Kiara, Riley’s younger sister, normally hangs around with him in the pit, so her absence is missed.
“She wanted to do a few things with her friends this season. But she’s hoping to head back after the season break,” he replies.
“Hope she comes to see me. It feels like ages since I saw her,” Sophia replies.
“Say, do you know which girl Javi’s been losing his mind over? He is being very secretive with me. His best friend! Can you believe it!” Riley feigns upset, standing closer to Sophia so they are both leaning on the bar, looking back at me. I could kill him. I glance over at Sophia, and something flashes across her face before she catches herself.
With him next to her, her face is soft, but unreadable. “No, I haven’t heard anything around the pit. Must not be anyone in the team. Did you ask if it was someone from the media team?”That’s it, throw him in another direction, ace.
“OOOOHHHHH, media!! I didn’t think of that. There are a few smart hotties in there amongst the dudes!” Riley is silent for a few moments, deep in thought as his gaze moves to newer people arriving. True to his personality, he is distracted and points to the new arrivals. “Hey! Sorry, I’ll be back.” And off he goes.
Taking his position, I turn around and lean against the bar next to Sophia, looking out to the arriving guests. “Ignore him. He is literally a golden retriever. New people arrived, and he ran over to greet them.” I gesture in his direction.
She laughs, the sound melodious. “I don’t know where he gets the energy from. My social battery is already out.”
“How long have you been here for?” I ask quizzically.
“Half an hour. Not long enough to satisfy Rayna, though. She wants me to be more involved and hang out.” She shakes her head. looking into her drink. “Used to be easy for me to do this, now it’s just a struggle these days. I can only imagine what they think of me after Perry.”
I hate seeing her like this. I wish I could reach out, wrap my arms around her, kiss her, and make her feel better. To build her confidence up again after the hits she’s had, to build herself back up from. “If you want to pretend we are deep in conversation but sit in silence, I can be your ‘event beard’?” I peer at her and wink.
She lifts her head. “Thanks, but I better do some actual talking tonight. Try to get back to a new normal, right?” Her smile is weak.
“I’m sure you can do it. I’ll be here with you, ace.” Brushing my elbow against her, that skin to skin contact instantly sends electricity between us. I shouldn’t have touched her.
Her smile improves, and she replies, “Thank you.”
We walk around together, mingling with riders and other team owners and directors. I don’t know why Sophia was worried, she did great. She seemed like her old self, witty and insightful with her conversations. The sun begins to set and the MudPit owners make some speeches, thanking us all for being a strong part of the community. But all I can do is keep stealing glances at Sophia as she actively listens to them, the overhead fairy lights illuminating and highlighting her soft features.
Speeches wrap up, and we all begin talking amongst ourselves again. Sophia looks over with a tired look on her face and says, “I am going to head out.”
“I’ll walk you back to the hotel.” I leap forward too quickly and hold myself. “Ifyou wanted company on the walk back?”Nice save, dickhead.
“Sure, that would be nice,” she replies, and we turn to head out. “Thank you for sticking around me tonight,” she says quietly while looking to the ground. “It was nice to chat with people again.”
“You did great, ace. You didn’t need me,” I praise.
“Thanks, but I definitely needed you around. It helped so much. Sorry if you didn’t get to see who you needed to?” she said, almost questioned.
“I saw everyone I needed to. Don’t worry about that,” I reply.
“Okay good,” she adds and then goes quiet. “So, you going to tell me which girl has you getting teased by Riley?”
“I think you might know her. She’s been giving me a hard time for months now.”Hardbeing the operative word.
“Sounds like she doesn’t want to hurt you,” she says timidly.
I stop and place a hand on her forearm. “She could never hurt me.”
Her eyes look deep within me, but are glossy with the threat of tears spilling.
“Hey, what’s going on? You can talk to me,” I offer, moving my hand to her shoulder. The warm breeze flicks her ponytail around, dislodging a few strands of hair.
“It’s nothing. I’m just in my head still,” she replies.
I want to tell her so much, share what I am thinking about. Tell her I think about her every day as soon as I wake up. That I look forward to seeing her in the pits. That I’m glad when our schedules cross over. That I smile when I can hear her voice echoing around the pits when she’s talking with Rayna and the team.
But seeing her struggle with her feelings in this moment, I let it go.
