All This Time

Chapter 14

I'm going to fucking kill him. Yes, I said fuck, or at least thought it. I normally have to be really mad to drop, or even think F-bombs, and right now, I was absolutely livid.

For the second straight week, we were back in Daytona. This time for the road course, and for the second straight week, Erik had pissed me off.

Ryan would have won the race if it wasn't for Erik.

No, Erik didn't wreck him, but he damn sure made good on his threats and he had made himself a moving roadblock.

Ryan had started the race in fourth, and by lap ten he was leading. He won both stages and looked as if he was going to win the race, until the second to last lap. Ryan had a nearly two second lead on the second place car of Christopher Bell. All he had to do was get through lap traffic and he would be home free, on his way to victory lane. Unfortunately, one of those cars he was trying to lap was Erik.

Ryan was clearly faster, but Erik did everything he could to take Ryan's lane and keep throw blocks. I get that he didn't want to go a lap down, but damn, it was the end of the race.

Ryan was absolutely going off on the radio, and Josh and Todd were doing everything they could to keep him calm. My ears were still burning from the profanity laced tirade coming from my headset scanner.

Ryan: If the son of a bitch doesn't get out of my fucking way, I'm gonna turn his fucking ass. I've put up with his fucking shit for long enough. I've had enough. He's about to get fucking sent.

Josh: Don't you dare turn him. I know you're frustrated, but NASCAR is watching. They will park you if they see fit. They went easy on y'all.

Todd: Ryan, it's not worth it man. You have to think of the bigger picture.

While all of this was going on, Christopher Bell was closing in because Erik had slowed Ryan down so much. Halfway through the last lap, Bell was able to get by Ryan. Erik had no problem letting Bell go by, and continued to hold Ryan up, giving Bell the win.

I was furious. So mad I couldn't see or even think straight. I marched myself to Erik's pit box and waited for him. I confronted him as soon as he got out of the car.

"That was low Erik. Low and downright dirty." I spat out, before he even had time to take his helmet off.

He removed the helmet, and ran his hands through his sweat-dampened hair before putting on a hat. He glared at me. "I told you I wasn't going to cut him any slack. I'm actually surprised he didn't turn me. I was kind of hoping he would, but I guess he just doesn't have the balls."

I don't actually remember slapping him, but when his glare was replaced by a self satisfied smirk, the next thing I knew, my palm is stinging and Erik has his hand pressed to his cheek.

"You're an ass." I yelled at him, loud enough to get the attention of one of his crew members, who quickly pulled me away.

"Bitch." He muttered under his breath, and I began to struggle against the crew member who was holding me back. I wanted so bad to hit him again, but then Ryan appeared out of nowhere and dragged me away.

"What the hell are you doing Laynie?" He demanded, and I could tell immediately that he was pissed.

"He fucking cost you a win." I replied angrily.

"You need to step back and stop interfering. Are you trying to get your hard card pulled?"

"They wouldn't do that." I scoffed.

"Wanna bet? It doesn't matter who your father is or who you work for.  I've seen team members who have their hard cards pulled for a lot less than this. Lucky for you I didn't notice any media lurking around. Hopefully no one witnessed it. Now, I have to go to the media center, I'm already late. Go back to the bus and wait for me. Don't talk to anyone. We're leaving as soon as I'm done."

Tears burned in my eyes as I made my way back to the bus. In the twenty plus years that I've known him, Ryan had never yelled at me. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have confronted Erik. As we had all expected, talk of the fight had dwindled down after a couple of days as the media had more interesting things to report. It would probably all get stirred up again after Erik's actions on track, and I was actually surprised that no reporters were lurking around Erik's pit stall. I had to remind myself how the media's mouths watered over just the thought of drivers feuding. Ryan and I had our careers to think about. NASCAR was sponsor driven, and Ryan's sponsors loved him for his clean image, laid back demeanor and just for being an all around good guy. None of that included a girlfriend causing trouble, first by being the root cause of a fist fight and second by slapping her ex-boyfriend.

I entered the bus and packed mine and Ryan's bags to get ready to leave, then took a quick shower and played with Sturgill to kill a little more time until Ryan returned. I just hope I didn't fuck anything up between Ryan and me, and further fuel the rivalry between Ryan and Erik.

I had just finished getting Sturgill's leash on him when Ryan got back to the bus and asked if I was ready to go.

Not much was said, other than me saying yes. We grabbed our bags and Sturgill, locking up the bus behind us.

Yep. He was mad.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." Ryan said softly as we had just gotten settled on the plane and we're about to take off.

Relief flooded through me. "No, I'm sorry. You're right. I never should have interfered. I was angry and I reacted. I need to learn to control these little impulses."

"I do appreciate that you have my back, but you've got to know it's all going to eventually blow over. It's only been a week." He said, wrapping his arm around me and pulling me closer.

I laid my head on his shoulder, grateful that he was no longer mad. "I know. Again, I'm sorry. My emotions just got the best of me."

"I love you." He said, placing a sweet kiss on my forehead."

"I love you too." I smiled up at him, then yawned. The stress and adrenaline leaving my body had me feeling drained.

I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep until Ryan was waking me up to let me know we had landed in Concord. I slept the whole flight home. Now, I felt invigorated. That probably wasn't a good thing because now I would be up all night and I knew Ryan had to be exhausted after running a long race, especially after coming so close to a win and having to settle for second.

After arriving back at Ryan's house, I took Sturgill out while Ryan hopped in the shower. I had not been back home all week, and was running out of clean clothes so I slipped on one of Ryan's T-shirt's that came about mid thigh on me. I was just finishing up my nightly skin care routine when he wrapped his arms around me from behind.

"Mmmm. You smell good." He then began nuzzling my neck, his stubble grazing my skin sent shockwaves of desire up and down my spine. My nerves endings were tingling. I turned around and smashed my lips to his, my knees growing weaker by the second. His hands cupped under my bottom and he lifted me to sit on the edge of the bathroom counter, never breaking the kiss. My legs instinctively wrapped around his waist keeping him close to me, and I couldn't help the moan that escaped my lips when I felt his arousal.

"As hot as you look in my shirt, it's got to go." He grinned at me.

I couldn't agree more.