Page 5 of Send It

Lincoln

The next few days are hell watching Reiss and Colson ride, having to observe from the back deck. It overlooks the entire track and it's better than standing down low. You can see everything.

Reiss and Colson fight on the track and it’s rough, Colson always pushing Reiss a little too hard, and after about thirty minutes they come off the track. I watch as Colson yanks his helmet off, and the sweat glistens in his hair.

Jesus.

Why does he have to look like that? Like seriously, would it kill my brother to have an ugly best friend?

But no. Colson is gorgeous and it’s infuriating .

Reiss walks inside the shop but Colson walks toward me. He glances up at the deck from the ground, “You gawking at me again, baby Bane?”

I lean over the railing, my hair falling around my shoulders, “Could say the same about you, I know you’re thirsty and here you are talking to me. Are you thirsty for something else, Colson?”

His lips tilt into a smirk, but he doesn’t speak. He just winks at me before disappearing into the shop with Reiss. It feels a little more flirty than annoying. I don’t even know what to do with it. Not even three seconds later my phone is vibrating in my hand.

Colson

If I didn’t know better I’d think you were flirting with me.

I smile typing as fast as I can.

Lincoln

Good thing you know better.

He doesn’t respond, and I smile as I walk back inside. Later that evening, it’s only Reiss that comes inside.

“Have you been here all day?” He asks, kicking his dusty crocs off in the mudroom.

I give him a dead stare, “Unfortunately.”

“It sucks you can’t ride but two weeks isn’t that long sis.”

I scoff, “Says the guy who doesn’t have to wait two weeks.”

He grabs a banana off the counter, peeling it and shoving half of it in his mouth. Before he’s done chewing he asks, “You wanna go to Jackson’s? We’re gonna light up a huge bonfire.”

“Who’s we? ”

He shrugs, “I don’t know. Some of the guys and their girlfriends or whoever.”

“Can I bring Stassie?” I ask.

“Stas can always come, Linc. You know that.”

I smile, “She thinks you’re hot, you know.”

“She’s cute,” he throws back. “But unfortunately, I’m taken.”

I tilt my brows in, “Since when?”

“Well we aren’t together-together,” he adds. “But she’s coming tonight, and I’m telling you, Linc. She’s into me.”

“Who is it?” I ask. “Do I know her?”

He has a shit-eating grin on his face, “Mira Tate.”

I sneer, “As in Landon Tate’s sister?”

He wiggles his brows, “That’s the one.”

“Landon’s a fucking asshole,” I whine. “And I know he’s the one that turned your fuel off in Indiana last year.”

I heard him bragging to Garrett Fisher about it while waiting on their next moto. Reiss only made it half a lap before his bike stopped. He’s lucky he wasn’t hurt.

“Well, now we always check our bikes before we hit the gate, don’t we?” He states. “Lesson learned.”

“Just be careful,” I warn. “She might be into you, but she will always be loyal to him.”

He gives me a hug.

“I know, baby sis. I’m always careful.”

Getting a good whiff, I nearly gag. “Might wanna take a shower before you go, you smell horrible.”

He tosses his banana peel in the trash and laughs, making his way upstairs to his bathroom.

An hour and a half later Stassie and I are pulling down the long and windy gravel driveway to Jackson’s farm. Him and Reiss have been friends since elementary school.

He doesn’t race motocross. His parents breed and raise horses for the racing circuit. So he’s in the racing business, just thoroughbreds with no engine. My parents have money from my dad’s racing career but Jackson’s family has old money that goes back generations.

He’s always had a crush on me and isn’t too shy about letting everyone, including my brother, know about it.

I’ve never been interested in Jackson, solely for the fact that he’s a player. A known ladies man, with a roster longer than Hugh Hefner’s.

Stassie pulls behind Reiss’ truck blocking him in, and we both step out into the night air. A huge barrel sits in the middle of the field and the flame coming out of it lights up the entire place.

“Lincoln Bane and Anastasia Petrelis, what a pleasant surprise,” Jackson says in a funny accent as we make our way into the crowd of people.

“Hey Jack!” Stassie says, bumping him with her hip. “Nice of you to finally use this land and throw a party.”

“It’s the least I could do,” he smiles, one that gets most girls out of their panties. “Glad you could make it, Linc.”

Instead of responding, I just smile. Jack politely walks away, leaving the two of us standing in the grass. A keg sits near the back of Jackson’s barn, and my brother stands across the field. It’s Colson, though, who my eyes can’t stop searching for.

“Looking for a certain someone?” Stassie teases, and flips her long, perfect ponytail over her shoulder. “A certain tall, broody asshole that rhymes with Tolson?”

I don’t see him.

“Just making sure he’s not here,” I growl. “He’s on my nerves. ”

She glares at me, I’m not fooling her.

“You forget I’m your best friend,” she says. “You might have to hide your feelings from Colson and Reiss, but you don’t have to hide them from me.”

“He’s infuriating,” I snap. “Part of me wants to slap him across his smug face and the other part of me wants to fuck his brains out.”

Her smile widens, “I vote option 2.”

“I can’t,” I huff. “He’s Reiss’ best friend.”

“Reiss would understand,” she argues. “Plus, if there’s anyone in this world he trusts, it’s Colson.”

She’s not wrong about trusting Colson, but having his best friend fuck his little sister?

“Reiss wouldn’t be okay with it.”

Her brows furrow, “How do you know that, Linc? Have you asked him?”

I yank her away from the crowd, trying to get her to be quiet, “Do you want everyone to hear you? Shut up.”

“I’m just saying,” she sasses. “I could think of worse guys. Reiss would be weirded out at first, but he’d get used to it.”

“Well, I don’t even know if it is a thing.”

She grins, “Ya’ll definitely have major chemistry. Plus, I love it when Colson gets all ‘touch her and die’ on the guys at the track.”

“He acts like a protective asshole because I’m Reiss’ sister and then wrecks me himself.”

She shrugs, “It’s hot if you ask me.”

“Toxic assholes are definitely your thing. So that makes perfect sense.”

She pushes my shoulder, “That is not true, and Colson isn’t toxic. An asshole, maybe, but Colson is far from toxic.”

“We’d be toxic together,” I say, doing a shitty job of trying to convince myself.

Colson pulls up in his truck, and I nearly choke when a leggy blonde steps out of the passenger seat.

Stassie doesn’t say anything but I know she can see the pain and confusion in my eyes. When he grabs her hand, the tears begin to well. I feel a hundred different emotions at once.

But mostly, I just feel sad.

“You okay?” Stassie asks, rubbing my arm gently.

I suck the tears back before they actually fall, “Oh, yeah. Yes.”

“You sure?”

I wave it off like I don’t care, “Yeah I’m used to Colson whoring around. I’m gonna go find Jackson.”

She instantly knows what I’m about to do.

“Linc, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

She’s right. It’s not a good idea to get Jackson involved, but if he wants to toy with me like it’s some kind of game, then I can too.