That afternoon when Reid dropped me off at my house, I’d had a moment of clarity. I didn’t want him to leave the next day and the only thing I could do to make it better was to go with him. My life in Halstead wasn’t going anywhere and I could afford to take a few weeks off work. Getting to be with him and seeing what his job was like day to day was worth it. He’d been making a lot of promises about our future and I wanted him to know that I was as committed to him as he was to me.
Seeing my name in black ink on his body solidified what I was feeling. On the left side and right below his heart to boot. It was the sexiest tattoo I’d ever seen, and made me want to shout the surprise I had for him on the spot. But I didn’t. We made love like it was the last time we were going to see each other and it made me taking out my suitcase and telling him I was going with him that much sweeter.
“I can’t wait to experience this with you,” I told him when we stopped kissing. We continued our night as planned, but instead of him getting up the next morning to tell me goodbye, we loaded up his truck with my luggage next to his and set out for Texas. Together.
The press conference and photo ops that he had to do for work were just as much fun as I’d thought they’d be. Exhausting yes, but seeing Reid in the spotlight was amazing. He’d earned his success and the way he humbly carried himself when he met fans and the press made me love him that much more.
I’d made good on my time, taking my camera with me and snapping pictures of him at work whenever I got the chance. He showed me what his life had been like over the past few years, including a tour of his practice track and the apartment he’d called home. The place we’d call home together when we came back here for his training that winter.
By the time the press tour had wrapped up and we were headed back to Halstead, both of us were eager to get the ball rolling on our new house and setting up the businesses that Reid had decided he wanted to own. On top of that, he was flying his parents in for their surprise. It had been so hard to keep the secret of their new house when we visited them in Texas.
When we picked them up at the airport and drove them out to the place they once called home, the smile on Reid’s face was priceless, only matched by their tears of joy and gratitude when we pulled up in front of the newly built house.
“They loved it,” I’d told him when we left them for their first night in their new home. Thanks to internet shopping and Georgia and Brett’s help, we’d had the entire thing furnished and decorated by the time we’d arrived back in Halstead.
“They did, didn’t they?” He smiled. If the whirlwind of the last few weeks were any indication of what my life was going to be like, I was going to be a happy girl. That night when we crawled into bed together back at my house in our hometown, I knew that choosing to be with him was the best decision I’d ever made.
Reid’s plans to open an official racetrack in Halstead were underway, along with his plans to open a shop in conjunction with the track. Vendors were already canceling their deals with Gregurich Motor Sports to go into business with Reid. Ricochet Racing would be opening soon and who better to be in business with than a professional rider.
Word on the street was that Beau was changing careers. Reid and his team might not have been able to formally charge him for tampering with the bike, but they’d made damn sure to put him on a blacklist with anyone involved with racing in any aspect. I’m sure the countless phone calls that Brett had been making while he was stuck indoors recovering had a lot to do with it. His vendetta was even more justified than Reid’s. Beau Gregurich had pissed off the wrong people this time. I had a feeling that our conflict with Beau was far from over, but at least in that moment I was content with knowing that he was on his way out.