Page 48 of Send It
Colson
My anger fizzles out the moment I see the pain on Lincoln’s face when she takes her helmet off. I start to walk in her direction but I’m stopped by Reiss stepping into my path with a hard shove to my chest.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he growls. “That’s my fucking sister.”
Suddenly, the guilt I knew I would feel if he found out comes pouring over me like a bucket of ice water. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“You didn’t mean to dress her up in your gear and put her at the starting gate?”
So he’s mad because Lincoln raced for me? Not because I’m in love with her?
“No I did,” I clarify. “I didn’t mean for you to find out like this.”
Reiss pushes me again, “You wouldn’t have told me if I hadn’t found out. I can’t believe you put my sister at risk like that. You even knew Landon would be after your ass and you still put her out there.”
I stare over at Lincoln who is having trouble getting up, our parents surrounding her. He’s right. I never should’ve let her race for me. No matter how bad she wanted to. I knew she could get hurt and I knew that Landon wouldn’t blink an eye to do it.
“I would never hurt her on purpose,” I say. “I love her.”
Everyone falls silent and Reiss pulls back with surprise. “You love her? You mean like love her love her?”
“Yes,” I breathe. “More than anyone else on this fucking planet, Reiss. I always have.”
“So you’ve literally been fucking around with my baby sister behind my back?”
“Yeah,” Landon says, entering the conversation with the picture of Lincoln and I filling the screen of the phone Jackson hands him. “See for yourself.”
Reiss takes his palm and knocks Jackson’s phone out of Landon’s hand, landing it about twenty yards down the track. His focus is still on me. “You lied to me.”
“I know,” I sigh. “I know I did. I just couldn’t tell you before the race. I didn’t want to mess with your head right before Nationals.”
He points at his temple, his eyes wild, “You didn’t wanna mess with my fucking head?”
Lincoln hobbles over and steps between us, putting her arm on Reiss’ shoulder. “Let’s talk about this in the trailer.”
I look around at all the people staring and watch as Jackson stands near Landon. My blood is boiling .
“They’ve been fucking around for months,” Landon says loud enough for Reiss to hear but before he can speak, Mira steps from behind where Reiss is standing and blows everything up.
“Shut up, Landon.” She says stepping closer to her brother. “I don’t know why you are so hellbent on messing with Reiss when it’s not him you should be messing with. Jackson drugged me, had sex with me, and got me pregnant.”
Reiss’ face is white as a ghost, confirming that he didn’t know it was Jackson.
Landon drops his helmet to the dirt and all hell breaks loose. He grabs Jackson by the throat and slams him into the ground. Reiss wraps his arm around Lincoln to help her walk and doesn’t say another word to me.
Lincoln’s mom gives me a half smile and I watch as everyone follows Reiss and Lincoln back to the tent at our trailer. They cut my jersey off of Lincoln and her ribs are already starting to bruise up.
“We need to take her to the hospital and have this checked out,” Ryan says. “Make sure it didn’t puncture a lung or anything.”
“I’m fine,” Lincoln says, pulling her shirt down. “Reiss won the title, I'm not going anywhere.”
“Colson,” Ryan says, his voice low. “They want to see you at the registration tent.”
I nod, leaving everyone and walking away. My downfall doesn’t need an audience.
After spending an hour in the AMA tent, I’m suspended from racing for a year and so is Lincoln.
I honestly wasn’t sure if they were going to drop the hammer or not but they are hellbent on making an example out of us.
Deep down, I knew this would happen. I knew that we wouldn’t get away with this and that it would ruin my reputation in racing. I just didn’t care.
Truthfully, I should’ve thought it through a little more.
I should have thought about how it would affect everyone else.
Lincoln was relentless in wanting to do this and I think I let that blind me.
I wanted to spend time with her away from Reiss.
I wanted to do this with her and I don’t regret that, but she might when she finds out she can’t race a sanctioned event for a whole year.
I walk out of the tent and into a whole mess back at the trailer with everyone else.
Reiss fighting with Lincoln, their mom and dad playing referees.
My dad arguing with Ryan over why the world’s greatest and most expensive trainer didn’t realize it wasn’t me.
Landon and Mira airing out their drama across the path.
I stand in the middle of it and realize that if it wasn’t for me…none of this would be happening. Everything would be exactly the way it was, Reiss and Lincoln would be closer than ever. My dad wouldn’t be screaming at Ryan for something he had no part in.
I need to get out of here.
I walk inside the motorhome and find Stas laid out on the couch with a battery operated fan in her hand.
“Can I have your keys? I’ll be back before the awards ceremony. I just can’t be here right now.”
“No,” she quips. “You can’t.”
I tilt my brows in because Stas usually has my back, “Why not?”
“Because,” she sighs. “You can’t run from this. Those people are your family, Colson. You need to get out there and fix it.”
My stomach clenches at the thought of losing them, “Reiss is gonna need some time to cool off, and if I go out there now it’s just going to make everything ten times worse.”
She shrugs, “You slept with his baby sister without talking to him about it first.”
Like I don’t already know that.
I let out a low groan, aggravated with Stas but knowing that she’s right. I should’ve been able to control my feelings and how far I took things with Lincoln before I had the guts to discuss it with Reiss.
I push the door of the motorhome open and everyone has fizzled out but Lincoln, who is sitting in one of the folding chairs with ice plastic wrapped around her ribs.
She stares at me as I limp down the three metal steps, her eyes tear stained. It makes me feel awful.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I shouldn’t have done anything after the crash. I went rogue and I’m sorry.”
She doesn’t say anything, only stares at me like she’s waiting for me to finish my sentence. “I knew that you were hurt and I couldn’t stand the thought of him doing that to you then getting back on his bike to finish the race.”
“So you thought causing a scene and getting us both banned for a year was the right thing to do?”
She’s right. If I had been able to control my temper none of this would’ve happened.
“I fucked up!” I boom. “I told you I was going to. I told you this would happen.”
“So it’s my fault?” She huffs. “That’s great, Colson, because the last time I checked we decided to do this together.”
I reach for her hand but she jerks it away, “I’m going to the awards ceremony for Reiss.”
“Lincoln,” I plead. “Please don’t shut me out. I fucked up, I know that. I should’ve controlled my temper.”
She shakes her head, “But you didn’t and now here we are. Reiss is probably never going to speak to either one of us ever again.”
“He’s your brother, I find that hard to believe. Besides, this is my fault. He's mad at me. Not you.”
“I lied too,” she cries. “I lied to him because of this fantasy in my head I’ve had for years of what it would be like to have you.”
“You have me,” I say. “You always have.”
She growls, “You told me to stick to the plan and I did. You’re the one who didn’t and now we’re in this giant mess. So, how are you going to fix it?”
I stand there and think about what she said long after she walks away. I’m not sure how I can fix it but I know I’m going to try.