We’re grown men, for Christ’s sake, but we still argue over the green Jelly Tots. We’ve been like this forever, and I can’t see us changing now. I snuggle down, and once he’s eaten his Jelly Tots, Jay does the same.
We wake to the smell of bacon. I should have technically been at the track, so I’m at a loss of what to do with myself, and Jay’s got to work, so I head to the shop with him for the day, just to chill and watch him tattoo randoms. It’s nice for a change of pace. In between clients, I tell him what went down with Lee and Arch, and he laughs at how ‘popular’ I am at the track. I will have to leave soon for the training camp, which means I’m gonna be away for a few weeks. Jay says he will be fine, but we don’t spend much more than a weekend away from each other, never have, so it’s gonna be tough, but there’s FaceTime, and that will have to be good enough for now.
Arch
Chapter 19
After I drop Ryder off, I head home. It’s not like a home, really. The big driveway leading up to the mansion, the stone pillars on either side of the door, the fountain out the front and when I push inside, the cold hard marble floors, the gaudy decorations, the big gold frames with paintings of dead relatives… they’re all such a rich cliché.
I head up the right-hand staircase that leads to my rooms. The left leads to my parents’. We have separate sides of the house, so even when they’re home, I never see them other than for meals, and even then, the table is so big we can’t even have a conversation. I shove into my lounge area and head through into my bedroom. I look out of my window over the pool, and I can see Father in there.
I shake my head. There’s a blonde with fake tits lying naked on one of the loungers beside the pool, and he’s buried with his face between her legs. I pick up the remote and shut the curtains.
Mother is at the spa this weekend, so there will be naked girls coming and going. I stay in my room for the rest of the weekend. The staff bring me food, and I have drinks in the fridge, so I just hide, watch TV and wonder what Ryder is doing. Is he alone, too? What type ofhouse does he live in? Do his mum and dad get on, or do they have blondes with fake tits roaming around the house when the others are not there?
I fall asleep surrounded by my snacks with a full belly but an empty heart. I’ve never felt so alone as I do now; all I can think about is him.
I’ve had to shadow my father at the office all week, and it’s been boring as hell. I’m not allowed to do anything but observe. I move around the offices quietly behind him with my clipboard and pen to make it look like I’m interested, but I couldn’t really give a shit. I don’t want to be my father.
I hate everything he represents; my life is all set out for me. I’m just hoping I can make it onto the team. I can support myself and tell him to shove his family business, his expectations and his arranged marriage but until then, I keep my head down. I follow him around. I nod, say ‘yes, sir’ where necessary and stay out of the way. It’s only a few weeks till the announcement from the team. They will normally take between two and six candidates who go away and do team-building. They know we can ride. They just need to see if we can be part of the team.
I already have my place, and my father purchased it for me with a considerable donation to the team fund, but they assured me that the final place would not be bought. I have to earn that on my own, so I pray to whoever looks over me that I don’t mess this up, that I can make it on my own, and that I can find a place within the team that’s more like a family, and that I will finally have that rather than a mother that’s numb from all theyears of neglect from my father and the numerous prescription drugs she takes. Prozac is one of the main ones.
Father sticks his dick in anything with a pulse as long as it’s around my age. I shudder at the thought. The staff are changed annually, so I never get comfortable with any of them. And I’ve never had friends, just people who wanted something from me. Namely money or a leg up. I think back to how close Ryder and Jay are and how I thought they were together. They really have each other’s backs, and I’m so jealous. I just want someone to like me for me once in my life.
Ryder
Chapter 20
It’s the last race of the season, and I want to make it count. I want to show them why they’re choosing me, and I want them to see I have it all. Yeah, a bit big-headed, I know, but I didn’t get this far by doubting myself, and my number one fans here cheering me on, so I wanna show him a good weekend, too. Jay’s in the pits with Dad, and he’s on board duty, so fuck knows what kind of messages I’m gonna get. I’ve just got to remember not to let them distract me.
Arch is a few riders down, and he’s been watching us, me and Jay, likereallywatching us. He’s always close by, acting fucking weird, but it’s almost like he’s scared to come over when Jay’s here. So it’s not such a bad thing. I still don’t trust the slimy fucker. But there's something about him, like a lost puppy who doesn’t seem to fit in anymore.
I turn to face him as the one-minute board turns. I grin and wink before taking off. It rattles him, makes him hesitate, and I head for holeshot, ripping the throttle back as my grin gets wider. I reach it in first, of course I do, and as I pull out of the apex, I throttle it again, digging into the rut, accelerating out of it and spraying dirt over everyone behind me. The track is rutted to hell, and some of them are deadly. I walked it again thismorning, and the next berm has a rut on the inside that I would normally take, but it’s annihilated at the exit. It's deep, soft and treacherous, and I know damn well if I hit it, I ain’t coming back from it, so I take the berm instead, and two of the guys dart up the inside and into the rut, hitting the soft patch. The front wheel digs in deep, and the first one he endos over to faceplant hard into the ground. The guy behind him tries to brake but just barely misses the first guy, only to come a cropper himself and end up in the grass embankment.
I give it everything as I fly around the berm and head for the double jumps. Arch must have been a little way back to see as he follows me around the berm. He’s still a way back, so I hit the first double jump and sail through the air, landing just after the second. I accelerate into the whoops and hit them perfectly, the wheel flexing on each one as I power through them. As I hurtle towards the tabletop, I take the jump, twisting sideways before dropping back down, and I can hear the crowd screaming over thebraaapof the engines coming down to the pits.
I see Jay jump up and hang the board over the barrier. ‘Did you bring Jelly Tots?’
Twat, I think as I sail past and shake my head, at him, not at the Jelly Tots. I always have Jelly Tots. It’s one of the main reasons our friendship has lasted this long. I’m like his drug dealer, and his drug of choice is Jelly Tots.
Ripping down the straight, I’m ahead and want to keep it that way, so I concentrate and keep my head in the game. The starting straight is getting churned up, and the ruts in the first berm are starting to fall apart where people have been trying to get away from the tight one, only to dart out and demolish another, so I takeit wide again and play it safe. I want to win, but taking chances when I don’t have to is only asking for trouble.
I risk a glance over my shoulder, and there’s a guy and Arch closer than the others, but they’re battling amongst themselves, so I take a breath and focus, heading past the pits for the last time. Jay hangs out the board with a middle finger drawn on it and, ‘Mofo’. I’m taking that to be, ‘One lap, motherfucker,’ and I laugh to myself. The guy’s a dick, but fuck, I’d be lost without him.
And I take the jump over the finishing line, fist bumping the air as I sail through. I grin to myself. Fuck yeah. I damn well made it, and I let out a sigh of relief.The heathen pulled it off yet again.
Dad and Jay are waiting by the van, and they both throw themselves at me as Jay jumps up and down like a loon, chanting my name and clinging around us both. Dad lets go. “Okay, knobheads, get this shit cleaned up. We’re heading home tonight to celebrate with your mums.”
“Whoop, whoop!” Jay yells out as we gather everything in a rush and high tail it out of there. We don’t want to keep our mums waiting.
Ryder
Chapter 21
It’s the end of the season, and we’re at the award ceremony for the team we’re hoping to get into. We’re here for the announcement of who will be taking the spots available. I’m sitting here with Jay, Mum and Dad and Jay’s mum. We have a table for ourselves, and each table seats six. I look around the room and see Arch looking rather uncomfortable at a table on his own. Mum sees where I’m looking and sighs. “Go ask him to join us.” She nudges, nodding in his direction.
“Fuck no!” I rush out, and she frowns at me.
