“That’s pretty much how all days are with these guys,” Keanna says. She’s sitting on the other side of Avery. “You’ll get used to it. Also, you don’t have to dress so nice.”
Avery chuckles, but Marcus nods. “Yeah, you can dress casually for this job. The guys are a bunch of slobs most of the time.”
“I resent that,” Aiden says.
“You only have like five shirts,” Marcus shoots back.
“That I bring with me!” Aiden retorts. “My closet at home is packed.”
I ignore most of the chatter and just eat my food. This is how it always goes. The guys talk and bullshit and hang out and I’m just kind of here, usually keeping quiet. The only time I’m really paying attention is when Avery talks. I listen to her answer everyone’s questions. She’s from some small town called Green Leaf, recently graduated from high school. She’s younger than I thought. I’m the oldest of the group at 21. That’s three years’ difference.
Wait, why am I even thinking about this? Who cares?
I try to tune out the rest of the dinner conversation, but I learn more about her anyway. She clearly doesn’t know motocross very well. Maybe she’s not some obsessed fangirl. Maybe it is just about the job for her. Good. She’s less likely to throw herself at me like the guys seem to think.
Marcus pays for the entire meal with his Team Loco credit card, and then we’re walking back out to the parking lot. I absolutely do not care that I’m about to leave Avery’s presence. At least that’s what I tell myself. Having her here tonight really changed the whole atmosphere. It wasn’t just another group dinner like always. It was… interesting.
“We’ll meet back at the Dallas airport at five in the morning,” Marcus says.
Avery’s eyes widen. “Five in the morning? Tomorrow?”
Marcus laughs. “Yes, ma’am. You’re on the schedule now. I guess I should probably email that to you… but yeah, we’re heading to the first training camp first thing tomorrow.”
“Where are we going?” she asks. She’s got this cute as hell look in her eyes, like she’s absolutely thrilled at the idea of leaving town.
“Louisiana,” Marcus says.
“Heading to my home track,” Aiden says. “Should be fun.”
“Oh!” Keanna says. “You’ll get to meet Jenn. You’ll love her.”
Avery nods. “Cool.”
Her eyes meet mine, briefly, before flitting away again. And in those few seconds, I’m suddenly damn sure I’m going to miss that smell of her perfume for the rest of the night.
Chapter 6
Holy crap.
Talk about a whirlwind experience. I started the day hoping my interview would go well and now I’m ending it ten hours later with a job and a plane ticket for tomorrow. I’ve been hoping and praying for this internship ever since I first saw it online but I never imagined it would happen his fast.
I’m giddy as I make the long drive back home. I call my mom to tell her the good news and she immediately goes into protective mom mode. She wants to make sure this whole gig isn’t some scam to kidnap me or rob me or something else equally horrible. She stays on the phone with me the whole time I’m driving back, doing her research online. Eventually, she believes me. The evidence online is enough to know that Team Loco isn’t a scam. They’re legit and they’re famous. People are constantly posting pictures of the guys on social media, and Marcus is all over the internet too.
When I get home, Mom has already put her Vera Bradley travel bag on my bed for me. It’s small enough to be a carry on but big enough to hold a few days’ worth of clothes. I stand in my closet and wonder what I should wear for the trip. They told me I could dress casually, but how casually? Keanna was wearing regular clothing, so I decide to dress like that. Marcus sent me the itinerary and we are fully booked up for the next two weeks.
Tomorrow we’re flying to Louisiana first thing in the morning. I have to be at the airport at five in the morning, which is less than eight hours from now. Then we’re doing the first training camp all day and then heading back to the airport and flying to Alabama that night. Then the next day, Sunday, is another training camp in Alabama and then we’ll have Monday free but we’ll still be there. Tuesday morning we fly out to Florida. The rest of the time is pretty much the same thing – lots of flights and never staying somewhere more than one night. We fly back home on the thirteenth only to fly out again the fourteenth, so I have four days of clothes to bring.
I bring two oversized T-shirts to sleep in, lots of underwear, and a few casual outfits. I also pack one nicer outfit in case we need it for an event or nice dinner. By the time I’ve finished packing, showered, and slipped into bed, I only have five hours until I need to head to the airport. I’m so excited and slightly terrified and I have no idea how I’m going to sleep when the whole world is waiting for me to explore it.
Both of my parents drive me to the airport in the morning. Despite being eighteen years old and a legal freaking adult, they make me feel thirteen again as they both get out of the car at the airport drop-off line and hug me goodbye. I really hope none of the Team Loco guys are witnessing this right now. I make my way into the airport and through the security line and soon I’m at my terminal.
It’s still so early that the sun isn’t out, and darkness fills windows that wrap around the terminal. I find Marcus and all of the Team Loco racers passed out on the plastic waiting chairs. Keanna is curled up in a ball in the chair next to Jett, her head resting on his shoulder. They look like a family of sorts, all sitting next to each other, passed out without a care in the world. I suddenly have a desire to be a part of this family. All of them (except for Clay) were nice and welcoming to me. I hope this will be a fun adventure.
I take a seat in the empty row of chairs that face them, and that’s when I realize that not all of them are sleeping. Clay sits across from me, his head down, but his eyes open. He’s listening to music on his phone again. I notice his eyes flit to me for just a second, and then he looks back down. Well, hello to you too, jerk.
Soon, more people filter into the terminal and the noise starts to wake up everyone else. Keanna rushes over to me and we go get a coffee from the Starbucks down the way. I try not to think about Clay and how unbelievably unfriendly he is, because it shouldn’t matter. But it does, in a way. We’re coworkers now, and we’ll be seeing each other a lot. And, one of my biggest fears is that Marcus will ask me to pull off another miracle with Clay, by making him do stuff he doesn’t want to. I’m not sure if my charm and sneaky comments about teammates will work on him again.
I try to put it out of my mind, and focus on the good stuff: I have a job! I get to travel!
