by Paige Steele
She asks me how I got into the sport and what drives me, then she wants to know where the nickname ‘The Bomber’ came from. I explain to her about how I started watching it on TV then riding and racing. When it comes to my nickname, I explain that my mechanic started calling me that the minute he started working with me. When we went to the first race and he saw me come off the line, he said I was like a bomb ready to explode coming out of the gate, hence the name ‘The Bomber.’
She continues on with the interview by asking what it’s like to be on one of the most successful teams in the business. She ends it with what the ladies want to know, is there anyone special in my life? I give her the answer I know she is looking for, telling her that I have a lot of special people in my life, but no there isn’t just a one.
After she walks away, I realize what I’ve done. I need to explain it to Ansley before she sees this interview. I don’t want to throw us out there, for the world to know and pick apart, until we are ready for that.
I know that I have about forty-five minutes before the race, so I jump on the stationary bike to start warming up. About five minutes after I do, Miss TV starts walking back under the tent, stopping right in front of the bike to thank me and wish me good luck.
The heat race goes well and I finish second, right behind one of Team Kawasaki’s bikes. That fucker is fast tonight; I don’t know who lit a fire under his ass, but I can’t catch him at all.
I am back at the truck and I can see Ryan’s truck, which is across from the Hyped Energy tent. Two of the Hyped girls are under the Honda tent, but I can’t see if Ansley is or isn’t one of them. I’m sitting back in one of the chairs with my feet up and my eyes glued on that damn tent. I hadn’t heard from her and she always texts me good luck. I couldn’t figure it out.
There is a family of four that walks into my view, next to our roped off areas. It takes my mind off of what might be going on over there. I get up, grab a Sharpie, and go over to them. The boys are probably around ten or twelve, and they are decked out with their O’Neal Racing jerseys.
“Hey guys, have you been enjoying the racing, so far?”
“We have, you are really good!”
You can see the excitement in their eyes. I love it. I never came to anything like this when I was younger, so I can only imagine how they are feeling right now.
“Thank you. So, who are you here to watch?”
“We love Ryan Evans, he is so fast.”
“Oh, yeah . . . he is, isn’t he? Well, I’ll tell you a little secret, Ryan and I started riding together when we were about your ages. So, keep it up and you could be here one day.”
They both say in unison, “OH, MY GOD, REALLY?”
I look up at their parents and we all start laughing. They look like good kids; I open up our roped off area, inviting them in and they are beyond excited. Before they leave, they ask me to sign their jerseys and one of my posters, then I hand them each one of my old jerseys, which I sign and as well as giving them some stickers. Watching them walk away with huge smiles on their faces is worth it.
“Let’s suit up, boy, we have a race to get to,” Jesse shouts over at me.
“Who you calling boy? You’re younger than me, shithead.”
“Age is just a number, I act more mature,” he says with a smirk on his face.
I laugh out loud because he is such a kid at heart. Any chance he gets, he is screwing around so, he knows he is full of shit.
We are both on the starting line, waiting for the thirty second board that is displayed in front of us to start moving off of the track, so we know there are only seconds before the gates all drop.
The first turn is crazy; several guys tangle up together, and though I make it out clean, I don’t get the holeshot. I can see Ryan and the damn Kawasaki guy in front of me. Ryan is gone; he has a clear track in front of him, which means that he will check out and there is no catching him. I make a stupid mistake over a jump and land hard, causing me to lose a couple spots. As riders go flying by me, I catch my footing and hold on with everything I have. I am in sixth as I go by the mechanics’ area, noticing my time on the pit board, two seconds and sixth. Which means, I was two seconds behind the guy in front of me and I am sitting in the sixth spot.
By the end of the night, I finish just off the podium in fourth. I’m not completely happy with the outcome; I know I can do better. Jesse however, stands on top of the box in third. Ryan of course, is standing in the number one spot, both on the podium and in points. If this is any indication of what the season is going to be like, he is going to sweep the races.
I walk out of the trailer, throwing on a t-shirt, and I start helping pick up some things under the tent. At this point the pits are almost dead, there is a few fans that wander through but only if they have all access passes. Once the mains start and after the races, the pits are shut down for the regular passes. The only way you are getting the all access ones, is if you know someone in the industry, like a rider, a mechanic, or a big sponsor, otherwise there is no way of getting them.
Leaning on my bike seat, talking to my mechanic, who squats down on the opposite side, I notice Ryan, Ansley, Kenna and Maddie walking over together.
“Hey there Jackass, nice race. What the hell happened to you tonight?”
“Yeah, I went over the first tabletop and came up short as I landed, fucking hit the handle bars with my chest, but was able to save it. I ended in fourth, not where I want to be.”
“That sucks, soon it’ll be your night and you’ll be standing next to me, of course in second but you’ll be still next to me,” Ryan says with a chuckle at me.
“Screw you, dickhead.” I laughed back at him.
“Did you get hurt, Coop?” Ansley is sweet as hell as she says it lower like she wants to ask, but doesn’t know if she should. She was actually being a bit shy, which I love.
“I think I’ll live, but if you want to kiss it and make it better, then by all means,” I say, lifting up my shirt to her.
