Kass.”

“Yeah, but that one’s trying to run the other off the track.”

“And that’s why we’ll make sure he doesn’t get picked. We don’t want that kind of racer on our team.”

I couldn’t help but smile. I loved that Sean had the same values as me. “I’m glad you think so.” I decided it was best to go ahead and tell him what his mother said, before he talked to her. “I saw your mom this morning.”

He tore his gaze away from the race. “Oh yeah? What’d you talk about?”

I snorted. “You . . . and me.”

His eyes went wide. “In what context?”

“Uh, let’s see. Mainly, the part where she knows we’ve had sex.”

He cringed, his face scrunching up. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Nope. But you’ll never believe this. She gave us her
blessing
if we wanted to see each other again.”

His body stiffened, keeping his golden-brown eyes glued to mine. “And what did you say?”

I was the one to break eye contact first. “I said it’d only complicate things. I like how we are now. Besides, the amount of ridicule we’d get if we did decide to see each other would be monumental. And what would we do with the business if things didn’t work out between us?”

“True,” he agreed. “But things wouldn’t have been so difficult if our parents never got married.”

The racers slowed down and my father waved us over. “We have to go,” I said, thankful to get away from the talk about relationships.

Donnie held out his arms as we approached. “How ya doin’, peanut?”

I hugged him hard. “Been better.”

“I know,” he said, letting me go. “Things’ll get better, I promise.”

“I sure hope so.” My father smiled sadly, and I hugged him too. “Found who you want yet?”

He glanced out at the racers who’d come to a stop. “I believe so. Next time, it’ll be you and Sean doing this, not me.”

Donnie pointed out at the guys. “I like the guy on the red and black Honda. He’s aggressive and fast.”

I shook my head. “He
is
a fast rider, but too shady. Did you see him try to run the other guy off the track?”

Thankfully, my father agreed. “She has a point. We don’t need his kind on the team. Plus, I know who that rider is. Name’s Micah Perry.”

“I’ve never heard of him,” Donnie replied.

I hadn’t either. I watched Micah take off his helmet and he smirked at us. Just by looking at him, I could tell he was trouble. He had that dark, dangerous feel to him. “What did he do, kill someone?” I mumbled under my breath.

“Actually, he was charged with manslaughter a couple years back, but I heard it should’ve been murder. He must have connections somewhere,” my father said.

I gasped. “Why the hell would you let him try out then?”

He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “I want to give everyone a shot. Knowing him, he’d find a way to get back at me if I didn’t. The last thing I need is someone else trying to mess with me.” He nodded toward the rider on the metallic blue GSXR 600. There was something about the color that made me freeze. It was the exact same bike Logan used to ride. “I think I’m going with that one. What do you think, Sean?”

Sean nodded in agreement. “Good choice.”

Donnie even complied. “He was good too, a smooth and precise rider.”

I peered at all the racers, and all of them had removed their helmets, except for the guy on the blue bike. The more I stared at him, the more I felt he was staring right back at me, only I couldn’t see his face through the tinted visor.

“Dad, who is that?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Sean looked my way. “Kass, what’s wrong?”

My father slowly turned his attention to us, his expression guarded. “I have a feeling you already know.”

I didn’t stick around long enough to argue with my father. All I could do was turn my back and storm away as he hollered my name. I had to get away from there, from him. I would’ve rather had a lesser rider join the team, to avoid having to see Logan every day.

The shop was down the road, so I hurried there to calm myself. When I thundered inside and slammed the door, Ben, one of our pit crew members, jumped out of his seat. “Damn, girl, you scared me.” He was changing the oil on all our bikes, hands greasy and black.

“Sorry,” I said, releasing a heavy sigh. He got back to work and I walked over to him and sat down. He was thirty-six, and had been working for our team for fifteen years. Now that Ethan was gone, my father was probably going to bump him up to pit crew manager. “Why aren’t you at the track with everyone else?”

He took off his baseball cap and wiped the sweat off his brow with his forearm, his dark hair drenched underneath. “Because someone has to change the oil on these bikes. Has Richard mentioned anything about hiring another mechanic?”

I shook my head. “We’ve been having a difference of opinion here lately.”

Sighing, he slid away from the bike. “I take it you saw Logan at tryouts.”

“Unfortunately,” I grumbled.

He nodded. “I saw him at the funeral talking to your dad. With everything going on, it might not be bad to have him back. It’ll give the guys some hope.”