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Ben was lying face down on the couch when I returned from a riding session with Sam. I’m not sure if he was sleeping or even heard me when I came in, so I asked, “Are you alive?”
He grunted when he barely picked up his head to look at me. “I think so, but I’m not sure.” He laid the side of his face on the couch so he was facing me.
I came further into the room and stood next to him to get a better look. “Are you sick?” I reached down to feel his forehead. “Ben, you are burning up. What’s going on?”
He slowly pulled himself into a sitting position. “Just haven’t felt good today.”
“Does your body ache? Head ache?”
“Yes, and yes.” He rested his elbows on his knees and asked, “How was riding?”
I smiled, but shook my head. “It was fine, but Ben, what can I do for you? Did you take something? Can I get you something?”
He forced himself to stand. “I think I’m gonna head upstairs. I came in an hour ago, but just didn’t make it very far.”
“Do you need help?”
“Nah, I can make it. Just going to bed.”
“Yes, please do. I’ll be up in a minute with some cold medicine.”
He slowly made it up the first few steps and said, “Thanks, mommy.”
I headed straight for the medicine cabinet. I grabbed the Nyquil, and then a large glass of water. Ben was already lying diagonally across his bed when I entered the room. “Come on, sit up. Take this, and drink all the water.”
He gradually moved to a sitting position, and then did as I asked while I closed the curtains for him. When the glass was empty, I took it to the bathroom to fill it up again, and set it on the nightstand.
“Thanks, Nova. I appreciate it.”
“No problem. Is there anything else you need? Will you be able to get some sleep?”
He mumbled something into the pillow but didn’t move, so I quietly left, shutting the door behind me.
As I descended the stairs, my phone rang. I smiled instantly because I knew it was Austin. “Hey, you.”
“Hey, what’s new, beautiful?”
“Oh, nothing much, really. Apparently, my horse is faster than Sami’s, and she thinks I want to compete with him.”
He chuckled and asked, “And you don’t?”
“Nope, not at all.”
“She thinks you can do it.”
“But it’s not something I’m interested in. Honestly. Could you kindly make her aware of that if you have a chance? Get it out of her stubborn head.”
“Runs in the family.”
“I know it. What the hell did I get myself into?”
He laughed again as I started pulling items out of the refrigerator. Heath and Clara were gone for the day, so I had volunteered to make dinner that night.
“So, are you ready to finally return to California next week?” I asked. I was practically counting down the hours until I could see him again.
“Definitely. Fontana is waiting for my return.”
“So am I. Four and a half more days.”
“It’ll be good to see California again. I’m looking forward to it. But I’m looking forward to seeing you more.”
There were only three more races left in the season, and then he could return home for the winter. I was excited to have him home again, and I was anticipating a wonderful off-season with him.
We had a huge family dinner the day he arrived in Bakersfield. It was nice, and everyone was excited to have him back for a few days. When the party eventually broke up for the night, Austin led me to his room and locked the door behind him. I loved the way he looked at me before he took me into his arms and kissed me. It was so easy to love being loved by him, and I think I fell in love with him even more that night if that was even possible. I felt like we were back to our carefree days, where everything seemed right and we just went along with it without any worries.
That week was amazing, and I saw it as a preview for the off-season. I was so happy Austin and I had our relationship back on track, and he was also doing well again on the racetrack. He finished second at Fontana, and I actually had a decent time watching the race.
I rode home with him that evening, except we didn’t exactly make it home. Austin’s spontaneous personality took us to Santa Monica for the night, and we stayed in a hotel right on the beach. In fact, we spent a second night there because it was so enjoyable, and when we returned to Harmony Acres, I felt like a new person. I enjoyed having him for two more days at the ranch before he took a flight to Kentucky where his team’s next race was.
I already missed him the night he left, and I’ll admit I really didn’t like being alone in bed. A lot of thoughts went through my head that night, particularly ones that left me feeling lonely. I had a great job and I was truly happy, but all I really wanted was to be with Austin.
I needed more to keep me occupied until racing season was over, so I started running almost every day. I began with just a mile or so for the first week, and then upped it to two miles. I hated it, but I needed to kill time in the evenings, and to clear my head. It felt good to come home exhausted, shower and change, eat a light dinner, and then be in bed by nine o’clock. Austin always called at nine, and that was the completion to my day.
There was one last race he was to compete in that season, and I joined Austin in Phoenix. Everything was going great that weekend until he almost got into a fight with Jeremy Marshall two hours before start time—all because that dickface decided to have flowers delivered to me in the lounge. Austin was pissed enough with just that, but when he saw a hotel key and room number with the card, he completely lost his shit.
Thankfully, Drake calmed Austin down before he left the room to find Jeremy. I was able to take over from there, and reminded Austin it would only make Jeremy happy to see him lose his cool over something so childish.
“Childish?” Austin scoffed, but I understood exactly what he meant. Jeremy’s move had been clever because it hit Austin precisely the way he wanted it to.
I wrapped my arms around Austin, and held him tight. “I love you. So much.” I also kissed him, which quickly turned into something more passionate than I’d intended. Drake even left the room.
“Okay, none of that.” Austin playfully shoved me away. “Woman, I can’t go from feeling murderous to wanting to fuck the hell out of you right now, and still be in my right mind on the track.”
I was amused with his attempt at humor, but I couldn’t argue with him because I was extremely worried about his race, too.
When Austin headed for his car, I had to talk to Drake. I was worried something was going to happen on the track. He tried to assure me that Jeremy Marshall was just an immature little prick trying to get into Austin’s head, but he wasn’t stupid enough to let it ruin his career.
I wasn’t so sure.
Besides a few laps, Austin was hardly around Jeremy’s car during the race. Jeremy shot out of the pack early on to take up a spot in the top five, but Austin remained in the middle for the first half of the competition. He made it into the top five for the final laps, and ended up putting Jeremy into an eighth-place finish.
Austin finished fourth that day, and even though I was proud of him, I was even more relieved that the regular season was over for him. After a week of tying up loose ends in North Carolina, Austin was allowed to head back to California.
I was so thankful to have him home in one piece.