It was at that point that Alex and the rest stopped behind them.
“Who are these people?” Ally asked, her eyes trained solely on Alex.
Alli pulled her best friend back. “He’s mine,” she whispered in her ear. Ally arched a brow at her and Alli shook her head. Ally laughed.
“Alright then. So, introductions.”
Alli introduced them and Alex was introduced last.
“Wait,” Ally said. “As in the Alexandros Parthenopaeus?”
“Is there another?” Alex asked. “My name’s kinda off. Blame my parents.”
Ally turned to Alli. “Damn girl. Lemme guess. You’re racing him?”
Alli shrugged. “Yeah. But come on. When am I gonna get another chance like this?”
“You’re not.”
Alli hugged Ally again. “I knew you’d understand.”
“How is it that the girls know about this and we don’t?” Darius asked.
Ally answered this time. “Because you all are idiots and we follow because of Alli. Yes, I am a bitch. You’d do well to remember it and not piss me off.”
“Yeah, and guys, she’s the nicest of the three of us,” Alli said.
“Since when? You were never harsh,” Trevor commented.
“Sure I was. After Dave that is.”
All the guys except Alex glared at Dave. Dave glared at Alli. Alli shrugged.
“You’re coming with right?” Allie asked Ally.
“Hell yes! I’m not gonna miss that.”
“Then vamanos,” Alli said. “Alex?”
Once again, they set off to meet Alex’s idiots. The only difference now was that Alli now walked with Alex.
“So how come you’re into racing?”
Alex looked down at Alli before answering her question.
“My dad rides. He absolutely loves riding and he used to take me on his bike when I was little. I fell in love with the speed and the thrill too. When my parents saw how much I liked riding, they asked me if I wanted to enter a couple of competitions. So here I am now.”
“That’s cool. So who are your parents?”
Alex smiled. “Acheron and Soteria Parthenopaeus.”
She looked up at him with wide eyes. “Can your family get any more Greek?”
“Nah, don’t think so. But being Greek absolutely rules. We never not have food.”
Alli laughed. “That’s some seriously bad grammar.” Then something hit her. “Did you say Soteria Parthenopaeus? Like formerly Soteria Kafieri? Dr. Kafieri?”
Alex looked at her confused. “How is it possible that you know who my mother is?”
“It’s true? That’s so freaking cool. I know because I follow her work. I’m interested in anything related to ancient civilizations. Like Greece and Rome…and well…Atlantis. I’m really interested in her research.”
“Would you like to meet her?”
Alli stopped dead in her tracks. “Are you for real? I’d love to. You’d really do that for me?”
“It’s not that big a deal. My parents are here. When they find out about the race, they’ll probably come to lecture me. You can meet her then and probably set up a proper meeting.”
Alli sighed dreamily as they began moving forward again. “Dude, I think I love you.”
At that moment, she really didn’t hate her brothers all that much.
“So, what about you?” Alex asked. “How’d you get into racing?”
Alli smiled as she remembered. “I’ve always thought that bikes were cool. My dad has this friend whose uncle rides and he took me out on his bike once when I was fifteen. The speed was like nothing I’d ever imagined.
“For my sweet sixteen, instead of a car, I got my first bike. A black Kawasaki and it was my life. I used to street race. When my rentals found out they flipped. But I was really into it and I was already considered in the top circles as a bad ass.
“The same uncle of my dad’s friend told them to let me enter a track race. It was my first race and I was competing against Lisa Hart, Sky Denning and Tyler Richards. I remember just standing there staring at them thinking that there would be no possible way I was gonna win that race.”
“Wait,” Alex said interrupting her. “Lisa, Sky and Tyler? But your stats say you’ve never lost a race.”
She smiled up at him. “I haven’t. In my first ever track race, I beat the top three female riders of our generation. It’s why my rents allow me to race now. That was the first of my races they’d ever gone to and I guess they admired the way I handled the bike. It’s why I’ve got so many sponsors. I don’t actually pay for anything. My Busa was a gift from my first ever sponsor for never letting them down.”
“Dayam girl. And you’re a junior?”
“Actually, I’m a freshman.”
“Freshman?” he asked confused looking down at her.
“In college. I graduated early and I take online classes from Oxford.”
“Are you serious? You can’t be serious. What are you majoring in?”
“I am totally serious. What do you think I’m majoring in?”
“Uhhh…Engineering? Bio-mechanics?”
Alli laughed. “I’m not that smart. I’m majoring in psychology.”
