Page 24 of Theo (Stone Brothers #6)

TWENTY-ONE

THEO

"G lad you decided to come," Crusoe said. He drummed his steering wheel as he drove. "It's their first party in months, so it should be a banger."

I'd chased two aspirin with a shot of tequila, and somehow, the combo had helped numb the pain in my ribs.

I was feeling much better than usual, at least physically.

Some of my sponsors had voiced concern about the video at first but then they realized that the publicity, even disastrous publicity, was a good thing.

I hadn't heard anything since. Not even a "Hey, how are you doin'?

" Typical corporations and their love for profits and disregard for all else.

The whole damn thing, sponsorships and all, was starting to get old.

I was always chasing the next sponsor, and when things were good, they came out of the woodwork and disappeared just as fast, like fickle fucking friends, as soon as things weren't going well.

"How you feeling about the next race? You think you're going to make it? It's only two weeks away."

I looked over at Crusoe. "I know the race schedule," I said curtly.

"Oops, sore subject. It's not a big deal if you miss it, is it?"

"Yep. I'll miss out on the points, and that final championship will be out of my grasp." I had a real chance to take top downhill rider this year, but the crash fucked things up. "I think I'll be out riding in a few days. Not sure if I can catch up on my training or not. If not, I think I'm done."

Crusoe's face snapped my direction. "What do you mean done? You mean like end of your racing career?"

"Getting tired of injuries and being a fucking whore to the sponsors. Getting tired of all of it. I'm always training. Think it's time to just ride for fun."

"Man, never thought I'd hear you say that." He turned down the road that led to Stella's beach cottage. Cars were already lined up for the party. "Does this have to do with the fall? I mean it was fucking gnarly. I'm not sure I'd be hyped to get back on a bike after that crash."

"Nah, that's not it. Just tired of the fucking politics of the whole thing.

Takes the fun out of riding." He'd hit a sore spot again.

I'd been replaying the crash over and over in my head, something that was easy considering how many times I'd seen the video.

I'd crashed badly plenty of times, but there was something about this one that had lodged in my brain.

I'd been really fucking close to ending my career for good, possibly even ending myself for good.

"Hey, let's drop this subject. It's not putting me in the party spirit. "

"Yeah, all right. Good plan." Crusoe found a parking spot, and we climbed out.

Music was already vibrating the small beach cottage, and people were flowing out onto the patio and adjacent sand with their drinks.

It was all the same people. Some I liked and some I'd be just as happy never seeing again.

Stella's parties were always a hit. Probably because everyone loved her.

She'd always had that thing that made her stand out in any crowd, and at the same time, she was humble about it.

She wasn't vain or conceited or full of herself. She was just Stella Stone.

Cormac and a few of his buddies were skateboarding on the side of the cottage. A ramp had been set up on the cement path that led from the front of the cottage to the back.

"Woohoo, there he is," Anna said in a sing-song voice.

She strolled toward me on long, tanned legs.

Her best friend, Chloe, followed close at her heels.

Anna threw her arms around my neck and kissed me.

She leaned back and fluttered her thick lashes at me.

"How are you feeling, hon? That was one beastly crash. "

"Heard you broke your ribs," Chloe added in. She always stood in Anna's shadow, but Chloe was the more likable and, by far, the prettier of the two. She just didn't have that unstoppable confidence that Anna had.

Crusoe tried to sneak by, but Anna's arm shot out, and she grabbed him.

"Not so fast, Mr. Sneaky. You could have at least said goodbye last weekend.

" Anna looked at me. "He pulled his duck-out-before-this-gets-awkward routine.

You know I'm just up for a good fuck, and Crusoe Stone has all the qualifications. "

"Don't need to hear anything about my cousin and his bedtime antics," I said. "Now if you ladies will excuse me, I need a fucking drink."

Crusoe caught up to me. "I've got to stop getting so shitfaced. I somehow always end up in Anna's bed and then I live with the regret of it for weeks cuz she throws it back in my face every time she sees me. Still, she's really great in the sack."

I looked at him. "Am I seriously still stuck in this hell? Thought we left that topic behind."

"Yeah, and you're still grouchy, so I'm off to find Mac." Crusoe headed toward the skaters.

