Supercross Me (Motocross Me #2) (15 page)

Ash’s hands slide up my arms, then tuck behind my waist. My back presses against the balcony railing. His dreadlocks cast a shade over my face. In the distance, Marty’s voice rings out, announcing the winner of this moto. My breathing is shallow, my heart straining beneath my ribcage.

Ash’s movements make his actions pretty clear, yet there is still so much I don’t understand right now. I want him to kiss me, but his teeth bite down on his bottom lip, and I get the feeling he’s trying to stop himself from doing that very thing. So instead, I lean forward, pressing my cheek against his solid chest. The action is so familiar, so comforting, it’s almost as if we’d never stopped being together.

I listen to his heart beating, strong and stable as always and all of the commotion below fades into the background. “Why are you here?” I ask, still holding myself tightly to him. My fingers dig into his back, but he doesn’t make an effort to pull away.

“Shelby said you were putting on this race by yourself, and I wanted to come help.”

This time I do pull back, just enough to look at him, my eyebrow quirked. “You’re supposed to be racing in California today.”

His shoulders lift. “I know.”

My eyes narrow. “This race is important to your overall points standings since you missed so many races from your broken arm.”

“I know,” he says again.

My head tilts to the side. “You flew down here, to watch a silly Regionals race, when your entire professional supercross career is on the line?”

The muscles in his back relax beneath my touch. “I did.”

The weight of what he’s done slams into me like a hurricane, and suddenly I am drowning in all of these emotions that I’ve tried so hard to keep hidden away. “Ash, you can’t do this.”

I release him, and as much as my arms don’t want to let go, I move to the side and turn to look out over the track. My head shakes and I draw in a deep breath. “You can’t do this for me, Ash. You can’t just come here and put this on me.”

His hand touches my lower back for a moment and then he brings his hands up to his face. The loss of his touch makes a cold shudder run through me. His fingers run through his hair and he stares up at the sky. “I’m not here to make you feel bad. My decision was my own. I don’t care about the race. I’d rather be here.”

I let out my breath in a huff, trying like hell to build up some anger so this will be easier to say. “You need to rush back to the airport and see if there’s still time to race tonight.”

“No. I’m here for
you
.” He tosses his arms in the air. “If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine. Put me to work. Where do you need an extra person?”

“I don’t need your help.” In the distance, the gate drops and the roar of twenty dirt bikes floods out the silence that’s seeped in between us. As the bikes round the first turn and head toward the score tower, I fight back tears. I am so sick of crying lately. I love what he’s done for me, for us, but I can’t live with the guilt that my situation may have put his career in jeopardy. My fingers turn white on the metal railing. “I don’t know what you thought you’d accomplish by coming here, but now I just feel guilty as hell. You need to go back, Ash.”

Ash makes a sound between a groan and a sigh. “We have to stop this, Hana.”

“Stop what?”

He makes a motion with his hand. “This . . . distance . . . between us. We both know it’s not right. You can’t seriously think that I wouldn’t do anything for you. Please stop pushing me away. My life has been shit since we broke up, and I can’t handle it anymore. Please, Hana.” Ash grabs the collar of his shirt, his hand clenching into a fist. “I love you.”

I blink and draw in a slow breath. My next words probably aren’t what he wants to hear, but they need to be said. I throw my shoulders back. “Who is that blonde girl?”

He lifts an eyebrow but the confusion leaves his face a second later. “Trinity. She’s an intern for Team Yamaha, kind of like an assistant and coffee gopher.”

“Are you dating her?”

“No,” he says immediately.

“
Were
you dating her?”

“It’s never even crossed my mind.” He holds up three fingers, the Boy Scout promise. “For transparency here, she probably has a crush on me and every other guy on the team for that matter. But I don’t care about her. I care about you.”

“You have her picture in your phone,” I say, putting a hand on my hip. I’m not ready to be convinced just yet. Having my heart broken once was more than enough. A second time might rip the thing straight from my chest.

Ash was never a liar, at least not in the time I’ve known him, so he doesn’t have any tells that I could be looking for. His eyes never leave mine. “She did that herself. I’ll gladly delete it for you.” He chuckles. “Hell, I’ll text her and tell her to fuck off if you want. You can watch me do it.”

I shake my head and stare at my shoes. “That’s not necessary. What do you want from me, Ash? Why are you here, doing this now?”

“I want you as my girlfriend again.” He grins, his lips twisting into a sideways smile, and the sunlight hitting his eyes just right, making them sparkle. “Preferably right this second. But I can wait if you want. I’ll do whatever you want.”

