My chest eased, and I could finally take a breath. “He made it.”
Bailey yelled in excitement, jumping up to go play with the other kids now.
I watched the camera as he parked the car at the top and got out, walking around the front to the crowd of people.
A girl spun to face him, throwing her arms around him and making my heart stop. It wasn’t that Kye couldn’t hug other women, but watching it happen when I knew he didn’t like many people touching him made my heart sink a little bit.
I waited as the crowd dispersed and Kye disappeared. I knew he would talk for a few minutes, and then make the drive back down to get us, but now I was already impatient to see him again.
Kye had said it could take a while for him to get back to us or get us to him, but it had been close to an hour now.
“Hey, that’s Kye,” Tara said, pointing to a car coming around the corner. I knew Tara well enough, at least enough through Ash. Her husband was good friends with Kye and on his team to set these races up. She had two amazing kids of her own that were more grown than Bailey.
“Hey, Tara. I’m really sorry to ask this, but could you maybe watch Bailey for, like, thirty minutes? I can pay you, if that helps.”
A sly smile grew on her face. “Why? Is something wrong?”
“No, I just need to talk to Kye…in private.”
She laughed. “Of course. And pay me? Babe, I have a husband that I still think is the hottest man in the world. How about I watch her now and you repay the favor with my boys when I need to talk to my husband in private one day?”
My mouth dropped, but I didn’t have time to argue. “That’s a deal. Are you sure you’re okay with it? She can be a handful.” We both looked to Bailey, who was playing with her boys.
“She’s nothing I haven’t handled. Two boys is a lot to handle. I won’t underestimate her,” she said, laughing. “Just go. We will be here when you get back.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Kye had made it to us, slowing down and parking, but I jumped in the passenger side, realizing there was barely a second seat in his race car.
“Go somewhere.”
“What?” he asked, looking around. “What are you doing?” He was laughing, but I ignored him.
“Go somewhere else. Go park somewhere private.”
“Oh, fuck. Okay.” He pulled back out. We were halfway up the mountain, but he pulled out to go down. He rounded the corners as people still packing to leave cheered at his car.
“Is private going to be too hard to find?”
“On one of the biggest race days of the year for this place? No, not at all.”
He turned into one of the parking lots, pulling us to the back that was now empty. “At least you waited until the races were over. Everyone is already clearing out.” He parked, angling the car into the corner.
“Can someone see us here?”
“I mean, probably, and it’s not like we don’t stand out, so you better do or say what you need to before someone walks over,” he said, his eyebrows jumping as he smiled.
“You’re terrible,” I said, already climbing over to him. I sat myself between him and the steering wheel, the fit so tight I could barely move.
“Can you move the seat back?”
He laughed harder. “No. This is a built race car, the seats do not slide. Everything is bolted in place, so I have less of a chance of wrecking and dying.”
“Not funny. I just had to watch you race yourself up the death mountain. Fine, we can make do like this.” I lifted myself up, awkwardly pulling off my leggings.
“Damn, did watching me race make you this hot for me? I’m going to race up this fucking mountain every day of my life.”
“No. I mean, yeah, I liked that, too, but that wasn’t all.”
“Then what was it? So I can repeat it every chance I get.”
“I saw that girl hug you,” I said, coming back down over him, focusing on unzipping and adjusting his race suit, but he froze, grabbing my wrists to stop me.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
His smile grew as he looked up at me. “And you were jealous because a girl hugged me?”
“Well, yes, I don’t see that all that often besides the crew, so I just wondered who she was.”
“You’re hilarious. Jealous after three months together, and over six years of me being so in love with you, I haven’t even slept with anyone else.”
“Okay, so I’m jealous. I have a hot boyfriend who I can’t keep my hands off, and I guess I’m assuming other women are thinking the same thing.”
I finally moved the zipper all the way down, already knowing what he was wearing under this, which helped as I navigated it without being able to look down. Our bodies were pressed too close to see.
“Well, come on, Daze. We don’t have a lot of time, and I’m going to need to see exactly how jealous you are,” he said, kissing my neck.
