Falling Fast (Falling Fast #1) - Tina Wainscott Page 0,46
this track.”
“Thanks. It’s been quite the challenge. Turns out the bleachers are probably scrap metal, thanks to vandals who played demolition derby here a few years back. We hoped to fix them, but the more I test them the more I suspect they’re not salvageable. We just keep finding more things to deal with.”
“Like having to remove a hundred pounds of honey from the announcer’s booth?” Raleigh said, because he wanted his friend to know that he was paying attention, even if he wasn’t out here doing the work. Which made him feel like a shit of a friend.
“Yeah, that was fun.” Pax saw Mia following Cody toward the storage building. “Go ahead and see if you can find some helmets that fit you.”
Raleigh took in the things that still needed doing. Painting the concession building and the tower. Bushes that needed trimming. Weeds that needed killing. “When I get done with the cottage, I’ll come help out.”
“That’d be great. I won’t even ask you about racing here—how about that?”
“Deal.” Was that why he’d been avoiding this place? “Your dad coming around on you reopening?”
“Now that it’s actually happening, he hates it even more. But I get more shit about my business partner.”
“That’s right. I forgot Wade was that girl’s dad.” Raleigh tried to picture the petite blonde who’d moved to town to live with her father the same summer he’d met Mia. The rumor was that she was too much for her mother to handle. “Gretta, Emma—something like that, right?”
“Gemma,” Pax said, his mouth curling into a snarl. “We agreed never to bring up her or that whole episode. Thing is, he wasn’t the adversary. I mean, he supported his daughter, sure. I wouldn’t have respected him if he didn’t. Good thing Gemma’s never come back. That would be…well, a lot of things.”
“Especially since you had the hots for her.” He remembered the girl with the flared black miniskirt, patterned black-and-pink stockings, and boots chatting up Pax about his car. How he’d watched her walk back to her friend with the same spark Raleigh knew was in his eyes when he looked at Mia.
Pax rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, didn’t matter in the end. She ditched the goth-candy look I found so intriguing to fit in with the popular crowd at school. Went out with my brother. And then tried to destroy him.”
Raleigh had been serving his sentence when the girl accused the captain of the football team of date-raping her. By the time Raleigh was released, the rape charges had been dropped, and Gemma Thornton had returned to her mother in New York City.
“I feel like a NASCAR racer!” Cody came out of the building with a red helmet on his head.
Raleigh stepped forward and tightened the helmet. “You look like one, too. I’m going to take a few laps with you, but if Mia’s okay with going over eighty miles an hour I’m sidelining you.”
“What? That’s not fair! I’m almost twelve! Practically old enough to get my learner’s permit.”
“Not nearly practically,” Raleigh said with a smile he was trying to hide. “And as a practical adult I can’t run you faster than that.”
Mia touched Cody’s arm. “He’s playing it safe because of what happened with me. You can’t really fault him for that.”
Yeah, Raleigh faulted himself enough for everyone. He gave Mia a subtle thank-you nod as Cody did his best slumped-shoulders-of-disappointment walk over to the car.
Raleigh picked up the second helmet and faced Mia. She stepped up in front of him, and he settled it on her head. Then he leaned close to secure the strap. Damn but he wanted to duck in and kiss her.
Not the reckless guy anymore. Stay in control. “Feel good?” he asked.
“Very,” she said, her soft gaze on his. Then she patted the sides of the helmet. “Apart from having what feels like a bobble head.”
He couldn’t resist touching her chin, though. “It’ll keep you safe.” He slid on his helmet, used to it from his motorcycle days. “Ready?”
“Very.”
She was talking about going fast, right? She followed Raleigh to the ‘Cuda.
Pax let out one of those ear-piercing whistles as Harley tried to jump into the car, too. “You’re coming with me, bud.”
The dog let out a whine but followed dutifully.
“He’s just adorable,” Mia said, watching them depart. Pax wore a faded pair of jean shorts and sneakers, walking with his cowboy swagger.