"I don't think we're a fit."
My grin turns wolfish as the image of her body curled up next to mine in bed this morning comes to mind. "I beg to differ."
"Really?" She scoffs. "You said it yourself, I'm chaos. And you're only seeing me on race days. My entire life is a tornado."
"I can handle it."
"Well, I can't." She shakes her head and starts to stand. I reach out to pull her up by her elbows and again her proximity sends alarms ringing in my head but I can't help myself. I am drawn to her. I want to be close.
Closer.
"Why can't you accept my help Laney?" I ask quietly in the shred of shared air between us.
Her eyes blink as she looks off past my shoulder. I can see the responses forming in her head. "I don't want to say it."
"Why not?"
"It's embarrassing." Her eyes flare wider even as she keeps them averted from me.
"You can trust me."
Those words bring her face to mine. She's so fucking beautiful. Impulsively I reach out and pull her braided hair over her shoulder. My fingers linger as I trail down the plaited strands finally letting my knuckle graze her chest as I rest the braid against her.
She looks innocent, yet confident, with her hair done like this.
But if dragging her out of her car and letting her sleep in my bed last night is any indication, I'm not going to rest easily knowing she's not taken care of.
She wraps the thermal blanket tighter and crosses her arms against her middle, resolving herself to speak with a heavy breath.
"You're too attractive."
"What?" I laugh. That was not what I was expecting her to say. When her face remains steady I know she’s not joking. "Well maybe that'll motivate you to keep up, you won't want to lose sight of my pretty face."
"Shut up." She bites back a smile.
"I think you're too attractive too." I tell her quietly. Honesty being the best policy.
She stills and blinks at me. The vitality in her face is intoxicating.
It’s irresistible.
Potentially dangerous.
"Think we can handle it?" I ask her, knowing my answer may as well be no. But the draw to her is making me do things I wouldn’t have done before. Things that risk my carefully curated balance.
"Absolutely not." She says but the smile on her face says something else entirely.
She’s with me.
"I was hoping you'd say that. So is this a yes? You'll let me coach you?"
I hold my breath as I watch her eyes dance with her thoughts. Until this moment I thought impulsive choices were a thing of my past.
Until Laney Matteson apparently.
She bounces her head back and forth as she’s considering the offer.
I feel each finger slipping from the grip I have on the edge of the cliff known as my control.