“For real?”
“Yep.”
“Dayam girl.”
“You like those words a lot, don’t you?”
“They’re alright. Look, my idiots await our arrival.”
“The two really hot guys looking pissed at you?”
“I don’t know about the ‘really hot’ part but the pissed part is about right. The blond is Bob and the other is Dimitri.”
Alli giggled. “Seriously? Bob? You have a seriously hot Greek name like Alexandros, there’s Dimitri and then…Bob? What were his parents thinking?”
Alex laughed. “They had conflicting issues on his name. His dad wanted to call him Bob-don’t ask me why and his mom wanted to call him Men-,” he cut off receiving a sharp glare from Bob.
“Wanted to call him what?” Alli asked impatiently.
“Look at Bob. He can read lips and I’m not at liberty to discuss that name with anyone. He might rearrange my face. And honestly, I like my face.”
Alli reached up and patted his cheek. “Honestly? I like your face too.”
Alex looked down into Alli’s eyes and wanted to pull her up against him and kiss her senseless. Wanted the privilege of touching all that smooth skin, feeling it beneath his caressing and searching hands.
“Alli…”
“Alex!”
“Fuck it,” he snarled under his breath and turned to stare at his god brother, Dimitri, who had called him. “What?!”
“Where have you been?”
“Around,” Alex answered. He was about to introduce Alli to them but when he looked for her she was no where to be found.
“Looking for the babe?” Dimitri asked.
“Her name is Alli but yeah, I am.”
“She’s at your bike.”
Alex turned to look at his bike and sure enough Alli was there bending over to see his instrument panel. It’s a known fact that guys think a girl who knows about cars and bikes is hot and frankly, Alli was a damn pro as she assessed his Busa. The curve of her ass had him captivated.
Then Dimitri’s hand connected with the back of his head. Hard.
“What the hell was that for?” Alex asked rubbing the spot where he was hit.
“Close your mouth. You’re drooling.”
Alex’s jaw snapped shut as Dimitri caught sight of the rest of the group.
“What the fuck is this?” he asked.
Alex introduced everyone and Alli hadn’t even noticed that the others had arrived. She was in ‘la-la’ land. Alex had the newest Gixxer model and she was just itching to try it out.
“Alli?” Alex said, his hand coming down on her leathered shoulder.
Alli felt his touch burn through the fabric and looked up from her squatting position. Now he looked like a freaking giant.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
Alex helped her stand as he answered. “Nothing other than the fact that I’ve been calling your name for the past two minutes and you didn’t respond.”
“Oh. Sorry. It’s just this is a really awesome machine and I was wondering…” she trailed off looking at him hopefully.
How could he resist that look?
He smiled. “Sure.”
Acting like she normally would if she was insanely happy, she threw her arms around him. “Thank you!”
He stiffened. Since he’d met her, he’d been walking around with a damn boner and now her body was pressed against him. The chick didn’t even know she was torturing him.
Feeling his unmoving body against hers, Alli drew back embarrassed. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he managed. Idiot. I’m such an idiot. She willingly threw herself into my arms. Such a fucking idiot.
“So you’re racing Alex?” Dimitri asked her.
“Dimitri right?” He nodded. “Yeah, I figured why the hell not?”
“You’re gonna get your ass creamed.”
Before she could respond, Allie did. “Wanna bet?”
Dimitri looked at her and smirked. “How much you got on you babe?”
Allie pulled out her wallet. “About a hundred bucks.”
Dimitri’s smirk became more pronounced. “Sweet, I’ll be a hundred bucks richer.”
“Seriously? What makes you so sure?”
Dimitri looked at her like she was crazy. “Do you not know who he is?”
Allie shrugged. “Alex Parthenopaeus, top U20 men, never lost a race, races Kawasaki, youngest male rider of the generation.”
“What are you? A fucking stalker?” Dimitri asked his eyes wide.
Allie didn’t respond to that. “Ever hear of Alli Marshall?” she asked.
“Who hasn’t? She’s the youngest rider of our entire generation. She beat the top three riders in her circuit in her first race. She’s currently number one of the women’s league and has never lost a race.”
Alli stepped closer to Alex for some sort of protection. She knew what was coming. Alex put his hand on her waist just for support and that gesture touched her.
It was Allie’s turn to smirk. She pointed to her best friend. “That’s her,” she whispered.
Dimitri’s face fell. “You’re so fucking kidding me.”
Alli smiled hesitantly. “No, she’s right.”