“Oh, my God, Coop. Does it hurt?” She sees the bruising that is already starting and immediately puts her hand to my chest.
“A little, but it’ll be fine in a day or two, there’s no crying in racing. It’s either get up and get going, or get the fuck off the track.”
Her hand lingers for a minute before she realizes what she is doing, her fingers graze my skin as she slowly takes her hand away. Looking up at me, she smiles and then remembers that the others are still standing behind her.
They all say their goodbyes, as I finish helping everyone pick up under our tent. Heading back to the hotel, I need a hot shower and a bed soon.
Ansley
AFTER WE WENT HOME the next day I watch the interview Cooper did with the blonde reporter. I see the way she is looking at him. I also notice him flirting back with her as he answers the last question. How could he have said that, no one special, really? A tear fell from my eye as I sit on my bed watching. What a jerk. I thought something was starting to happen with us, but clearly I was completely wrong.
As the week went by, I kept busy doing things around the house. Every time Cooper texted me, I would briefly text back, but I didn’t put any effort into texting him first.
It’s now Friday morning and Kenna, Maddie, and I are about to board a plane to Texas, for the next round in Supercross. We’ve been traveling all over California for a little over a month, so it’ll be nice to go somewhere new. Oh, did I mention it’s Valentine’s Day weekend? This should be fun.
As soon as we land, I go and get the rental car, then we head to the hotel to change. We have to make our way to the stadium right away, because we have a bikini photo shoot on the track scheduled today.
“We are going to rock these new suits, you know that.” Maddie is tiny without trying, so she never has to worry about working out.
“I’ll try to, I didn’t work out this week.”
“Oh, Ok, Ansley . . . like you have anything to worry about,” Kenna says, rolling
her eyes at me.
“Hey, what’s up your ass? Lately you’ve been bitchy.” I need to ask, it’s been bothering me. I don’t think I’ve done anything, and she is always biting off my head over stupid things.
“Nothing, I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”
“Well, you know you can talk to us about anything. If you need us, we’re here.”
“I know, thanks.”
We arrive at the shoot on time; we are able to change in the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders’ locker room. We might have turned on Girl in a Country Song by Maddie & Tae, then danced around the place for a minute before putting the bikinis on. Walking out, everyone is staring in our direction, we look pretty in these tiny things. They retract the stadium roof, shining the sun down on us, which gives us great natural light for the pictures. We stand on top of one of the tabletop jumps; thank goodness they gave us ladies’ riding boots to wear. Our string bikinis are all black with bright yellow H’s on both of the triangles that cover our chest, and the bottoms have Hyped Energy written across our ass, in cursive. The strings in both the top and bottoms are the same yellow as the writing. They put us all in the same black Answer Racing boots.
Right after the photo shoot, we go back to the hotel, change, and get ready for dinner. When I walk back into my room, there is a dozen roses on the desk, with a card that reads, “Thinking of you always. Happy Valentine’s Day Love, Cooper.” Really, thinking of me always, REALLY! I grab the card, flip it over and write my own message, “Clearly I’m not the only one you’re thinking about.” Then I call the front desk to let them know they can pick these flowers back up and deliver them to Mr. Brewis’ room.
The restaurant is just down the street from where we are staying. We decide to walk instead of drive, in case we all have a couple of drinks.
“Kenna, you drinking tonight?” I ask her; she tends to not even have a drink lately. I can’t figure it out.
“I might, why?”
“You never drink anymore,” Maddie busts out her answer before I can even say anything.
“I can’t drink when I have to deal with your drunk ass.”
“Ha, ha, it was only a couple times,” Maddie says back, laughing.
“Oh, yeah, only a couple times,” she says, smiling and rolling her eyes.
“Wait, Ansley had to deal with me one night, not you. So, there!” She is laughing harder now. It’s like she is cracking herself up.
“We’re all having a couple drinks tonight, but that’s it, considering we need to get up and function tomorrow at the race,” I speak up.
“Yes, Mom.” Maddie just can’t help herself.
I smack her arm as we walk in the front door of the restaurant. We decide to wait in the bar area until our table is ready. This is a big weekend for the Hyped Energy Company, as they have a couple large accounts that will be coming to the race and another one that hasn’t signed yet, but wants to see exactly what the energy drink is used to promote. Because of all of them coming we need to be on our A game tomorrow.
Dinner is enjoyable but Kenna, Maddie, and myself decide we want to trade these dresses in for our sweats. I personally can’t wait to get this make-up off my face and brush out my hair. We make our way back to the hotel. Walking in, I notice Ryan and another one of his teammates standing at the counter; they must have just gotten here.
“Hello, boys, whatcha doing?”
“Hey, who you calling boys?” Ryan looks around laughing, like he is trying to figure it out, then leans in and hugs me, then Kenna and Maddie.
“Oh, excuse me . . . men,” I say, putting quotes around men.
“We are just checking in. When we landed, we had to go directly to press day so we didn’t get a chance to do it earlier. Where are you three coming from dressed like that?” he asks, raising his eyebrows, while looking all of us over.
“We just went and had dinner at the restaurant down the street.”
