I felt myself shatter around him. My limbs fell limp as I let myself enjoy the feeling of being scattered in a million pieces. Pieces that he held in his hand. Pieces that I didn’t even know I had. He knew my body better than I did. I was starting to think he knew all of me better than I did.

This has to work. I’d been saying it over and over since my medical release. This has to work. It had to work because I honestly didn’t know what I would do if it didn’t. She was everything to me.

“I’ll call you every day,” I promised Georgia as we stood in the middle of the crowded airport. I’d shelled out the extra money for a ticket to get her through security. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet. As expected, Dr. Forlani said I was released to get back on my bike at my last doctor’s appointment. The second I was released, Nick and the rest of the Throttled Energy team wanted me back in Texas—training and promotional work were all I had on the schedule for the next month. Well that, and making things work with Georgia.

“I know you will,” she said, her arms were wrapped around my neck like a vice grip. “And, I’ll see you in a month.” She’d agreed to drive my Expedition back to Texas with her sister when she came home for a visit. One month until I could hold her in my arms again seemed like an eternity. We’d done our best to get our fill of one another. I’d had more sex in the last two weeks than I’d had in my entire life. Not that I was complaining, and not that I thought I’d ever be able to get my fill of her. Sore muscles and bowed legs be damned.

Every time we had sex, I figured out something new that made her tick. Some new way she liked to be touched, or some phrase that seemed to push her over the edge. My girl had a bit of a naughty side that I was thoroughly enjoying getting to know. And she’d done the same with me. She knew exactly where to put her mouth and hands to set me off. All things I’d be recalling a lot of in the cold showers I’d be taking alone for the next month.

“I’m going to miss you so fucking much,” I told her. It was probably the thirtieth or so time that I’d said those words since I’d learned that I was actually going to have to go back home. It was the next three words—the three words that really mattered—that I was saying out loud for the first time that came next. I took a deep breath and looked her straight in the eye, “I love you, baby. So damn much.”

“I love you, too, Brett,” she replied, the fact that she said my name was not lost on me. Maybe it was intentional, maybe it wasn’t, but either way it was me. Georgia Bennett loved me.

The stormy sea of blue in her eyes seemed to calm as we stared at each other. Something about hearing her say it back to me, gave me the rest of the determination I needed to make our relationship work. We had love. What more did we need? I cradled her face in my hands and kissed her. I didn’t want to go, but when I heard the final boarding call for my flight, I knew I didn’t have a choice.

“I’ve got to go, baby,” I said before pressing my lips to her forehead.

“I know.” She nodded. I saw her throat clench as she swallowed. I knew she was trying her damnedest not to cry. We’d talked about all of this. She’d cried. I’d almost cried. We knew I had to leave and she had to stay, but it didn’t make it any easier on either of us. “Call me when you land?”

“You know I will.” I took a step back, tugging my carry-on bag along with me. I was going home, so I didn’t need much for this trip. Something inside of me was arguing that I was leaving my home as I backed away from her. It didn’t matter that I had an apartment full of things waiting for me in Texas. Or a job. Or even my actual family. The one thing, the one person, I needed was going to have to stay behind for the time being. “Love you,” I said it again.

Just as I was about to turn away from her, she jumped into my arms and kissed me one last time. We were that couple. The over the top, can’t keep our hands to ourselves, shut up and say good bye already couple. It was everything I didn’t know I always wanted to be a part of.

“Bye,” she whispered against my lips as I lowered her back to the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the stewardesses moving around at my gate, getting ready to close the doors. I had to go or I was going to miss this flight.

“Bye.”

* * *

“Hoyt Travers,” I said as I walked onto the track at Mill Valley training facility. It was the real place in Texas that I called home. Sixty acres of dirt. Just the way I liked it. I’d been coming here since I was ten. My parents figured that since they didn’t get the sport, they might as well send me to people who did. The Wilson family owned and operated a state of the art compound, complete with a full track, gym, lodging and everything else a rider needed to be at the top of his career. When I was seventeen, I graduated from just camps and weekends at the track to living there full time. Me, my bike and an AirStream I purchased on Craigslist moved onto the property. Reid Travers moved in a few weeks later. “Aren’t you glad to see me, dick?” I asked when he didn’t look up from the iPad he was holding in his hands.

“Hey man,” he said, finally acknowledging my presence. I could see the video he was studying. A rider on the track. A rider on the track with a ponytail full of hair hanging out the back of her helmet.

“She’s coming in too high on the turns,” I said. If he wasn’t going to talk until he figured out what she was doing wrong, then I’d help him out. “And she’s too far back on the bike. Girl needs to saddle up on that tank and slow her ass down.”

“Shit I’ve been telling her for weeks,” he said, turning it off. “I was starting to think I was the crazy one,” he reached out his hand. “Good thing you clarified.”

“Oh you’re crazy,” I joked, grabbing his hand with mine and pulling him in for a hug. I patted him on the back as we backed apart. “Crazy for thinking that girl wants to be tamed. I can tell by the way she full throttles into those turns that she has zero fucks to give about what anyone else thinks.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Hoyt replied. His shoulders slumped and he sighed as he let his head fall. Hoyt and Reid were two different people. One fast and fearless. The other careful and meticulous. The one thing they had in common though, was a steady flow of Travers’ determination. Hoyt seemed to be losing his.

“Don’t worry, buddy,” I told him. “I’m here now. Sally will help you get through to her.” I laughed when I finally saw him smile. I was glad my friend was here. I knew I had a lot of training ahead of me and with him being around I knew that I’d have the best set of eyes on me in the business to figure out what I needed to work on. I think he was relieved to see me too.

“I’ll take all the help I can get.”

“When do I get to meet this wild child?” I asked. I didn’t hear any dirt bikes firing in the distance, but it was pretty early in the day.

“Oh, she’s sleeping off whatever cask of liquor she consumed last night, I’m sure.” He shook his head. “She’ll roll in about noon... if we’re lucky.”

“Doesn’t she know how lucky she is to be here?” It wasn’t like Throttled Energy was giving out opportunities like they gave her every day. They’d pulled her off an amateur circuit and offered her a shot at a professional riding career. I knew riders that would give their first born for an opportunity like that. She’d be stupid to not take advantage of what they’d offered her. Not only was it a shot at the pro-circuit, it was the help of a riding coach who knew exactly what it took to get to the top and practicing on the same track as legends... like me. Chayse McCade needed a reality check and fast.