Dimitri looked at his god-brother. “Did you know?”
“Not until after I challenged her. But I figured, hell, we’ll never get another chance to do this. So why not?”
Dimitri went off muttering under his breath.
“This is going to be interesting isn’t it?” Bob asked.
“That’s what we said,” Alli told him.
She looked at her best friends and was totally surprised by what she found. Allie was staring at Dimitri and Ally was gawking at Bob. Here she thought it’d be the other way around. Maybe Ally hadn’t changed so much after all.
Bob was around six five and yes, he was hot. He was muscular and had blond hair and blue eyes. He had sleeves- which for those of you who don’t know, means that both his arms were covered with tats- and his ears, lip and eyebrow were pierced. He wore black jeans, a black muscle shirt-his jacket was slung over his bike and black Doc Martens. Total badass.
Dimitri was subtler. He was blond too, ’cept a darker, rustier blond. Still sexy. He had green eyes and was as toned as Bob and Alex. He wore a black Cradle of Filth T-shirt, black cargo pants and his riding boots. A custom made Brazilian stitched leather jacket covered his body but damn…there was no mistaking the definition.
“Amazing no?”
Alli turned to answer him but when she caught sight of him, her mouth dried out. She couldn’t have spoken the next words if her life depended on it. He’d removed his jacket. Now that she could see his definition…baby.
She cleared her throat. “Huh?”
Stupid Alli. Stupid.
“How they just seem drawn to each other,” Alex explained.
Alli glanced over her shoulder. Well, hell. Dimitri was almost to Allie’s side and Ally was already standing at Bob’s.
“Well, well, well,” she said. “I guess we all found company today huh?”
Alex smirked. “I guess so. You ready?”
“For…?”
Alex side stepped to show his Gixxer.
“Riiight.”
She went over and grabbed her helmet from the handlebars of her bike. Giving him a smirk, she handed Alex her helmet so she could mount the bike.
Alex was spellbound as he watched her. As she pulled on her helmet, all he could do was admire her.
“Hey, do me a favour? Be careful ’kay?” he requested.
She shot him a look. “I’ll bring your bike back in one piece. I’m a pro baby, I’ll be fine.”
“I was talking about you. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
Well damn…
“Alex…”
“Alli?”
She chickened out. She wanted to kiss him. Really wanted to kiss him but maybe he didn’t want the same thing she did. She didn’t want to be humiliated like that.
She quelled her desire.
“Thanks so much. I’ll be back soon.”
Alex nodded as she started his bike.
Alli groaned at the sound of the engine as she revved. She did a one eighty before she left.
Alex couldn’t help it. He was absolutely amazed at the way she handled the bike. He turned to look at the three guys who’d accompanied her. By their expressions, he could tell that they were in awe of her too.
“So, how long have you all known Alli?” he asked.
Trevor shrugged. “We went to elementary school together…so a while.”
Darius looked at Dave who shrugged. “We’re a year older than her and we all went to the same school but we never really spoke ‘til she was like twelve…so what? Five? Six years?”
Alex nodded. Asking was such a waste of time. Guys never knew anything. His powers didn’t inhibit him from checking in on their thoughts and their lives. What he saw had him boiling with rage.
But he had to keep it locked in. He couldn’t let his temper get away from him. Last time he threw a tantrum. It resulted in some serious unexplained world phenomena. Plus a lecture from an eleven thousand plus year old Atlantean god who had a complex about choices and free will.
So he pretended to be oblivious and asked the question he knew they knew was coming.
“Any of you dated her?”
Trevor shook his head and Darius looked at Dave. Alex did too.
Dave shrugged. “Yeah, so? I dated her. Big whoop. It didn’t last long and well we drifted apart. What else is there?”
“She any good?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. Can’t remember. It was a while back.”
Alex crossed his arms over his chest. “I guess I’ll have to find out for myself then.”
He enjoyed the looks on their faces as they processed that. They all knew Alex had a shot.
The kicker was: so did he.
Alli couldn’t believe the speed, the power of the machine. She felt as though she was cheating on her baby but this was the ultimate ride ever.
She didn’t want to cut her ride short but she knew she needed to return to the show, to her friends, her parents and…Alex.
Alex.
Wow.
There was so much she could say about him in so little time of knowing him. It was so refreshing to meet someone like him. Someone she could talk to so easily, someone who took the time to listen to her and empathize with her. Someone she could relate to and who could relate to her.
