California Girls(101)

Elation joined the adrenaline already racing through her. No wonder Daniel loved what he did—this was exciting.

On the straightaway, she gave the bike even more gas. She was about to pass a slower rider when she saw a bike up ahead take the curve too fast. The bike twisted, the driver fell off and rolled right into the path of the rest of the pack.

Ali immediately slowed down, all the while telling herself to keep control. She was doing all right until another biker bumped her, sending her right for the barriers on the inside of the track.

She knew she was going to crash and forgot what she was supposed to do. She hit the brakes too hard, then slammed into the barrier. One second she was absorbing the impact and the next she was flying over the barrier onto the hard ground. She landed with a thud that knocked the wind out of her. Pain exploded from so many places, she didn’t know what to focus on first. The sky seemed to swirl and shift and then everything started going dark.

This was bad, she thought hazily. Really—

“Ali? Ali! Can you hear me? Ali?”

She opened her eyes and saw Daniel bent over her. He was pale and frantic as he began examining her.

“Ali?”

“I fell,” she murmured, wishing the pain would settle in one or two places so she could figure out what she’d done.

“I saw. It wasn’t your fault. That jackass ran into you.”

“That jackass is eight, Daniel. It’s not his fault, either.”

She shifted on the ground. Okay, her legs worked and her back wasn’t too bad. She didn’t think she’d hit her head that hard, so maybe she was—

“Yikes!”

Moving her left arm had been a mistake, she thought, glancing down at it. With all the protective gear, she couldn’t tell what was wrong, but it hurt bad.

She wiggled her fingers and they were fine, then raised her right arm. Just an okay kind of ache. She carefully lifted her left arm and rested it across her body. The pain increased. Still holding it against her, she managed to raise herself to a sitting position.

She looked at Daniel. “I think I broke something.”

He swore. “That’s what I was afraid of. You also might have a concussion.”

“I’m fine.”

“You blacked out.”

“For one second.”

“That’s all it takes.” He stared at her. “Look at me. I want to see if your pupils are dilated.”

She wanted to protest, but figured he’d taken a bunch of first aid classes and probably knew what he was doing. She did as he requested, then answered basic questions about what day it was and where she was.

“I should call an ambulance,” he said, pulling out his phone.

“Don’t you dare.” She shifted onto her knees. “I’m okay. It’s just my arm. Help me up and you can drive me to the hospital.”

When he didn’t move, she added. “I’m getting up with or without your help.”

“You’re so damned stubborn.”

“So I’m just like you.”

He helped her to her feet. She took a second to get her balance but was pleased when the world stayed firmly in place. He removed her helmet and her gloves. They left the rest of her gear in place.

As they walked back to the buildings, she saw that everyone else had survived the pileup just fine. One of the guys from the repair shop had taken her bike and was walking it in. Laps had already resumed.

“Does this sort of thing happen all the time?” she asked.

“You play, you pay.”

“That’s just so macho.”

“It’s a macho sport.”

She wanted to keep bantering with him, but her arm hurt too much. She waited while he grabbed her handbag, then they went to his truck. He helped her into the passenger seat and carefully clipped her seat belt into place, then started for the hospital.

Ninety minutes later the doctor showed them an X-ray that confirmed what Ali had suspected. She’d broken her arm. It wasn’t a bad break, but it was going to take a few weeks to heal and she would need a cast from her wrist to her elbow.

At the news Daniel went white and for a second, she thought he was going to pass out.

“It’s just a little hairline thing,” she said when the doctor had left. “I don’t have a concussion and the break is clean and easy. I’m fine.”

Daniel crossed to her and held her tight. “Dammit, Ali, I love you and I’m supposed to take care of you. Not let you get beat up.”

He loved her? He loved her? She stared up at him. “What did you just say?”

His dark gaze met hers. “I love you. This is my fault.”

Happiness filled her. Happiness and a floaty, giddy feeling that made the pain in her arm disappear. Daniel loved her. Based on what he’d said before, he probably had for a while. The whole time she’d been with Glen, about to make the biggest mistake of her life, Daniel had been loving her.

She thought about how much they’d been through together and while she wanted to blurt out she loved him, too, she didn’t say it. She needed a little time to think things through. She and Daniel hadn’t been together that long, at least from her side of things, and she wanted to be sure.

“It’s not your fault,” she began, thinking she would then ease into telling him that she liked him a lot—a lot and was totally on her way to being crazy in love, but things had happened so quickly and—