High-Sided (Armed & Dangerous #3)(16)

Her lips pulled back into a smile and she laughed softly. “I already know about you two, Kassidy.”

I froze. “What do you mean?”

“Your relationship with my son. I know you were intimate.”

Swallowing hard, I stared at her in horror. “It was a long time ago. It’s not like that anymore. We ended things before you and my dad got married.”

She nodded. “I know, but I see the way Sean looks at you, and how he always wants to protect you. It kills me that I ruined his happiness.”

“Why did it take so long for you to say something? Does my dad know?”

“No,” she murmured, “and I don’t plan on telling him. But honestly, I don’t think he’d have a problem with you two being together. You’re adults, and it’s not like you grew up together as brother and sister. I married your father a little late in life.”

“Why are you saying this to me?” I asked. It was almost like I was in a twilight zone. Sean and I had kept our relationship a secret, so it wouldn’t cause problems with our parents. Now, I had no clue what to think.

She reached over and grabbed my hand. “I’m saying that if you and Sean want to be together, I’m not going to stop you. He loves you.”

I squeezed her hand. “Thanks for your blessing. It means a lot to me. And you should know, I love Sean too, but since we’re both owners of Bennett Racing now, it might be best to stay as we are. Anything more could complicate things.”

She let my hand go and smiled. “As you wish, sweetie. Just know that you’re free to do as you will.”

“I appreciate that.” I glanced down at my phone and groaned. “I hate to eat and run, but I’m about to be late.” I said my goodbyes and hurried on my way to the track.

The track wasn’t huge, only a half mile in length, with a couple of curves. My father and Donnie Baker chipped in and had it built not long after Logan left us, so that the riders from Bennett Pro Racing and DB Racing could practice. Needless to say, it pissed Hendrix off that we beat him to the land before he could purchase it.

When I pulled into the parking lot, I could already see the riders on the track, zipping by as they raced against each other. There were a ton of them. My father and Donnie sat by themselves, both pointing at various riders on the track. Trey, Daniel, and Miller – our other racers – sat off on one side of the stands, while Sean sat by himself.

“Kass!” Sean shouted. I hurried over and sat beside him, debating on if I should tell him what his mother said. He nudged me with his shoulder and smiled. “Runnin’ late, huh?”

I blew out a heavy sigh. “Just a little.”

“Don’t worry, I just got here too. Your father started tryouts earlier than expected.”

I glanced over at my dad and he waved. It was hard to stay mad at him, but dammit, I wanted the truth. Sean nodded toward the track. “We got some good riders out there. I hate I’m not racing anymore.”

We watched the riders for a few minutes, and I couldn’t help but notice the two riders out in front. The one on the red and black Honda was trying to run the other guy off the track. “Do you see what’s going on?” I asked, pointing at the two racers.

Sean shrugged. “It’s a competition, Kass.”

“Yeah, but that one’s trying to run the other off the track.”

“And that’s why we’ll make sure he doesn’t get picked. We don’t want that kind of racer on our team.”

I couldn’t help but smile. I loved that Sean had the same values as me. “I’m glad you think so.” I decided it was best to go ahead and tell him what his mother said, before he talked to her. “I saw your mom this morning.”

He tore his gaze away from the race. “Oh yeah? What’d you talk about?”

I snorted. “You . . . and me.”

His eyes went wide. “In what context?”

“Uh, let’s see. Mainly, the part where she knows we’ve had sex.”

He cringed, his face scrunching up. “Are you f*cking kidding me?”

“Nope. But you’ll never believe this. She gave us her blessing if we wanted to see each other again.”

His body stiffened, keeping his golden-brown eyes glued to mine. “And what did you say?”

I was the one to break eye contact first. “I said it’d only complicate things. I like how we are now. Besides, the amount of ridicule we’d get if we did decide to see each other would be monumental. And what would we do with the business if things didn’t work out between us?”

“True,” he agreed. “But things wouldn’t have been so difficult if our parents never got married.”

The racers slowed down and my father waved us over. “We have to go,” I said, thankful to get away from the talk about relationships.

Donnie held out his arms as we approached. “How ya doin’, peanut?”

I hugged him hard. “Been better.”

“I know,” he said, letting me go. “Things’ll get better, I promise.”

“I sure hope so.” My father smiled sadly, and I hugged him too. “Found who you want yet?”

He glanced out at the racers who’d come to a stop. “I believe so. Next time, it’ll be you and Sean doing this, not me.”