After she turned and began her return trip, she noticed four sleek black Yamahas closing in on her from behind her.
Shit.
Her parents were protective-okay, what parents aren’t?-and they didn’t like her riding alone. Especially when she was in an unfamiliar setting. They were not gonna like this one bit.
But she had Alex’s Gixxer and there was a clear stretch of road in front of her. She gunned it, full throttle. She whooped as her speed increased drastically and she shot like a bullet down the empty street.
She checked her wing mirrors and saw the four bikes trailing her falling behind. She needed to thank Alex.
Due to her speed, she almost missed the turn off into the show. Swerving hard to the left, she entered and dropped her speed even more. She glanced behind her and saw the Yamahas increasing in speed again.
Time to find the guys.
The thing was she had no idea where they were. She kinda retraced her steps from before and still had no luck.
Instead, what led her to them was the throng of people crowded under a sponsor tent. She spotted Alex’s red-streaked hair and headed in that direction.
Due to the mass of people, she had to rev the engine to get through. As she passed, she noticed that most of the crowd was mainly girls. Three guess on whom they came to see.
She still wore her helmet and her visor was tinted so no one knew who she was. But the way she was dressed earned a few glares from some girls. Ah well. C’est la vie.
When they had parted enough, she noticed that Alex was surrounded by girls, taking pictures and signing autographs.
He wore a breathtaking smile and looked totally at ease. How she envied him. Even for photo shoots to promote whatever her sponsors needed her to promote, she only did what the photographer told her to. She wasn’t comfortable in front of the camera. It was why her visor was tinted and why she rarely made public appearances.
She parked next to her bike and dismounted. After she removed her helmet and placed it on her seat, she turned to face the crowd. It didn’t interest her.
So she turned to Alex. He gave her a crooked smile and said something to his fans to get away. To get to her.
He stopped in front of her and looked down on her slight frame, on her face which was alight with humour.
“You wanna tell me where these people came from?” she asked.
“Nuh uh. Don’t blame me. I hate this publicity shit. No privacy.” He shook his head in disgust. “Anyway, right. So, don’t blame me. Blame that asshole of a god-brother and his goddamned mouth.”
She looked around and met Dimitri’s eyes. Alli smiled at him and ran her index finer across her throat in the cut throat way then pointed at him. He shrugged and put his arm around Allie. Then kissed her.
She flipped him off.
Damn. She couldn’t hurt him if he and Allie were seriously into each other.
She pouted at Alex.
“I can’t hurt him now. Allie likes him. That sucks.”
He chuckled. “You’re cute when you pout.”
“Are you trying to psych me out?” Alli asked teasingly.
“Depends…Is it working?”
“Not a chance.”
“Damn.”
She laughed. “You’re still gonna lose.”
He arched a brow at that. “Oh really?”
“Really. You’re toast hon.”
“We’ll see about that.”
During their play, they’d walked closer to each other. Alli now had to tilt her head back to look up at Alex.
His presence called out to her. She wanted him so badly. What she didn’t know was that her lust mirrored his own.
Alex couldn’t think with her so close to him. All he wanted to do was taste those parted lips. And when her tongue darted out to moisten them, he was undone.
He reached out for her and caught her waist in his left hand bringing her flush to his body. Her right hand trailed up his body and went around his neck as his head lowered to hers.
He was so close she could feel his breath on her face and lips, coming closer still.
Her breathing spiked and she could already feel his kiss. She reveled in the sensation of having his hands on her body.
Her in his arms felt so good. And he was going to kiss her. He was finally going to taste the lips that had been haunting him.
He was so close. Just a little more. Just a little…
And a camera went of.
Even with her eyes closed, Alli saw the flash. She opened her eyes and turned a hostile glare on the crowd.
“Leave,” she all but growled.
As the crowd dispersed, Alli sighed heavily. The moment had been ruined. He would never kiss her now.
Feeling dejected, she leaned her head on the only spot available: Alex’s chest.
His arms tightened around her in a hug.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“For what?” he asked thoroughly confused.
“For making all those people think we’re a couple.”
“You mean we’re not?” he asked teasingly.
She tilted her head up at him and smiled. “There’s two hours of your life you’ll never get back.”
“It’s okay. What’d you say we get something to eat before the race?”
“Sure.”
She sighed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Allie is never gonna let me live this down.”
He chucked and kissed her forehead.
“We always have later,” he said and unwillingly unwrapped his arms from around her. But to his surprise and delight, she found his hand with hers and their fingers laced together.