“My dad isn’t in the clear yet,” I say as a giant lump of worry settles into my stomach. “He could still die. And if he does, I’ll remember this day for the rest of my life.” Ash reaches for my hand and I let him take it. “If you don’t plan on sticking around forever then I don’t want you in these memories. If Dad doesn’t make it, I can’t look back on these days and remember that you were here and then you were gone again.”

Ash’s fingers squeeze into mine, his other hand grazing my cheek. “I’ll be here forever. I’m in this for good.” He takes a deep breath and I focus on his lips, perfect and trustworthy as always. “Every problem we had can be fixed, I am positive of that. We’ll figure it out. And I’m not going anywhere, I promise you. Okay?”

My heart flips around in my chest. My toes tingle with the excitement of kissing him again, now and forever. “Okay,” I whisper, leaning forward and lifting up on my toes.

Ash’s arms slip around me and his lips meet mine. This kiss is the opposite of the last time we’d been in this same position. It’s patient, and loving, not frenzied. I breathe in the scent of his cologne, the minty taste of his mouth on mine. My hands slide up his muscled chest, wrapping around his neck. A shiver runs through me as if this was the first time we’d ever kissed, a memory of last year that fills me up as if I am experiencing it all over again, just as perfect as I remember.

“Wait,” I say, my lips pressed to his. He pulls away tentatively, his eyes searching mine.

“What’s wrong?”

I swallow, and I’m not sure if what I’m about to do will ruin everything. “I have a secret.”

His tongue runs across his bottom lip, his brows pulling together. I hold out my hand. “It’s not as bad as whatever you’re thinking, I just—I can’t
not
tell you about this.”

He rocks back on his heels. “What is it?”

Despite the sudden urge to shake my head and tell him never mind, I know I can’t hold onto this secret forever. Slowly, I reach into my front pocket and let my fingers curl around the metal that sits there, like it has every single day since February. Ash watches me, curiosity and fear tugging at his gorgeous face. I pull out the necklace, the silver number plate I’d taken from the trash can, and put it in his hand.

“I watched you walk away,” I say with a little shrug. “I wanted to run after you, but then—”

“I’m glad you kept it,” Ash says, unclasping the chain. He places the necklace around my neck, sweeping back my hair in one swift motion. He leans down to buckle the clasp, and the tingle of his breath on my neck sends chills down my spine. His lips hover near my collar, where he places a soft kiss before rising. “I’ll always be number three-three-six,” he says, that seductive grin reappearing on his face. His fingers trace my jawline. “And you’ll always be my girl.”

I chuckle and then throw my arms back around him. We make out until my walkie-talkie crackles. Shelby’s voice sounds through the speaker at my hip. “Shelby to score tower. Is everything good on your end?”

Ash sneaks in one quick kiss as I reach for the walkie-talkie. “She’s gonna freak when she finds out about us,” he whispers.

I give him a devilish grin and press the talk button. “Score tower to Shelby. Everything is perfect over here.”

***

Thank you for reading Supercross Me. If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads.

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This book was a result of readers asking me to write a sequel to a book I’d never thought about writing a sequel for. It was so much fun diving back into these characters and I hope you enjoyed reading the next chapter of Hana and Ash’s journey. Thanks and gratitude goes to my editor, Stacey Glemboski, who knows my characters as well as (if not more than) I do. Thanks for doing such a superb job making this book shine!

Christina Channelle is my author bestie and fellow coffee addict. I am so grateful for having your guidance and friendship during the good times and the freak out times.

Thanks to Susan Connally and Felicia Morgan who are always just a text away. Thanks to Deirdre Riordan Hall, who is quite literally my favorite person to email with good news. Jessica L. Brooks is my sounding board and confidant and all around awesome author. Thank you, friends!

Bloggers, readers, and reviewers. THANK YOU.

And of course, thanks to my family. Chris and Hallee, you are my heart.

Cheyanne Young is a native Texan with a fear of cold weather and a coffee addiction that probably needs an intervention. She loves books, sarcasm, and collecting nail polish. After nearly a decade of working in engineering, Cheyanne now writes books for young adults and is the author of the City of Legends Series. She doesn’t miss a cubicle one bit.

Cheyanne lives near the beach with her daughter and husband, one spoiled rotten puppy, and a cat that is most likely plotting to take over the world.

Connect with Cheyanne online at www.CheyanneYoung.com or on Twitter @NormalChey

The City of Legends Series

City of Legends

The Valiant

Empire Rising

Motocross Me Series

Motocross Me

Christmas at Mixon – a short story

Supercross Me

Understudy

Somewhere Only We Know

Coming soon from Swoon Romance

Breakup Support Group