chapter 3

The bar was loud and noisy. After Isabella's scene, I'd lost interest.

The hottie next to me could tell I wasn't into it anymore. She took my hand. "Jamie, can I call you that? Do you want to go for a ride?"

I raised an eyebrow. Before I could react, she pulled me outside.

A Harley was parked in front of the bar. It was this stunning black and gold that you couldn't look away from.

This bike had to be worth almost a hundred grand!

"Jamie, get on!"

"It's yours?"

"Yeah, I earned it from my side jobs."

I didn't argue with that. I put on the helmet and got on her bike. She threw a jacket over my shoulders.

"It's windy."

I smiled and zipped it up. Then we took off!

Racing through the wind, my heart found the excitement it had been missing for so long.

"Annie Langford, my name's Annie!" Her name reached me through the rushing wind.

Annie Langford... There weren't many people with the name Langford in this city.

I shook my head and pushed that thought away. If it really was her, what would she be doing at a bar?

I wrapped my arm around her waist and Annie immediately tensed up. I laughed. "Getting nervous, little girl? How about we go somewhere fun?"

Annie's neck turned red. When I directed her to our destination, she turned to look at me with a small smile. "Did you come here to crash the party?"

"I had no idea. I just happened to run into this!"

I really didn't know there was a race here with a ten thousand dollar prize.

When Zachary saw us coming, he whistled. "Hey, looks like we've got another one!"

"Zachary, check this guy out—that body, he could be a model!"

"With that helmet on, who knows what his face looks like!"

"Could be ugly as hell!"

The guys kept joking around while staring at me like I wasn't even there. Zachary looked a bit hostile.

That made sense. He was used to being the center of attention, always being chased after. Now that I'd randomly shown up, he didn't like it.

"Hey dude, are you just here to cheer us on? Take off that helmet and let's see your face—if you're not hot enough, you can't even join!"

His words were full of curiosity and disdain.

Annie quietly stepped in front of me.

I patted her shoulder. "It's okay. I can join this race too, right?"

Zachary looked stunned. "You? You've got to be kidding me—this isn't some bar!"

Whistles echoed all around us. I looked at him and said, "If you can do it, so can I. When I win, the prize money is mine!"

"What if you lose?"

"Lose to you? Not happening!"

My confidence pissed him off. "Fine, let's race!"

Isabella wrapped her arms around Zachary. "I'm adding ten grand to the pot! Zachary, I'm betting on you to win!"

Zachary let out this excited yell and jumped up to kiss her. Then he looked at me with this smug expression.

No one could see my face under the helmet. I turned to Annie and said, "Cheer for me!"

Annie nodded hard.

Zachary pulled up next to me. Our engines roared. Whistles filled the air around us. The whole place was buzzing with testosterone.

I lifted my chin defiantly and flipped him off with my pinky finger.

Bang! The starting gun fired and I shot forward.

The wind rushing past my ears made my blood pump. It felt like I was back to a few years ago when I was fearless and would try anything for the thrill.

My parents never held me back back then. I grew up and settled down later, but that didn't mean I'd forgotten how to do this.

This was my territory too.

I accelerated and leaned into the turns. The crowd's cheers got louder and louder.

This bike felt perfect the moment I got on it. Next to me, Zachary's red hair stayed half a bike length behind me the whole time.

On the final lap, I sped up again. But suddenly Zachary swerved right into me.

That bastard. No wonder people called him a bike killer.

"So you want to play dirty, huh!"

I lifted up slightly and my front wheel came off the ground. Screams filled the air and Zachary's bike wobbled in panic!

I gunned it and Zachary crashed. He went sliding across the pavement chasing after my rear wheel.

I pulled off this perfect drift and stopped. The crowd was going crazy with whistles and screams.

Someone helped Zachary to his feet. I got off my bike and walked over with my hand out. "Thanks for the race. That'll be a hundred thousand!"

Isabella stared at me with suspicious eyes.

"What, can't handle losing? Don't want to pay up?"

People around us started laughing. "Come on, Ms. Sterling, don't tell me you're gonna be cheap about it?"

Zachary was pissed. "Isabella!"

She snapped out of it and pulled out her phone to transfer the money. But the second she scanned the code, her face went blank. "James? How is this you?!"