“Good race, Gregurich,” Reid said reaching his hand out to shake Beau’s. “Off season has made me a little rusty.” He laughed and waited for Beau to shake his hand.
“Yeah, well maybe you’re not as good as you think you are,” Beau snapped. “You can’t win all the time.”
“Beau,” I said, dropping my feet to the ground and standing up. “He said good job, the least you could do is say the same.”
“I can’t do that,” Beau said, walking over to wrap his arm around my waist. “I can’t because I beat him.” It had been years since I’d heard Beau Gregurich talk so venomously. He definitely hadn’t forgotten how to do it.
“You don’t have to be a dick,” I replied.
“It’s fine, Nora,” Reid interjected. “He beat me. Fair and square.”
Did he?
“Hear that, babe?” Beau leaned over and rested his chin on my shoulder. Between his bad attitude and his extreme closeness, I was having a hard time not telling him to go away. I felt Reid’s eyes on me, which only added to the uncomfortable situation I found myself in. “I beat him. Now, how about a kiss for the winner.”
“I guess.” I turned my face to Beau’s, ready to give him a quick peck before I shimmied out of his hold, but he didn’t let me. Instead, he used his free hand to hold my neck in place as he covered my mouth with his. The forcefulness of his kiss was alarming. For show, he dipped me back in his arms until the crowd of bystanders started cheering.
“Yeah!” he yelled out. When he finally broke his hold on me, my eyes found Reid who was the one person standing in front of me that wasn’t clapping or cheering for the winner. “Let’s get a drink!” Beau gave me one more kiss on the cheek, but the roar of the crowd, and the shock of his behavior, was too much. As soon as Beau let go of me, I walked away.
I had no idea where I was going when I walked away from the track. I’d started walking east when I knew the path back up to the road was west. Instead of finding my way back to town, I’d found myself walking a trail in the middle of the woods. Terrible logic on my part, especially considering it would be dark soon.
I could still hear the dirt bikes on the track—probably Beau taking another victory lap—so I figured I still had time to find my way back. I just needed to get away for a minute. I was upset and embarrassed and downright pissed at Beau for acting like such an ass. Not only was he a sore winner, he’d practically mauled me in front of everyone, and for what? To show how big and bad he was? By the time I’d walked off the urge to slap him, I found a fallen tree and took a seat. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples, hoping that by the time I decided to go back to the track I was calm and able to think rationally again.
He was just excited. He let it go to his head. He’s not a bad guy. I continued to talk myself down until I heard the unmistakable shuffle of feet, the fallen leaves crunching with every step.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Reid teased.
“How’d you find me?” I asked, when I opened my eyes. He’d replaced his chest protector and racing shirt with a Reid Travers Racing T-shirt, but still had his pants and boots on. I couldn’t be sure if it was just a passing thought fueled by my frustration at my boyfriend, but he looked better than I remembered. And if the little bit of sweat and dirt weren’t enough to make him over the top sexy, he’d pulled on a ball cap backwards to cover his helmet hair. I wondered if he’d remembered exactly what that did to me?
“I lived here for eighteen years,” he reminded me. “I know these woods like the back of my hand,” he smiled. “Plus, I followed you.” He took a seat next to me. I continued to look straight ahead. “Drink?” he asked, holding out a can of Natural Light beer.
“Natty? Really?” I teased, reaching out to take it from him.
“Don’t act like it’s not still your favorite,” he said. I responded with a shrug and opened my can. “First beer you ever had, remember?”
“Yeah.” I laughed, thinking about the time we’d stolen a few cans from his parents. It took all of three beers for me to get loose lipped and tell him I loved him for the first time. Luckily, he’d responded that he felt the same. “I remember. Sorry Beau was such a dick.”
“You don’t have to apologize for him,” he said, bumping his shoulder against mine. “Did you honestly expect him to react any differently?”
“I didn’t expect him to win,” I confessed. I turned to face him. I needed to see his face when I asked him the next question. “Why’d you let him?”
“Who says I did?” He tried to hide his smile.
“Come on.” I urged, turning to face him as I straddled the log. “I saw you ease up. I know when you’re letting someone win.”
“I’m flattered that you were paying such close attention.” He moved to mimic my position. “I figured I’d give the guy a break. Let him show off for his girl.”
“Seriously?”
“You want the truth?” He asked. I nodded and waited for him to continue. “I knew that he’d act like an ass if he won.”
“Well that was a bit manipulative, don’t you think?” I playfully slapped his arm. Seeing Beau’s reaction was a reminder of just how big of a jerk he was back in the day. It was my fault for not expecting what I knew was deep down in Beau, but I’d done my best to forget everything about my past, his obnoxious behavior included.
“And, I plan on stealing his girlfriend, so the least I could do was let him think he won a race.” He continued the second I looked at him, my eyes pleading for him not to. “I said I was going to fight for you. I never said I’d fight fair.”
I smiled, because I just couldn’t not. He was saying all the right things and I believed him.
“I just wanted to remind you who he really is, Nore. He’ll always be the way he is.”
“And you? Are you the same?”
“Not in the way you think I am.”
“Meaning?”
“I’m not just going to run away and not speak to you for seven years.”
“That doesn’t change things.” I fought the urge to look away from him. “It’s not as simple as that.”
“It could be. I want you. I want to be with you.” The sincerity in his eyes had me hanging on his every single word. “I want a chance to make up for being such an ass back then. I feel terrible about it all.”
“It’s fine. What happened happened.”
“It’s not fine,” he reiterated. “You were pregnant, Nora. With my baby and I should have been there for you. I should have—”
“We should have done a lot of things,” I interrupted. “I should have told you the truth that day.”
“I would have stayed,” he assured me.
“I know you would have. That’s why I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want to be the reason you gave up your dream.”
“This is not on you.” I could tell what he was doing. He was beating himself up. Taking the blame. But he shouldn’t have been.
“Maybe we are both to blame,” I told him, hoping to ease the guilt that he felt. Neither of us were prepared for the situation back then. “We were kids. We made mistakes.”
“Yeah.” He sighed. “Which is exactly why I want to spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I want us to have what we couldn’t back then.” The promise of his words were nice and a part of me wanted to kiss him. To hold each other and plan a future together, but was it possible for us to make up for lost time? Could we just pick up where we left off?
“What happened to being just friends?”
“Did you really think that was going to last?” He cautiously rested his hands on the tops of my thighs, his calloused fingers rough against my smooth skin. “And there is a very simple solution to all of this.” I didn’t flinch under his touch, because in that moment it felt like we were exactly where we were supposed to be. “Break up with him.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” He leaned forward. “Break up with him.”