Overwhelmed

Ch. 24

A sense of fatigue washed over me, as I pulled the fleece blanket around my shoulders.

Alec went back to his cabin and I went back to mine.

The room was dark and silent, and my wet hair was cold against my neck. The mattress was soft compared to the hard bus seats I laid on earlier.

After laying for a few minutes in silence, I decided that maybe I should get some sleep, but something stopped me.

Almost every night since the party Alec has been here with me, at least when I fell asleep. I don't know if it was for me, or for him, but I loved it. He'll be here.

I knew I was right when I heard some shuffling, and felt the bed dip beside me, and knew who it was.

I rolled over, his arm laid loosely on my waist. His face was so close, and I could feel his minty breath fan over my lips. His hair was wet as I ran my hand through it, letting the curls wrap around my fingers.

"Is this later enough?" He whispered, pulling me closer to him.

"Yeah. Perfect." I whispered back.

I laid on my side, looking at Alec's face. He did the same, but his eyes were on mine. His hand was under the fabric of my shirt, but just sitting lightly on my hip. I could tell he was just as tired as I was.

He rolled over so that he was on his back, and I snuggled close to him, laying my head on his chest. I listened to the soft thump of his heartbeat until we fell asleep, the darkness embracing us.

"Tonight should be fun," Jay said, slapping the back of Damien's head.

"Yeah, I hear Torez just got a new bike, he thinks it's all that," I answered.

Tonight's the big night, we're racing Torez at the spot.

"I just fixed my bike, so no more fooling around. We gotta win this, then we're out. I'm not putting baby back in the shop." He said, referring to his pet name for his motorcycle.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be waiting at the finish line, to crown you guys the winner. Just letting you know, Torez likes to win just as much as we do, so be careful." Damien said, patting Jay's shoulder like guys do.

"I got it." He said, watching Damien leave.

We finished up our afternoon snack, cleaning up the kitchen before we left. The wind bit at my face bitterly, sending a chill down my spine.

We approached the starting line on the old gravel road, coming to a slow stop.

"You ready for this, Ace?" Jay asked me, glancing at me over his shoulder.

"Always, JJ," I said, putting on the elbow pads he had me wear.

We heard him before we saw him, listening to the roar of his motorcycle in the distance. He had to have jacked up the muffler some how.

"Are you ready Jay and Torez?" Mali asked, standing in front of the starting line.

"You know, I have a first name baby," Torez yelled, trying to be louder than his motorcycle.

"Yeah? Is it tool?" I asked, glaring at him. His jaw locked as he glared back at me.

She pulled a handkerchief out of her back pocket, waving it in the air a few times. As both Jay and Torez nodded, Mali brought the handkerchief down.

Screams and cheers erupted from behind us as we spin out and drove ahead. Torez was behind us a good bit, but gaining quickly. We were rounding a curve, almost on the last stretch.