“Mm-hm. Maybe twice a week for an hour and a half or so?”
Dare nodded. “That works for me.”
“Yes!” Kenny did a fist pump and threw his arms around Billie. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”
Billie patted his back, looking at Dare, his unstoppable grin mirroring hers. “It’s my pleasure. I’m glad you had fun.”
“I did, and I can’t wait till next time,” Kenny said.
They talked for a few minutes, and as Dare and Kenny headed back down the walking path, she heard Kenny ask how old Billie was when she learned to ride. Dare told him she was six, and Kenny said, “Geez. She really is a badass.”
Billie hadn’t felt much like a badass lately, although riverboarding was pretty badass. She looked at the bike, feeling its pull like metal to magnet, and couldn’t resist sitting on it. She wrapped her fingers around the handlebars, which brought a rush of adrenaline. She closed her eyes, reveling in her thundering heart and the way the bike felt beneath her. She saw the track and felt a flutter of intimidation. Eddie’s face appeared in her mind, his blue eyes imploring her, and she heard his voice, as real as the breeze on her cheeks. What are you waiting for, Billie? Get out there and show the world what you’ve got. Her heart thudded faster, and she swallowed hard, opening her eyes, but Eddie’s shaggy hair and blue eyes were still there, egging her on. She blinked several times and suddenly she saw Dare’s face, too, his loving eyes asking, What do you want to do, Mancini?
I want to ride. She eyed the helmet.
Eddie’s laughter floated into her ears. Then what are you waiting for? Get out there and blow everyone away.
You’ve got this, darlin’, Dare’s voice whispered.
She wanted to have it. She hadn’t realized how desperately she’d wanted it until she had the helmet in her hand and was pulling it over her head. She was wearing jeans and sneakers, which weren’t ideal, and she had no pads, but she’d ridden dozens of times like that. The words she’d said to Dare came back to her. I don’t want you to live in fear. I’ve done enough of that for both of us. She took a deep breath and started the engine, the vibration bolstering her confidence, awakening the rider she’d always been.
She sat up taller, leaned forward, revving the engine, eyes set on the track ahead, and with her heart hammering in her ears, she cut herself loose.
Warm air whipped over her skin, the movement of the bike as familiar as the sky above her. Something shifted inside her, and the laser focus, which had won her more races than she could count, took over. She rose off the seat, leaning forward, speeding up along the straightaway, her muscles and senses on high alert as she approached a turn. She sat down, leaning into the curve, raising her inside leg high and opening the throttle. As she came out of the turn, she cheered, her every nerve on fire. She went around and around the track and couldn’t resist going over the whoops, the kings of all speed bumps. She sped toward the step-up, flying up the jump, heels and legs flexed for a perfect back-tire landing on the tabletop. She nailed it and took the descending jump like the pro she’d been, making a smooth landing and speeding around the course.
Adrenaline rushed like fire through her veins. She felt unstoppable, fully alive for the first time in years, and when she hit the booter, the big jump before the finish line, she conquered it, soaring through the air, to a perfect landing, and saw Dare watching her. Her heart felt like it was clawing its way out of her chest to get to him as she sped to the end of the track. His face was a mask of shock as she tore off her helmet, climbing hastily from the bike, and launched herself into his arms.
“Thank you. God, thank you.” Tears streaked her cheeks as he hugged her, spinning them in a circle.
“You did it, darlin’!”
“I did it!” She kissed him hard, her salty tears slipping between their lips. “I can’t believe it!”
They were laughing, and she was crying. Dare looked blown away as he set her on her feet. “What happened?”
“I was standing there, and then I was on the bike, and I heard Eddie egging me on and you asking what I wanted, and I don’t know. It just happened, and I’m so freaking glad. I feel like I put myself in a prison and you freed me.”
“I didn’t free you, darlin’. I just asked you to help a kid out. What you just did? That was all you, Mancini, and it was fucking fantastic.”
She looked at him, remembering the cute boy who had built her up and given her more confidence than she’d ever thought possible and seeing the man who had stepped willingly into her darkness despite her claws and daggers, and there was no holding back.
“You’re wrong, Dare. I’m only me because of you. You didn’t just show me the light. You led me to the life I’d lost, to the best parts of myself that I’d forgotten, to the girl who hugged and laughed and wanted to experience everything life had to offer. I’m grabbing that girl, Dare, and I’m grabbing us with both hands and never letting go again.”
Chapter Fifteen
DARE PUT THE grate over the fire pit and wiped his hands on his jeans, glad to be home. He’d had church tonight, and he’d barely been able to sit still knowing Billie had the evening off. His brothers had taken great pleasure in teasing him about being pussy whipped, but he couldn’t care less. All he’d wanted was to get back home to see his girl.
Billie came out the kitchen door, wearing his forest-green Redemption Ranch hoodie. It looked like it had swallowed her, hanging past the hem of her cutoffs, making it look like she was wearing only the sweatshirt. Her hair hung loose, a wayward lock covering her cheek. She carried a pack of Oreos under one arm, bags of chips and marshmallows in one hand, and a box of graham crackers in the other. Two cans of soda and a package of chocolate bars were tucked between the crook of her arm and her body, and that incredible smile he’d waited so long to see shined like the North Star. How was it possible for one woman to look so sweetly adorable and like a naughty temptress at once?
“I got snacks.” She blew that lock of hair out of her face, but it fell in front of her eyes again.
“You are too damn cute for your own good.” He grabbed the sodas and snacks and put them on the table by the lounge chair, then pulled her into his arms. How could so much change in a month? He felt like he was living the best dream of his life.
She wound her arms around his neck. “I don’t think I’ve been called cute since I was a kid.”
“That’s a damn shame, Mancini. From now on I’m going to tell you every time I think it. You’ll hear it a lot tonight, because you’re adorable in my sweatshirt.”
“I forgot to bring mine.”
“You could move in. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about that.” He hadn’t expected to say it, but it had been on his mind.
“Don’t say that too loud. Bobbie’s already talking about renting out my room.”
“All your favorite toys are here,” he taunted. They’d brought their sexy teammates to his house after he’d accidentally flashed Bobbie.
“You’re my favorite toy.”
“Exactly.”
She was grinning, but she looked at him curiously. “What has gotten into you?”