Page 22 of That Summer
“Because it’s not gonna last. He needs you.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I’m not supposed to tell you this, but since I’ve opened my big fat mouth, you might as well know.” He avoided peering in her direction as his index finger tapped against his bottom lip. After a few breaths he rubbed his hand over his shirt. Right over his heart. “He’s started his own racing company, and he named it after you.”
Her eyes widened, and she leaned forward. “What? Me?”
“Northern Lights Racing.” He sat down on her weathered sofa. “No offense, but it has a nicer ring to it than Aurora Racing.”
Aha. The day she met Nate and he’d learned of her name, he wondered if she was named after the celestial occurrence. “I’m… speechless.”
“Finally,” he cheered and raised his hands into the air as he winked. “Just kidding.”
“He’s going to run his own company and race? I’m missing something.”
“It’s complicated but I’ll see if I can make it make sense. He branded the name and bought the domain just after you broke up. He’s been talking with various companies in hopes of sponsorship for Northern Lights Racing, but before they take him on, he needs to prove himself. Which he’s been doing well. Until Marissa.”
That bitch. Screwing him up. Screwing him. Ugh.
“She’s messing with him and he’s not doing as well in points.”
“And that’s why you don’t think they’re going to last? He’s going to break up with her because he’s not winning?”
That doesn’t sound like the Nate I know.
“It’s more than that. They argue quite a bit on race nights, and I think that’s throwing him off. He needs tranquility before a race to allow him to get into the zone, and she’s not providing it.” His gaze fell. “With you, he was upbeat and happy. With her, he’s angry and miserable. He needs you, and he wants you. He’s still out there trying to get Northern Lights Racing up off the ground so he can still be involved with racing if he’s not in the driver’s seat.”
So he can still be a part of what he loves without me freaking out.
Thinking of Nate with his lit up face, dimpled smile, and sexy as hell race suit, made her heart ache. She needed to get him off her mind. And quickly. Loneliness was like a bad disease, spreading slowly through her veins. In an attempt to delay the pinpricks of pain around her heart, she focused on Lucas. “So what wonderful low-budget production are we watching? Do I need to make popcorn?”
Popcorn sounds really amazing right now.
The smell of melted butter tickled the senses of her brain.
Lucas flopped down beside her. “I think you’ll want to avoid eating for a bit.”
Her swallow was audible. “It’s not a horror, is it? I hate horror movies.”
A small smirk appeared at the corner of his lips. “Not a horror.” His eyes twinkled in the sunlit room, highlighting the tinges of blue. “It’s something Chris and I discussed, and we’ll see how it goes.”
Lucas and Chris discussed her training sessions?
“Why am I suddenly scared?”
“You remember that one shrink who suggested writing down all your fears associated with vehicles?”
She rolled her eyes. “How could I forget?”
What was it with shrinks and lists? They had made a list of forty-three different fears ranging from something as simple as a fear of throwing up in front of someone, to death. It had been quite eye opening. To everyone. Lucas included.
“Well, we’re gonna go through some of them.”
A halt to her voice. “Like what?” She choked out the words as her mouth suddenly dried up. What fear were they going to cover now? Truly, they really had been working hard on them. She was trying hard to avoid the death one though.
“We’re gonna watch some videos on safety mechanics and then watch a few car crashes.”
“We’re going to dowhat?” Her voice pitched to a near shrill.