Stella was in the kitchen with Jules. They were mixing up something lime green in the blender. Jules saw me. The two cousins exchanged looks that were hard to interpret, but something was definitely up.

"What?" I asked.

Stella plastered on one of her shiny smiles and jammed a green drink into my hand. "Here, chug this and know that I had nothing to do with it." Stella hurried out of the kitchen.

"Traitor," Jules called to her as she disappeared into the party crowd.

I took a swig of the green drink and handed it right over to Jules.

"What the fuck is this? I'll stick with good old-fashioned beer.

" I dug out a bottle from one of the two ice-filled tubs and opened it.

I drank some to wash away the weird taste left behind by Stella's concoction.

Jules was avoiding eye contact. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"Jules, what's going on?"

She huffed. "Man, LaLa is going to get an earful from me." She came around to the same side of the counter I was standing on. "So, I did a thing. In my defense, I was just being nice, and I didn't know she'd take me up on it."

"Care to get to the point?" I asked and took a big swig of beer.

"I invited Lacey to the party." There it was again. Her fast blurt to make the actual words mean less. And again, her trick didn't work.

I lowered the bottle and looked at her. "Lacey is here?"

"Not yet but she texted that she planned to stop by."

"Since when are you and Lacey texting buddies?"

"Hey, she reached out to me first. She invited me to have tea with her at the coffee shop.

I'm not flattering myself. It wasn't as if she was dying to see me.

She wanted to dig up stuff about her favorite Trayton subject.

" She pinched my cheek and then dropped her hand quickly.

"Sorry, guess you're not in the mood for teasing. How are the ribs?"

"Nice topic switch. Knew I should have stayed home."

Jules reached over and put her hand on my arm. "I think she just wants to see you, to talk and explain everything. I know why she had to get married, and it's a wild story."

"Not interested." I pushed off the counter, grabbed another beer and headed out.

"Don't be mad," she called to me.

I stopped and looked back at her. "Never. That'd be like being mad at the world's cutest kitten. Just, from now on, Jules, stay out of my business."

"That sounded mad," she called to me.

I didn't get two feet out the door before Crusoe grabbed me. "Bro, you'll never guess who just showed up."

"Lacey," I said plainly.

"Shit. You knew? Damn, I wanted to be the one to break the news to you. Have you seen her already?"

I looked past some people. All their faces were turned my direction, and as my gaze pierced the clearing between them, I saw her. She was standing in the glow of the fire looking fucking breathtaking. Her white sundress flowed around her long legs, and her dark hair was swept up off her neck.

I stood there, frozen like an idiot, and she turned my direction.

Our gazes locked, like they used to in a classroom or from opposite ends of the school hallway.

She even smiled sweetly like she used to do in school to remind me why I'd even bothered to show up to fucking high school.

I couldn't work up a smile up in return.

She'd destroyed me once too often. We'd walked out of that wedding together, and I thought, shit, Lacey is back in my life.

It was something I never thought would happen, and there she was sitting in my car and then laying in my arms. Then, just like that she ripped me in two again and walked back to the SUV, leaving me feeling as if I'd just imagined the whole damn thing.

I turned and headed toward the skaters. My brother took a big jump as I turned the corner.

He spotted me and temporarily lost his focus.

He landed hard on his ass as the board shot out from under him on the landing.

A good round of laughter followed … from everyone but Cormac.

"Fuck, Theo, why'd you come skulking around that corner looking like a fucking zombie? You broke my concentration."

Having my concentration broken was something I knew too well.

It happened to me far too often on the trails.

Dad had told me more than once that my lack of focus, something that made me a shitty student, was the only reason I hadn't won more races.

I knew he was right, but there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.

With Lacey back in town, showing up out of the blue, looking like a fucking goddess, my focus was going to take a big hit.

Cormac retrieved his board and walked over to me. "What's wrong? You look like you just dropped your ice cream."

"Nothing's wrong. I'm good. And that fall was nice. How's the ass feeling?"

Cormac winced and reached back to rub it. "Think I've still got a tailbone, no thanks to you."

A hand slapped my shoulder, and I spun around. Jules was shaking her head. "Seriously? You're not going to even talk to her?"