“How was it? We need to grab something before heading up to bed.”
“Good, not great, but good. Now it’s time for sweats and my bed; it’s another long day tomorrow.”
“Why? What did you guys have going on today?”
“All three of us had a photo shoot at the track today, for the new bikini line that Hyped is coming out with.”
“Oh, really? How’s the track look?”
“Of course you’d worry about that,” I say, laughing back at him.
“Well duh, Peanut, what else would I be worried about? I’ve seen you all in bikinis and know that there’s nothing to worry about there.”
“Right now, you should be worried about getting your ass kicked if you call me that in public again!”
“Yeah, I know,” he said, pulling me into him and squeezing me tightly. I wrap my arms around him, leaning against his chest, and closing my eyes for a moment. He is still such a huge part of my life.
When I open my eyes, not only is Kenna staring at me, but I look over to see Cooper standing there. I push away from Ryan, but glare a bit at Cooper. Clearly he got the hint from my return of the flowers, and from the look on his face, he’s pissed. He turns and steps on the elevator, the doors shut and he is gone.
Dropping my head, I stand there for a moment, I’m not sure how the hell this is ever going to work between us. He is driving me crazy. Ryan walks up behind me; he never touches me, but I can feel him standing and supporting me, like always.
“What’s going on with the two of you?”
“Nothing, absolutely nothing! I’m heading up to bed. I’ve had more than enough for one day. You coming, girls?”
“I am, these damn heels are killing me,” Maddie says, pulling them off. She now stands there in her bare feet in the middle of the lobby.
“Kenna?” She looks pissed . . . but why? She seems pissed. Was it because Ryan hugged me? I know she likes him, and he is showing that he’s interested too, so what the hell is up her ass?
“Ansley, wait, what is going on?”
“I said nothing, Ry, so drop it.” I start to walk way as I hear Kenna start talking to him.
“Did you see Cooper’s interview from last weekend’s race?”
“No, why?”
“You should ask him about it.”
“What the fuck did he do?”
“Oh, nothing, just told the world that there is no one special in his life.”
“Shit, I’m sure there’s a reason, anyone that knows him, can tell he’s fucking in love with Ansley.”
“Yeah, well he didn’t tell the world that, and the way he was flirting with the reporter also let Ansley know he wasn’t thinking of her while he said it either.”
“What a jackass. He might have just really fucked this up with her. He knows that she’s been screwed over so many times, and yet he goes and does something like that.”
“K, well now you know. I’m heading up too. It was nice seeing you again, Ryan. Good luck tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Kenna.”
I turn as I wait for the elevators to see Ryan hug Kenna goodbye. She meets up with us just as the doors open for us to get on. Maddie stands there, quiet for the first time all evening. I hate that I feel like I just ruined everyone’s night.
The next day we head to the stadium around ten. We need to be there when the pit party starts around eleven. I choose my black leather pants and so does Kenna, but Maddie goes with her schoolgirl black and yellow checked skirt. We all matched it with our black tank tops with the saying “Let’s Get Hyped” written on the front of it, in yellow. Well, we can’t forget about our boots with three-inch heels. We all look damn good, if I do say so myself.
Walking in from the VIP parking area, we still have to pass by fans that are waiting for the gates to open. We get quite a few whistles and a whole lot of comments I will never repeat, asking us to do things that shouldn’t be yelled in public.
We make our way to the tent that is set up, in the middle of the pit area, which means several of the bike trailers are in sight, incl
uding both Ryan and Cooper’s. I can’t help but stare a bit in the direction of the Yamaha truck. Cooper’s standing under it, and yet, I feel like I can’t go over there.
“Girls, this place is going to get crazy soon, you ready for it?”
“Maddie, aren’t all the races pretty much crazy?”
“Yep, but today I bet we get to see more of the country boys. You know what they say about Texas?”
“Everything’s bigger in Texas,” all three of us say in unison and then laugh.
We walk around, getting everything ready to go before the gates open. There are big round tables under out tent, draped with black table cloths with big displays on all of them. Today, we’re handing out stickers and beaded necklaces with an H hanging from them, along with cans of the Hyped Energy drink.
It’s eleven o’clock on the dot and the first of the fans start coming in. Before we know it, we have a crowd around us. People are always ready to get free stuff, but they also seem to want to get pictures with all of us together or individually. We often get asked out or we will have the random guy who will drop to his knee with a marriage proposal. The first time it happened I just laughed, like really guy . . . get up.
We have to head to the track now, the main race is going to start. Kenna has to walk in front of the bikes at the starting line with the AMA Pro Motocross sign, and Maddie is holding the thirty second board today. All three of us will be on the podium, as the trophy girls. I get to hand the first place winner his.
The gate drops and the boys are off; I am able to watch this race and I love it. I secretly cheer for both of them to kick ass. Ryan gets a shitty start and comes off the gate in almost dead last. Cooper didn’t get a good start either, but he is mid pack. In the end, Cooper finishes second and Ryan is standing next to him on the podium in third.
Kenna is next to Ryan, ready to hand him his trophy as he smiles at her. The embrace I notice from them is a bit friendlier than it’s been in the past, and I smile, knowing this little secret.
