Coop bumped his shoulder into Dane’s. “Come on…be serious.”
“Okay. I’m going to be honest with you, Coop. Hell, half the time I’m out here with you, I feel redundant. You know what the fuck you’re doing. If anything, my job is to reel you in a little so you don’t kill yourself. You know? You’re a spitfire. And if you can share half of what you know with this new kid, he’ll come out the better for it. Even if you only have one weekend, you’ll have helped him.”
Coop nodded. “I have to talk to Rick.”
“Sure. Maybe he can go with you.”
Coop didn’t think so. Rick was super busy with his own job and picking up in the middle of the week to fly to a motocross event across the country was probably a no-go. But it was only a few days. So who knew?
He handed his bike back to Kevin, but Dane added one more thing. “If you’re not going to be on a bike until next week, I expect you to be getting those workouts in and continuing your PT exercises.”
“Yeah. Will do. For sure. Let me go call Rick, then meet me in the cafeteria?” It was actually a small refreshment area that sold water and snacks to the racers and their teams who practiced there. It was actually a nice bonus to have at a practice track.
“Sure.”
Coop headed back to the locker rooms to change, but before he could even pull his jersey off, the phone rang. It was Rick. “Hey, man. Was just about to call you.”
The voice that came through the phone wasn’t Rick’s. It was some guy named Emerson or something, and he said Rick needed him. A thousand scenarios played through his head at once. “He’s not hurt?”
“Not physically. It’s an emotional thing. I want to bring him to you.”
“It’ll be faster to meet at home. Can you take him home?”
“Will do.”
Something was very wrong. Coop changed as fast as he could, then practically ran to the cafeteria. “Dane! Dane!”
“Where’s the fire?”
“Something’s wrong with Rick. I’ve gotta go. I’ll text you later.”
“Okay. Go.” He pushed Coop’s shoulder to turn him around. “Calm down and drive careful. He’ll need you in one piece.”
“Yeah. Yeah…” But Coop was already moving.
Coop parked and ran to the front door, flinging it open. “Rick?”
He was slumped on the couch with his hands over his face. He muttered something Coop didn’t understand.
“Hey, hey…” he gentled as he pulled Rick’s hands down. “What’s going on?”
Rick lunged, practically throwing himself into Coop’s arms. If that’s what he needed, Coop would hold him all day. He pulled Rick tighter against him, and they ended up on the floor with Rick straddling Coop’s thighs and leaning into his chest, planting his face in Coop’s neck. Coop rubbed his back and made soothing noises until finally, Rick sat up. “It’s my mom.”
“Is she hurt, baby?”
“She’s sick. My brother called and said she might die. I have to go. Will you come with me?”
“Let’s get you a bag packed while we talk, okay?” He didn’t want to say no, but this was going to fuck up his opportunity with Bike Max. “I have to tell you what happened today. It’s good news, but…”
“Okay?” Maybe listening would help Rick focus. Coop had never seen him like this. So sad and worried. He probably felt helpless. But Coop could distract him.
“I got an offer to coach a new racer this weekend at Redbud…” As he told Rick the entire story, Coop pushed Rick down onto their bed as he pulled out a duffel to pack for Rick. He didn’t know how long Rick would be gone but he could start with the essentials. Shit. Would Rick need a suit? Did Rick even own a suit? Or would he wear his uniform? Coop would have no idea how to pack that.
“You must be excited.”
“I was, but now…”
“Oh. Where is RedBud exactly?”
